Residential Metal Roofing Executive Report

AI, Shopping, and Search Changes in 2026

Issue #281 | February 25, 2026 | Jeffrey Friend

It’s no secret that AI continues to expand into more areas of our lives every day, as companies, services, and tools incorporate it into their offerings. Many of us use it as a glorified search engine, shopping needs included. Although Google has certainly improved their shopping experience over the last decade, an AI can provide greater detail. To combat this difference, Google rolled out a major update to its platform this past Holiday season. From an article last November, they state, “When you ask AI Mode a shopping question, you’ll get an intelligently organized response that brings together rich visuals and all the details you need (like price, reviews, and inventory info), helping you quickly and confidently decide what to buy.”

Marrying the absolute convenience and speed of a Google search with the depth and intelligence of an AI response will revolutionize the online shopping experience. The question is, how will it affect your business? 

Of course, buying a Christmas gift is a far cry from a major home renovation project, and metal roofing requires a longer process regardless. We need to get to know the homeowner, their needs, and their home. However, as search volume driven by LLMs increases, we must be prepared to adapt to these new features or risk being left behind.

We’re seeing the very early days of this AI implementation in the buying process. While residential metal roofing is a major purchase, prospects who typically buy through AI agents may expect greater ease and convenience. While they may not buy directly from the site, making color and style options, along with pricing, easily accessible will go a long way. And of course, being transparent with pricing isn’t easy. Like we spoke about in our last issue, being open about cost is rapidly becoming the norm. With search funneling through AI, people expect to receive a certain level of information. If your competitors are transparent with pricing, styles, and details, they may get the call over you, regardless of any quality or performance differences. To put it bluntly, we are currently in an information arms race. Those who step up and provide the relevant information are going to get a lot more interest than those who hide it behind a full conversation and sales pitch.

Google may even call your business via an automated caller to verify important details like hours or available stock. While this is fairly simple now, it may evolve in the future to asking even more complex questions tailored to your specific field or offerings. Already, it may use these calls to book appointments or check wait times for restaurants. Regardless, being prepared to answer this call is crucial. We all know how vital our search engine performance is, and getting these calls right will not only help you with the customer who requested the call but also with the platform as a whole. 

We don’t know the extent to which these changes will affect service-based industries like ours, but consumer habits are changing. Google captures an unfathomable number of searches daily and has already pivoted to focus on its own AI, Gemini. While they’ve enjoyed unchecked dominance over search, the importance of SEO is declining; optimizing for AI is the new goal. Todd Miller recently discussed this in a webinar on lead generation and AI for METALCON. The best thing we can all do is be flexible and informed on how to serve our customers and prospects with new technology and the opportunity it brings.

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