A sponsored post from NielsenIQ appeared in a Chiang Mai Facebook feed this week carrying a single claim: seven in ten shoppers in Indonesia and Thailand use AI tools or assistants to help determine what to buy. The post draws on NIQ Consumer Outlook: Guide to 2027, a survey of more than 21,000 consumers across 31 countries, and it tells brands to understand how their products are found, ranked and recommended online.
For a café in Nimman, a guesthouse beside the Ping River, a craft workshop in San Kamphaeng or an accounting firm in Chang Phueak, the message applies directly. A customer who asks an assistant for a recommendation receives a short answer, and NielsenIQ expects recommendation systems to present only a handful of choices, in some cases a single option.
What did NielsenIQ actually measure?
NielsenIQ surveyed more than 21,000 household shopping decision-makers in 31 countries and found that 27 per cent used an AI tool or assistant in the past three months to research or decide what to buy. Adoption ranks among the highest in Indonesia and Thailand, and NielsenIQ advertising puts the figure for those two markets at seven in ten. Every figure is self-reported.
The full report, published on 30 September 2026, draws on more than 21,000 respondents in 31 countries, mostly people who make shopping decisions for their households. Across all markets, 27 per cent say they already use AI shopping assistants or other AI-powered tools to help research or decide what to buy, and 55 per cent say AI recommendations at least sometimes influence their household and grocery purchases.
NielsenIQ states that adoption is particularly elevated in India, Indonesia, Thailand and several Middle Eastern countries, and its country ranking places Indonesia and Thailand near the top. The seven in ten figure for Indonesia and Thailand appears in NielsenIQ advertising for the report, while the report text gives the global figure and the ranking, with the individual country values shown in a chart.
The figures are self-reported, and NielsenIQ notes that they differ from other studies because of differences in respondent groups, methods and questions. The measure counts people who use AI to research or decide, which is a narrower group than people who let AI complete a purchase. NielsenIQ research published in May 2026 found that 42 per cent of consumers had used at least one AI tool to shop in the past month, 10 per cent had used an AI shopping assistant and five per cent had let an autonomous agent place an order.
What do other studies show across Thailand and Southeast Asia?
Thailand has 31 million generative AI users, 63 per cent of the working population, and leads Southeast Asia in usage frequency at 2.7 AI sessions per week. Cube Asia found that 51 per cent of Southeast Asian shoppers use generative AI to find products. Thai figures for shopping use range from 33 per cent for general tools to 85 per cent willing to let AI buy, because each study asks a different question.
The e-Conomy SEA 2026 report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company counts 31 million generative AI users in Thailand, 63 per cent of the working population, and places Thailand first in Southeast Asia for usage frequency at 2.7 AI sessions per week. In a July 2026 survey of 9,006 AI users across six markets, 85 per cent of Thai respondents said they would let AI find the best price and buy a product, against 75 per cent across the region, according to a summary of the report.
Cube Asia surveyed 2,400 consumers aged 18 to 69 in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam and found that 51 per cent use generative AI to find products and where to buy them. Indonesia and Malaysia lead the region in using these tools for marketplace shopping, and the same study finds that creators, friends and family still carry more weight than AI when the final decision is made.
Google’s Gemini Report: Southeast Asia 2026, released in July, states that Gemini app users in ASEAN more than doubled in a year. In Thailand, 87 per cent of prompts are written in Thai, and one third of prompts concern general use and inspiration, from home decoration ideas and recipes to travel destination searches. Shoppers in Thailand and Indonesia can search and compare products directly inside the Gemini chat, and Google made AI Mode in Search available in Thai in October 2025.
A separate Southeast Asian digital trust study put Thai use of general generative AI tools for shopping at 33 per cent against a regional average of 40 per cent, while 17 per cent of Thai shoppers use assistants on brand-owned websites against 10 per cent across the region. The studies differ because each asks a different question of a different group, which is why the wording of any figure matters when it is quoted.
