According to research findings posted on Hacker News, product prices displayed in Google's AI Mode tend to be higher than those in traditional search.
Study Finds Google AI Search Features Display Products Averaging 21.6% More Expensive Than Traditional Search
This article is a translation. Read the Japanese original
Over a 23-day period from 2026-08-09 to 2026-08-31, the study tracked more than 2 million product listings from over 100,000 search engine results pages (SERPs) and AI Mode responses. When comparing instances where the exact same product appeared in both results for the same search query on the same day, prices in AI Mode were, on average, 21.6% higher.
Furthermore, a broader comparison across all displayed products revealed a significant gap in price ranges. The median product price in AI Mode was $149, which is approximately 49% higher than the $100 median found in traditional search.
Differences were also observed in the number of products displayed. While traditional search displayed an average of 27.8 products, AI Mode averaged only 3.9. The proportion of products shown in AI Mode accounted for 12.3% of the total products surveyed.
Source: Google AI Mode shows same products 21.6% more expensive than traditional search (Hacker News Frontpage, 2026-09-04)