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# AI halves buying time for half of Australians, WPP Media survey finds
- URL: https://www.promptthemarket.com/ai-halves-buying-time-for-half-of-australians-wpp-media-survey-finds/
- Published: 2026-09-30T22:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T01:25:57.000Z
- Description: AI also put brands in front of 61% of the 2,500 people surveyed that they had never considered, WPP Media found.
- Author: Editor News
- Tags: Research, Australia, WPP, #author-xaviery-malinao, #by Xaviery Malinao

By **Xaviery Malinao** · 2026-10-01

TLDR

Half of 2,500 Australians surveyed by WPP Media say AI tools have halved the time they take to decide on a purchase. At the same time, 61% say AI put brands in front of them they had not considered.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

01WPP Media surveyed 2,500 Australian consumers about using AI when buying.

0250% said AI had halved the time it took them to make a purchase decision, and 91% said it sped them up.

0361% discovered brands they had not considered, and 38% found new brands at the start of their search.

04WPP Media's Catherine Wolkers said AI is "flattening the funnel" in high consideration categories.

05The coverage did not publish fieldwork dates or which AI tools respondents used.

Half of Australians surveyed by WPP Media say AI tools have halved the time it takes them to decide on a purchase. The same survey of 2,500 consumers, reported by B&T, found 61% had come across brands through AI that they had not considered before.

That pairing is the finding brands should notice. AI is shortening the path to purchase and widening the list of options on it at once.

## A shorter, busier funnel

Nine in ten respondents, 91%, said AI sped up their decisions. Some 38% said they learned about new brands right at the start of their decision journey, the moment a shortlist forms.

"The purchase funnel is becoming shorter. It's potentially becoming more competitive," said Daniel Benton, WPP Media's managing director of digital solutions. He said the research showed AI "is actually introducing options you wouldn't have considered".

Catherine Wolkers, the agency's national head of research and insight, said the effect is strongest in expensive, considered purchases. "In high consideration categories, it's flattening the funnel because you can do everything from discovery to comparisons within a single source," she said.

## What the survey does not say

The numbers are self-reported, and the coverage did not name the report, give fieldwork dates or say which AI tools respondents used. WPP Media also sells AI search services to clients, which is worth keeping in mind when reading its conclusions.

## Getting into the answer

If a shortlist now forms inside one AI conversation, the brands not named in that answer lose the chance to be considered. That is a different problem from ranking on a search results page, where a buyer scrolls and clicks through several options.

A simple audit is to ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot the questions a buyer in the category would ask, and record which brands appear and which sources the tools cite. Fixing the product information and third-party reviews those tools draw on is usually where the work starts.

SOURCES & CITATIONS

1. [B&T: AI search is 'flattening' and accelerating purchase funnel: WPP Media](https://www.bandt.com.au/ai-search-is-flattening-accelerating-purchase-funnel-wpp-media/?ref=promptthemarket.com)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many Australians did WPP Media survey about AI and buying?

WPP Media surveyed 2,500 Australian consumers.

Does AI speed up purchase decisions?

In the survey, 91% said AI sped up their decisions and 50% said it had halved the time they took to decide.

Does AI help people find new brands?

61% of respondents said AI helped them discover brands they had not considered, and 38% learned about new brands at the start of their search.

How can a brand check whether AI tools recommend it?

Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot the questions buyers in the category ask, then record which brands appear and which sources the answers cite.

[Xaviery Malinao](https://www.promptthemarket.com/xaviery-malinao/)

Xaviery Malinao writes for Prompt the Market on how brands and agencies are adapting to answer engines, drawing on Bushnote's work with clients across search, AI search and content.