StatCounter data for June 2026 shows ChatGPT with 70.24 per cent of Thai AI chatbot use, Gemini with 18.82 per cent, Perplexity with 4.34 per cent and Claude with 3.88 per cent, so a business needs to check all four. A Pew Research Center study of United States users found that people click a traditional result in 8 per cent of visits when an AI summary appears, against 15 per cent without one, which is why being named inside the answer matters.
What does this mean for a Chiang Mai business?
Chiang Mai received a record 12 million visitors in 2025, and about 70 per cent of the province’s visitors are Thai, which makes Thai-language questions central to how customers find a business. Google reports that 87 per cent of Thai Gemini prompts are written in Thai. A Chiang Mai business keeps its place in those answers by publishing facts that are accurate, consistent and available in both Thai and English.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand reports that Chiang Mai received a record 12 million visitors in 2025, including four million from overseas, according to TNT Magazine. A TAT official told the Bangkok Post in early 2025 that around 70 per cent of the province’s visitors are Thai, which places Thai-language questions at the centre of how customers find a business here.
Many Chiang Mai businesses win customers through recommendation, from a visitor choosing a café, a spa or a guesthouse to a resident choosing an accountant, a lawyer or a contractor. Assistants now supply part of that recommendation, and the businesses they name receive the enquiry. The e-Conomy SEA 2026 findings place generative AI second only to search engines for travel planning in Southeast Asia, ahead of social media.
Google reports that one third of Thai prompts to Gemini concern general use and inspiration, including travel destination searches, and that 87 per cent of Thai prompts are written in Thai. A business that describes itself clearly in Thai as well as English gives an assistant material in the language the customer uses.
Industry sources such as Local Falcon report that Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and other assistants now surface local business recommendations directly in their answers, often without the customer visiting any website. A business therefore needs its facts to be accurate where the assistant reads them, which is a different task from designing an attractive website.
How do AI assistants choose which businesses to recommend?
Google states that no additional requirements exist for its AI features and that standard search practice applies, including accurate Google Business Profile details. Search marketing firms report that assistants read consistent business names, addresses and telephone numbers, customer reviews and mentions on third-party sites. None of the sources reviewed measured these signals for Chiang Mai, so each business tests the results directly.
None of the sources reviewed for this article examines Chiang Mai specifically, and most of the practical guidance comes from search marketing firms. Google is the one party that publishes the mechanics of its own systems, and Google Search Central states that no additional requirements exist to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and that established search optimisation practice still applies.
Google’s guide to generative AI search names the inputs that matter to a local business: a Google Business Profile with accurate and current business details, original content that offers a point of view other sources do not hold, text that crawlers can read, and images and video where they help. The guide states that llms.txt files, special markup and efforts to collect inauthentic mentions bring no benefit in Google Search, and it describes structured data as useful for enhanced listings without being required for AI features. Google also provides a Generative AI performance report in Search Console, which shows how a site appears in these features.
Search marketing firms report that assistants such as Gemini and Perplexity read the same signals, namely consistent name, address and telephone details across the website, social profiles and directories, customer reviews and mentions on third-party sites. SOCi, a local marketing software company, reports in its 2026 Local Visibility Index that only 68 per cent of business contact details shown on ChatGPT and Perplexity match the Google Business Profile, and that fewer than half of the businesses leading Google local results also appear in AI local recommendations. SOCi sells software that addresses the problem it measures, so the figures describe the scale of the issue as one vendor sees it.
NielsenIQ’s analysis of US consumers finds that about four in ten AI summary users read the summary and then click through to the links, that search engines still earn more trust than chatbots, and that online reviews feed AI summaries while remaining among the strongest drivers of trial.
Are Thai businesses ready for AI shopping?
