How UAE Consumers Actually Use ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews to Research Brands Before They Buy

TL;DR

If your brand is not showing up in ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews, you are already losing the first comparison. In the UAE, that matters more than in most markets because consumers are using AI to shortlist, validate, and choose faster than ever.

Key takeaways:

• UAE shoppers are using AI for brand research earlier in the journey, not just at the end.

• AI Overviews and chat-based answers compress discovery and decision-making into a single step.

• Retail, hospitality, real estate, and healthcare are feeling the shift first.

• Brands go invisible when their content is thin, unstructured, or weak on external credibility.

• At decipher., we use advanced AI brand visibility tools to track everything, so the audit is grounded in what AI is actually saying, not vibes and wishful thinking.

If you're a brand operating in the UAE and you haven't thought seriously about how you appear in ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews, this article is your polite but firm wake-up call.

The UAE is not a market that's "warming up" to AI-assisted shopping. It has already arrived, settled in, and started redecorating. According to Adyen's UAE Retail Report 2025, 70% of UAE consumers have used ChatGPT or a similar AI assistant to support their shopping, more than double the EMEA average of 34%. A Visa survey from late 2025 put the figure even higher, at around 80%.

What this article covers: how UAE consumers actually use AI tools to research brands, which industries are feeling it first, what happens to brands that don't show up, and how decipher. tracks AI visibility per market using AI brand visibility tools.

The UAE is one of the most AI-native markets in the world, and why that matters for brands

There's a reason global retailers, hospitality groups, and property developers treat the UAE as a test market for the future. The population is young, digitally fluent, and genuinely enthusiastic about technology in ways that feel less like adoption and more like expectation.

Deloitte's Digital Consumer Trends 2025 report, which surveyed 2,000 consumers aged 18 to 50 across the UAE and KSA, found that 58% had used generative AI tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini. That figure is "markedly higher than in the UK or European markets," according to the report. The UAE is not catching up with more mature markets. It is ahead of them.

Smartphone penetration and ChatGPT adoption: what it means for the buyer journey

The UAE has one of the highest smartphone penetration rates in the world. For most residents, the phone is the primary screen for everything: news, entertainment, social media, and, increasingly, brand research. ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews slot neatly into that mobile-first behaviour because they deliver fast, consolidated answers without requiring the user to open five browser tabs and decide which one to trust.

The practical implication for brands is significant. The buyer journey used to look like this: awareness, search, comparison, decision. Now, for a large and growing share of UAE consumers, it looks like this: awareness, AI query, decision. The middle steps have collapsed into a single conversational exchange.

The real shift: AI tools don't just surface information. They filter it, frame it, and present one or two answers with an implied endorsement. If your brand isn't in those answers, you don't get considered. Not ranked lower. Not on page two. Simply absent.

• 74% of Gen Z and 75% of Millennials in the UAE have used AI assistants for shopping (Adyen, 2025, illustrative of current trends)

• AI adoption among Gen X (44-59) surged 49% year-on-year, reaching 59%

• 66% of UAE AI shoppers say the tools help them cut through online noise

• 62% are open to completing purchases through AI in the future

What a typical AI-assisted purchase journey looks like in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Picture this. Someone in Dubai is planning a weekend staycation. They don't open Google and type "hotels Dubai Marina." They open ChatGPT on their phone and ask: "What's a good boutique hotel in Dubai Marina for a couple this weekend, not too corporate, good breakfast?"

ChatGPT responds with two or three recommendations. It describes each one, mentions what makes it distinctive, and perhaps notes what past reviewers have said. The user picks one and books it. The entire discovery-to-decision loop happened inside a single conversation. No Google results page. No comparison website. No scrolling through TripAdvisor.

This is not a hypothetical. It is how a meaningful and growing share of UAE consumers now behave, particularly in categories where personal fit matters. That includes hospitality, dining, healthcare, and premium retail.

How AI Overviews change the Google experience

For users who do start with Google, AI Overviews have altered what they see first. Instead of a list of ten blue links, they get a synthesised answer at the top of the page, drawn from sources Google's AI deems most authoritative and relevant. The user reads the overview. If it answers their question, they rarely scroll further.

The brands that appear in those overviews get the attention. The brands that don't, don't.

"66% of UAE consumers using AI say it helps them find unique and niche brands they wouldn't have discovered otherwise." (Adyen UAE Retail Report 2025, illustrative of current market trends)

This is the part that should make brand managers sit up. AI is not just replacing Google for commodity searches. It is becoming the discovery mechanism for brands that have invested in being clearly understood by AI systems. That is a competitive advantage. And right now, most brands in the UAE are not taking it.

