Research / Mechanism Studies

The mechanism behind the headline finding

The flagship report showed that store readiness does not predict recommendation. These nine studies dig into why, each one testing a single variable such as web search, brand fame, domain recognition, self justification, vocabulary, intent, the model's own memory, what tips the verdict once two candidates are genuinely close, or how a brand with no memory gets considered at all.

9 published studies

Isolating one variable at a time

Each study holds the model and the prompts constant and changes exactly one thing, so the effect can be attributed with confidence rather than guessed at.

Web Search Rewrites 77% of AI Product Recommendations

Turning on browsing changes 77% of recommended brands, same model, same prompts.

77% of brands changed

Mechanism, Corrected

The Fame Study, Corrected

Public fame explains 1.2% of recommendation, re-measured on 872 brands, sitting on the noise floor.

AI Knows Your Website. It Still Won't Recommend You.

The model names the correct domain 75.9% of the time. Knowing where you are is not the same as reading your store.

75.9% domain accuracy

29,633 Reasons. 26,812 Unique. The Model Confabulates.

The model writes a fresh justification for every pick. Asking it why does not work.

90% unique reasons

Search Changes the Vocabulary, Not Just the Brands

With search on, the model names ingredients and specifications. With it off, impressions.

21x more specific

Candidacy vs Selection

Full population, 60,924 stores. Intent gets you into the recommended set. It wins you nothing once you're there.

Nothing About Your Brand Predicts Recommendation. The Model's Own Past Behavior Does.

June's position predicts July's position, the strongest signal in this entire series, and it does not drift for 15 days.

61.4% self-predictive

Hand It a Rating, and It Follows Every Single Time

16 genuinely contested brand pairs. A better star rating flipped the verdict 160 of 160 runs, zero exceptions.

100% follow rating

We Invented a Brand With Zero History. Reviews Got It Picked Anyway

Against an entrenched category leader, a brand with no memory won 0 of 360 runs with no evidence, 53.1% once given a review score.

0% to 53.1% with reviews

We Widened the Fame Signal Four Ways. It Barely Moved

Wikipedia, Wikidata, domain age, and media mentions combined explain 11.2% of recommendation frequency, still far under the 61.4% self-consistency benchmark.

11.2% combined, vs 61.4%

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