Nearly two-thirds of UAE businesses are already adapting their digital content for AI-powered search as shoppers increasingly begin purchasing journeys through conversational assistants rather than traditional search engines, according to new Salesforce research.
Salesforce said 62 per cent of UAE businesses have created or optimised content for conversational and question-based queries, while 61 per cent have improved product content quality and the same share have increased their presence across third-party sources.
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A further 58 per cent have submitted data feeds directly to AI search platforms, while 37 per cent have optimised product descriptions for natural-language searches and 31 per cent monitor how their brands appear in AI-generated responses.
The findings form part of Salesforce’s fourth State of Commerce report.
AI becomes top priority
Implementing or expanding artificial intelligence now ranks as the top priority for UAE commerce leaders for the year ahead, ahead of growing the customer base, adapting to changing buyer behaviour, expanding omnichannel capabilities and improving data quality.
Globally, Salesforce said the use of agentic search as the first step in a shopping journey increased 200 per cent year-on-year, while traffic referred from AI chats rose between 150 per cent and 428 per cent across the quarters measured.
Mohammed Alkhotani, SVP and GM of Salesforce Middle East, said UAE companies were moving quickly to reshape how customers discover products and services.
He said businesses were not only adapting to AI search but also investing in connecting customer data so that AI-driven experiences could deliver better results.
Unified customer data boosts results
The research found that UAE organisations with unified customer data were seeing stronger outcomes from AI adoption.
Among those businesses, 48 per cent reported improved AI and automation results, while 47 per cent saw better alignment between sales, marketing and commerce teams.
Another 46 per cent achieved more consistent pricing and contract application, while 43 per cent reported higher conversion rates. The same proportion said customer retention and loyalty improved, while 41 per cent said customer issues were resolved faster.
Salesforce said the findings showed that data integration was becoming increasingly important as companies deploy AI across customer-facing operations.
Omnichannel gaps remain
The report also identified areas where UAE businesses continue to face challenges in delivering consistent omnichannel experiences.
Among B2B organisations, 44 per cent cited ordering channels spread across multiple systems as the most common problem.
Another 37 per cent said inventory data was not synchronised in real time, while 35 per cent struggled to recognise customers consistently across channels. The same proportion cited complicated or inconsistent returns and exchanges.
A further 33 per cent reported inconsistent pricing and promotions across channels.
Only 1 per cent of UAE multichannel organisations said they experienced no significant breakdowns across their customer journeys.
Source: Khaleej Times