The conversation pattern that matters most

When UAE consumers use AI for brand research, the queries tend to follow recognisable patterns:

• Category + context: "best skincare brand for humid weather UAE"

• Comparison: "is [Brand A] or [Brand B] better for outdoor furniture Dubai"

• Validation: "is [Brand] trustworthy, what do people say about them"

• Recommendation: "recommend a reliable property developer in Abu Dhabi"

Each of these query types requires the brand to be present in the AI's training data and cited sources, described accurately, and framed positively. That doesn't happen by accident. It requires deliberate AI search optimisation for UAE brands.

The industries where this shift is happening fastest

AI-assisted research is not uniform across sectors. Some industries are experiencing the shift faster and more acutely than others. In the UAE, four stand out.

Retail

UAE consumers use AI to shortcut the noise. Adyen's research notes that 66% say AI helps them cut through online clutter, and 65% say it provides faster inspiration. In a market saturated with retail options, from global flagships in Dubai Mall to niche DTC brands, the brands that get recommended by AI are the ones with clear, structured, and widely cited digital presences. The ones that don't are simply not in the conversation.

Hospitality

The UAE hospitality sector is one of the most competitive in the world. Consumers asking AI for hotel, restaurant, or experience recommendations are looking for confident, specific answers. AI tools synthesise reviews, editorial coverage, and brand descriptions into a single recommendation. Brands that have invested in AI brand visibility get named. Those relying on an outdated website and a Google Business Profile do not.

Real estate

Property decisions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi increasingly begin with an AI-assisted research phase. Buyers and renters ask broad questions first: "which areas of Dubai are best for families?" or "what should I know about buying off-plan in Abu Dhabi?" The developers and agencies that appear in those early answers shape the consideration set before a single sales call takes place.

Healthcare

Healthcare in the UAE is a high-trust, high-stakes category. Consumers use AI to research clinics, specialists, and wellness brands before they make appointments. Being described accurately, credibly, and positively in AI answers is not just a marketing advantage here. It is a trust signal that directly influences whether someone picks up the phone.

What happens to brands that are invisible in this journey

Here's the uncomfortable truth. When a UAE consumer asks ChatGPT to recommend a skincare brand, a hotel, or a property developer and your brand doesn't appear, it is not because AI disliked you. It is because AI didn't have enough clear, credible, structured information about you to include you.

That is a fixable problem. But only if you know it exists.

The consequences of AI invisibility compound over time. Every query your brand misses is a consumer who discovered a competitor instead. In a market where AI shopping adoption surged 44% in a single year, the gap between visible brands and invisible ones is widening quickly.

Three things that make a brand invisible to AI:

1. Thin or unstructured web content. AI tools pull from sources that are clearly written, well-organised, and easy to parse. Dense, jargon-heavy, or poorly structured pages get skipped.

2. Weak third-party presence. AI systems look for corroboration. If your brand is only described on your own website, it lacks the external signals that build AI credibility. Reviews, editorial coverage, and directory listings all matter.

3. No entity clarity. AI needs to understand what your brand is, what it does, and who it serves. Vague positioning and inconsistent messaging make it harder for AI to confidently recommend you.

The brands winning in UAE AI search right now are not necessarily the biggest. They are the clearest. You can read more about how to check if your brand shows up in ChatGPT as a starting point.

How decipher. tracks this per market

Understanding that AI shapes the buyer journey is one thing. Knowing exactly where your brand stands inside that journey is another.

decipher. uses AI brand visibility tools like RocketBlue or Searchable to track AI search visibility per market, including the UAE, Spain, and the UK. They help us monitor how often a brand appears in AI-generated answers, what it's being said about, and where the gaps are compared to competitors. It's the difference between guessing and knowing.

For UAE brands, this market-level tracking matters because AI behaviour varies by region. The queries people ask in Dubai are not identical to those asked in London. The sources AI draws on differ too. A visibility score in one market tells you very little about another.

If you want to understand where your brand stands in UAE AI search right now, a good place to start is decipher.'s AI Search Audit. It maps your current AI visibility, identifies where competitors are appearing instead of you, and gives you a prioritised list of what to fix first. No guesswork. No generic recommendations. Just a clear picture of what AI actually thinks about your brand, and what to do about it.

Get in touch to find out more.