Written by Marcela Balart

Did you bag some bargains over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales? More importantly, did you use AI? 

Payment provider, Visa, this week released data confirming how AI is enhancing holiday spending in the U.S., primarily for gift inspiration and product research.  

In Australia, a recent report indicates many consumers are looking to use AI to navigate cost constraints and streamline shopping with recommendations and comparisons. 

In our last edition of IMPACT Insights, we looked at how ChatGPT and Copilot were ranking brands in Christmas gift searches. In this article, we turn our attention to Gemini and Claude.  

With visits from AI platforms up to 5.1 times more likely to convert than traffic from traditional search, organisations can’t afford to ignore their brand’s AI visibility and discoverability. 

Gemini search leans on data and trends  

When asked for the best gift ideas for Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z, Google-backed Gemini, went mainstream, favouring the spending reports and category data from some of Australia’s biggest institutions, such as ASIC and CommBank.  

Gift guides from major retailers and stockists, like JB Hi-Fi, David Jones and Myer, came in a close second, confirming global trends and the most heavily promoted products.  Gemini also pulled from social media trends to determine what is culturally ‘hot’ and desirable. 

Premium lifestyle publications, such as Harper’s Bazaar AU and Australian Traveller provided the premium and experiential gift ideas popular with a higher disposable-income group. 

Gemini’s 2025 Best Christmas Gift Ideas 

To win on Gemini, brands should: 

• Deeply embed Australian context and authority. 
• Structure content that is conversational, quotable and easily discoverable. 
• Build topic authority using Google’s EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) algorithm criteria, bolstered by a digital PR program. 
• Opimise content for conversational queries and intent. 
• Prioritise content freshness and accuracy in line with AI’s programming for recent and verified information.
• Secure mentions in trusted media.

Cost-conscious Claude enters the chat  

Created by former OpenAI researchers, Claude excels at natural language processing, whether its reading, analysing, summarising or creating content. In its search for the best gifts, its first port of call was Australian publications, such as Australian Traveller and The Latch, for their cultural relevance and curation to the local market.  

This was then paired with generational consumer data and research through websites, such as Finder.com.au, to provide spending patterns and validate budget appropriateness.  

Owned channels and retail pages were then prioritised to confirm actual availability, Australian pricing and delivery options. Why, might you ask? Claude was the only platform to provide price ranges, completely unprompted.  

Finally, social media reports were essential to identify Gen Z viral products and trends, proving that they don’t call them the TikTok generation for nothing.  

Claude’s 2025 Best Christmas Gift Ideas 

To win on Claude, brands should: 

• Create generation-specific content pages. 
• Leverage data-driven content marketing. 
• Optimise content for “Australian + [category] + 2025” search patterns. 
• Build authoritative “ultimate gift guide” hub pages. 
• Generate earned media coverage and encourage quality backlinks. 

To find out how IMPACT can enhance your brand visibility in AI search, contact Nicole on nicole@impactagency.com.au.