Walmart’s ChatGPT traffic climbs, Apple launches dev Siri, and OpenAI unveils ChatGPT Pulse
Walmart’s ChatGPT traffic climbs, Apple launches dev Siri, and OpenAI unveils ChatGPT Pulse
Walmart’s referral traffic mix is shifting toward ChatGPT, Apple is readying an LLM-powered Siri, and OpenAI has dropped Pulse. Three stories that show just how fast AI search is becoming the default discovery layer - and what brands should do about it.
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Welcome
🗣️ Top Stories
If you work in marketing, product, or tech - and want to keep pace with the shifts AI is driving across search, software and strategy - here’s what you need to know this week.
🛒 20% of Walmart’s referral traffic now comes from ChatGPT-
Modern Retail reports that, in August, roughly one in five of Walmart’s **referral** clicks originated from ChatGPT. While referral traffic remains a small piece of the overall pie (less than ~5% of total visits), this climb shows how fast AI is entering the e-commerce discovery phase.
Although full transactions within chatbots are not yet widespread, the visibility and sentiment driven by AI responses may increasingly steer conversions downstream.
Read the piece.
Key takeout: AI search referrals are no longer edge cases - they attract task-driven users. Brands should make sure their product feeds are clean, PDPs and brand pages show accurate specs and availability, and pricing/shipping details are clearly surfaced.
Long term, OpenAI is likely to monetize these referrals via affiliate or transaction-based models. AI e-commerce responses are already behaving like traditional search results - product carousels, links, and curated offers are becoming central to the experience.
🍎 Apple prepares an LLM-powered Siri app-
MacRumors reports Apple is readying a new Siri app with deeper, on-device LLM capabilities and tighter app/action control, although it is currently only available to internal developers. Public release is expected as part of Apple’s broader AI rollout in early 2026.
MacRumors report.
Key takeout: Voice-first task completion is becoming a mainstream AI search surface- but Apple still faces the challenge Simon Thillay and I discussed: moving from a hardware-first company into true AI leadership. Their branding (“Apple Intelligence”) looks slick, yet the execution has lagged rivals. To succeed, Apple may need to lean on external partnerships (Gemini, Anthropic) rather than building everything in-house.
For brands, the action point is clear: expose structured actions (intents, deep links, schema) so assistants like Siri can complete tasks end-to-end- not just answer questions.
📰 OpenAI introduces ChatGPT Pulse-
OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Pulse, a new feed inside ChatGPT that serves up timely topics and crisp explainers drawn from your chat history, preferences and connected apps. It’s positioned as a proactive “morning brief,” surfacing cards with news, reminders and context rather than waiting for you to ask.
For now, Pulse is only available to Pro subscribers at $200/month, a pricing tier aimed at heavy users, with Plus users expected to follow later. While some have compared it to existing curation tools like Feedly or briefing newsletters, Pulse is tightly embedded within ChatGPT’s workflow- raising the stakes for how brands might get visibility when their content is cited in these high-signal moments.
Introducing ChatGPT Pulse.
Key takeout: Pulse adds another prominent discovery shelf inside ChatGPT. High-authority sources, clean metadata and concise summaries increase the chance your brand is surfaced and cited in “what matters now” moments.
Thanks to each and every one of you for subscribing and reading. Have a great week!
Andy
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📹Upcoming episode
Sneak peek: Apple, AI and the future of app marketing
I’ve just recorded an upcoming Franc Talking episode with Simon Thillay, Head of ASO Strategy at AppTweak. We went deep on the shifts in app marketing, ASO, and AI - but one theme stood out: Why is Apple behind in AI arms race.
👉 Despite pioneering the iPhone and the App Store, Apple’s on-device AI rollout lags behind Google’s Gemini push.
👉 Their App Store AI features - tags, review summaries - are still hit-and-miss, often needing manual clean-up.
👉 Apple’s structure as a hardware-first company makes it harder to pivot quickly compared to software-first rivals like Google.
Simon’s take? It’s not just that Apple is late - it’s that they need to prove what they’re legitimately able to deliver in AI without risking their brand promise of seamless user experience.
We’ll dive deeper into:
👉 Why custom product pages and store listings are still the biggest levers in ASO
👉 How ratings, reviews and retention now directly influence visibility
👉 And why AI search referrals from platforms like ChatGPT are becoming a new discovery channel for apps
The full conversation drops in a couple of weeks - this is one you won’t want to miss.
Exclusive offer for Franc Talking readers 🎉
Get 20% off for 3 months on all AppTweak business plans - including ASO Intell, Campaign Manager, Market Intelligence, and App Review Manager.