More than seven in ten Thai SMEs surveyed by UOB are implementing AI, yet more than 77 per cent of AI applications in the Thailand Digital Outlook remain experimental or pilot. True Corporation puts Thai organisational AI maturity near 10 per cent, while 75 per cent of Thai consumers use generative AI. Customers are adopting AI faster than businesses are preparing for it.
Thai businesses already use AI inside their own operations. The UOB Business Outlook Study 2026 from UOB surveyed 265 Thai SME owners and senior decision-makers and found that more than seven in ten are implementing AI, above the regional average, with 58 per cent of adopters reporting cost reductions and 44 per cent reporting productivity gains. Nation Thailand reports that Microsoft’s Global AI Diffusion report ranks Thailand second globally for AI adoption growth, behind South Korea.
The Thailand Digital Outlook 2026, announced on 8 July by the National Digital Economy and Society Committee with 834 digital entrepreneurs surveyed, found that more than 77 per cent of AI applications remain in experimental or pilot phases, and that marketing, internal operations and information technology are the leading uses. Marketing sits at the top of that list and most applications remain pilots, which leaves room for a Chiang Mai business that builds an accurate record of itself now.
The CMBN Research Desk has studied the same question from the owner’s side. Its whitepaper AI and Automation in Chiang Mai, produced with LAN Business Consulting, evaluated 65 AI and automation tools with Chiang Mai business owners and found an average of 11 hours a week lost to repetitive tasks among the owners surveyed. The Research Desk has also published Why AI tools fail in small businesses.
True Corporation data reported in August 2026 shows the same gap: 75 per cent of Thai consumers use generative AI, while organisational AI maturity stands near 10 per cent. For more on how smaller Thai firms are using AI, read the CMBN coverage of Thailand’s small AI SMEs and of Chiang Mai tourism spend.
What can Chiang Mai businesses do now?
Complete the Google Business Profile, keep the business name, address and telephone number identical everywhere, publish clear facts in Thai and English, earn and answer reviews, hold a verified Golden Pages listing, and test what ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity say about the business every month. Google confirms that accurate business details matter and that no special markup or files are required.
Complete the Google Business Profile
Fill every field of the Google Business Profile: primary and secondary categories, opening hours, services, photographs and answers to common questions. Google lists Business Profile information among the details to keep current for its AI features, and CMBN Media Services manages profiles for member companies.
Keep the name, address and telephone number identical everywhere
Use one spelling of the business name, one address format and one telephone number across the website, social profiles and every directory listing. Search marketing firms report that mismatched details reduce the confidence assistants place in a business.
Publish clear facts in Thai and English
State opening hours, price ranges, services, location and languages spoken in both languages on the website, because Thai-language prompts dominate Gemini use in Thailand. Google’s local business structured data guide explains how a website states these facts in a form search engines read, and Google notes that this markup supports enhanced listings without being required for its AI features.
Earn and answer reviews
Ask satisfied customers for reviews on Google Maps and reply to each one. NielsenIQ reports that online reviews inform AI summaries and remain among the strongest influences on trial.
Hold a verified listing in a Chiang Mai directory
Golden Pages, the directory operated by the Chiang Mai Business Network, checks every member listing in person, which gives a business a consistent third-party record with a link to its website. Businesses apply for a listing directly, and every CMBN membership includes a featured listing. Industry sources identify directory listings as places where assistants cross-check business details.
Ask the assistants and record the answers
Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity for the best business of your type in Chiang Mai, in Thai and in English, then record which businesses each assistant names and which details it shows for yours. Industry guidance from Over The Top SEO recommends repeating the test every month.
CMBN Media Services runs digital presence audits that record where a member company appears in search, maps and AI assistants. The Chiang Mai SEO Conference, hosted by Diggity Marketing and Smash Digital from 9 to 13 November 2026, brings a week of talks on search optimisation to the city.
Assistants compile their recommendations from the records businesses keep, and the business that maintains a complete, consistent record in Thai and English gives the assistant the most accurate material to work from.
