Google announced the biggest change to its search product in more than 25 years at Google I/O in May 2026. The familiar list of ranked links is giving way to AI Search. AI Search will include AI-generated summaries, interactive comparisons built on the fly, and background agents that monitor the web on behalf of consumers.
In a recent blog article, Loyalty Programs in the Age of AI Agentic Commerce, Loyalty & Reward Co CEO Philip Shelper examined how AI agentic commerce is changing what happens when an AI agent executes a purchase, and why loyalty programs need to be ready for that moment. This article examines a different part of the same shift. It explores how consumers decide which brand to commit to in the first place, and how Google’s changes are altering the competitive dynamics at that earlier stage.
What Has Google Actually Changed?
At Google I/O in May 2026, Google described these updates as the most significant change to search since the search box launched over 25 years ago. Four specific changes matter most for loyalty program operators: AI Overviews, AI Mode, Generative UI, and information agents.
- AI Overviews are now used by more than 2.5 billion people each month. They synthesise answers from across the web into a single summary positioned above traditional link results.
- AI Mode, Google’s conversational search experience, has reached 1 billion monthly users. Consumers can ask follow-up questions without returning to a search box, with Google maintaining context across the conversation.
- Generative UI enables Google to build custom interactive comparison experiences in real time. Each response is assembled for that specific query, with no predefined templates.
- Information agents are persistent background monitors. Consumers can instruct them to track specific conditions on the web and receive synthesised updates when those conditions change. Both Generative UI and information agents are rolling out free to all Google users in the coming months.
Google’s AI is doing more of the evaluation work consumers previously did by clicking through links and comparing options themselves. The scale of this shift is already measurable with zero-click searches, where a consumer receives an answer without visiting any external website, now accounting for approximately 60 per cent of all Google queries, according to recent analysis. The I/O 2026 announcements are likely to push that figure higher.
Why Does This Matter for Loyalty Programs?
Attracting new members is one of the core functions any well-designed loyalty program must deliver. A program’s ability to do that depends, in part, on being visible and compelling when consumers are deciding which brand to commit to.
Historically, consumers made that decision by clicking through search results, comparing programs across multiple websites, and assessing value propositions directly. Google’s AI does more of that work now. Consumers receive synthesised evaluations rather than a list of sources to check.
A June 2026 survey of 3,000 US and UK consumers by business agency GALE found that 56 per cent are now comfortable with AI filtering their brand communications entirely, and nearly one in three have already used ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot to prioritise certain brands over others. GALE estimates that the proportion of consumers who regularly instruct AI to manage their brand preferences could reach 60 to 70 per cent within three years.
In Australia, the timeline is immediate. Australia is the first APAC market to launch Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol, with Loyalty & Reward Co client THE ICONIC among the Australian retailers signed on as one of the first pilot brands. Google reports that 73 per cent of Australians now make faster purchasing decisions using AI Overviews and AI Mode. Connecting to Google’s commerce infrastructure puts a retailer inside the checkout experience. How a program’s loyalty value appears to a consumer who is still deciding where to shop is a question that comes earlier, and one this post addresses.
The challenge here differs from the one Loyalty & Reward Co has written about at the transaction stage. Philip Shelper’s article asked whether AI agents can read and apply loyalty benefits at checkout. This article asks whether Google’s AI gives consumers an accurate picture of a program’s value when they are still deciding which brand to commit to. Both questions matter, and each requires a different response from program operators.
What Does Generative UI Mean for How Programs Are Compared?
When a consumer searches for something like “best supermarket with a loyalty program” or “which airline rewards program gives the best value,” Google no longer returns a ranked list of links. It builds an interactive comparison. That comparison reflects what Google’s AI can extract and evaluate from publicly available information about each program.
Programs with clearly stated earn rates and tier benefits are easier for the AI to represent accurately. Programs whose value is buried in terms and conditions, or described in language that means little to an algorithm, will be underrepresented. In some cases they will not appear at all.
Loyalty & Reward Co’s Essential Eight™ principles include Differentiating as a core requirement for best-practice program design. In the context of Generative UI comparisons, differentiation carries additional weight. A program that looks identical to its competitors in an AI-generated comparison gives the consumer no reason to choose it. A program with genuine differentiation that is poorly described publicly will not receive credit for it.
The most defensible loyalty programs include benefits that are harder to copy or reduce to a price comparison. Benefits such as priority access, exclusive event access, experiential rewards, status recognition, and well-constructed earn-and-burn partnerships. These are also the hardest for an AI comparison to flatten into a single line.
How Do Information Agents Change the Competitive Pressure on Programs?
Google’s information agents create a new set of problems for programs that already have members. Consumers can instruct an agent to monitor specific conditions and receive alerts when those conditions are met. A member could set an agent to flag when their points are approaching expiry, or when a competitor launches a promotion they have not seen before.
A member’s agent could alert them to expiring points before the program has sent its own reminder. If the agent gets there first, the program has lost a re-engagement moment it should have owned. An agent tracking bonus earn events across multiple programs will surface whichever is offering the best opportunity at any given time. A program with an infrequent or poorly timed promotions calendar is exposed in that comparison in ways it was not before.
An agent could also surface a competitor’s welcome offer at the moment a member is showing signs of reduced engagement. The agent does not need to make an active recommendation. Surfacing the information is enough.
What Should Loyalty Program Operators Do?
The response to Google’s Search changes does not require a program redesign. It requires an honest assessment of how the program presents itself publicly and whether its value reads clearly in AI-generated comparisons. As loyalty consultants we see five areas that are worth prioritising.
Search your own program in AI Mode
Use Google’s AI Mode to search for your program and your closest competitors. Look at what the AI says about earn rates, tier benefits, and redemption options. Is the description accurate? Is it compelling relative to what competitors receive? If the AI is misrepresenting your program’s value, the fix is almost certainly on your own web properties rather than a conversation with Google.
Review how your program’s value is described publicly
AI systems extract and synthesise information from the pages that exist. If a program’s most attractive benefits are described inconsistently across the website, buried in PDF terms and conditions, or written in language that is difficult to parse algorithmically, that is worth addressing. Clear, consistently stated benefit descriptions across all public touchpoints will improve how the program reads in AI-generated comparisons.
Participate in Google’s Direct Offers for loyalty benefits
Google launched Direct Offers in January 2026 and has confirmed it will expand the format beyond price discounts to include loyalty benefits and product bundles directly inside AI Mode. This gives program operators a direct way to make loyalty value visible at the exact moment a consumer is choosing which brand to buy from. Operators should assess eligibility and test this channel as it becomes more widely available.
Audit your member communication timing
If a member’s information agent alerts them to expiring points before the program’s own communications do, the re-engagement strategy has a timing problem. Real-time or near-real-time member data access is the foundation for a communication approach that stays ahead of what an agent can surface. Programs that communicate after the moment has passed will find that agents have already done the work.
Invest in benefits that resist commoditisation
Experiential benefits and status recognition are harder to flatten into a comparison table than earn rates alone. AI comparisons tend to reduce undifferentiated programs to interchangeable options. Programs with something genuinely difficult to replicate are easier for Google’s AI to represent clearly, and more likely to earn a consumer’s commitment.
How Loyalty & Reward Co Can Help
Loyalty & Reward Co works with brands globally to design and evolve best-practice loyalty programs. If you want to assess how your program is positioned for the changes underway in AI search and commerce or you are thinking about designing a loyalty program fit for the AI era, get in touch with our team.
