The framework, the AI-Era Attribution Blueprint, provides a way to classify AI’s role in a conversion and evaluate which parties can claim credit for it, the release said.
The AI-Era Attribution Blueprint asks who or what created the intent, made the decision and completed the purchase; classifies each conversion as Human-Owned, AI-Assisted or AI-Executed; and provides a pathway to determine which parties are eligible for a decision claim or a contributory claim as well as what evidence each claim requires, per the release.
Caroline Giegerich, vice president, AI at IAB, said in the release that because the clicks and referrals that have been used for attribution are thinning out or disappearing, and AI-influenced sales are sometimes reported as search or direct traffic, companies may be sending their next marketing investment to the wrong channel.
“The AI-Era Attribution Blueprint works alongside existing attribution systems, defining the additional credit claims AI creates and the evidence each one requires,” Giegerich said in the release.
IAB CEO David Cohen said in the release that AI has added a new dimension to the existing challenge of determining how influence becomes an outcome.
“The AI-Era Attribution Blueprint is honest about what the industry can’t yet substantiate, and we’re inviting everyone in the ecosystem to apply it and help make AI’s role in commerce more observable, verifiable and measurable,” Cohen said in the release.
The PYMNTS Intelligence report “From Prompt to Purchase: Who Wins the AI Shopper?“ found in October that nearly 61 million consumers in the United States, or 23%, now name AI as their main starting point when researching retail purchases online.
“A consumer who welcomes AI’s advice can keep control of checkout, return to a trusted marketplace or delegate the purchase,” the report said. “The central finding is that AI is displacing established research habits faster than it is displacing established buying relationships. Advertising and product visibility face a different competitive challenge from the accounts, saved cards and delivery services that help secure the sale.”
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