Would your potential customers buy it? Send their AI shopping first.
AI assistants are starting to shop for people. Market Simulator puts your new product or offer, at the price you plan, in front of AI shoppers acting for your potential customers, next to the real alternatives. You see what they choose, what they rule out first, and why. (We test reactions to a price you set, never what anyone would pay.)
Since November 2025, Perplexity, Microsoft, Google and Meta have each launched a way for US shoppers to buy through their AI assistant.
A chatbot wants to help you. That is the problem.
Ask an assistant whether your idea is good and it usually encourages you. It can tell which idea is yours, and it is built to be agreeable.
How it works.
- Your offer and its real competitors are described the same way, from their own pages, so no model can tell which one is yours. The order changes every time
- An AI shopper gets a brief: a buyer, a situation and a budget. It picks one option to buy and one to rule out first, with a reason. Hundreds of briefs, on ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude
- You see the result buyer by buyer, never one blended share
- We change one line at a time to find what moves the choice, as one line about Apple Pencil did for the iPhone Duo
What you get.
- which buyers an AI shopper picks you for, which it rules you out for, and why
- the line in your product information that changes the choice, and the one that costs you
- how ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude differ
- what to fix in your product information and offer before the launch
We put Apple's three new launches in front of simulated buyers. Each won its own buyers and lost the rest.
Apple households chose HomeView nine times in ten. Every other buyer ruled it out first, nine times in ten.
parent in a busy family of four; everyone in the house uses an iPhone
USD 300
retired teacher who lives alone and uses an Android phone
USD 150
young professional sharing an apartment, careful about privacy
USD 250
smart-home enthusiast whose lights and locks already run on Apple Home
USD 400
student on a tight budget with an Android phone
USD 100
one half of a couple who talk to Alexa every day; one of you has an iPhone, the other an Android phone
USD 250
Almost every rejection named the price. A quarter named its face recognition or privacy, a feature Apple leads with.
One missing line cost the iPhone Duo its most obvious buyers. With Apple Pencil on the card, simulated illustrators went from 4% to 63%.
Without the Pencil line
Apple iPhone Duo: a foldable phone with a 7.6-inch inner display and a 5.4-inch outer display. It runs the A20 Pro chip and has two 48 MP rear cameras. It has IP68 splash, water and dust resistance. Price: $1,999 for 256GB.
With the Pencil line
Apple iPhone Duo: a foldable phone with a 7.6-inch inner display and a 5.4-inch outer display. It runs the A20 Pro chip and has two 48 MP rear cameras. It works with Apple Pencil (USB-C). Price: $1,999 for 256GB.
Illustrators
iPhone fans
Frequent travelers
Samsung foldable owners
Parents
budget below its $1,999 priceSmall-business owners
budget below its $1,999 pricePrice was the reason in nine of ten rejections.
The first touchscreen Mac won with the video editor and the AI developer, and almost nobody else. When buyers wanted to draw and write on the screen, they chose the Surface four to one.
software developer who wants to run AI models locally
USD 3,000
video editor who has always worked on a Mac
USD 3,500
design student
USD 2,000
manager whose company runs on Windows and Microsoft 365
USD 2,500
long-time MacBook owner curious about switching to Windows
USD 3,000
founder of a small creative agency
USD 2,500
When buyers wanted to draw and write on the screen
Market Simulator, 29 October 2026. 288 simulated choices per test across six buyer types we chose, three AI models. Cards from official US pages at list prices that day.
Apple's new betsWhat this tells you, and what it does not.
An AI shopper decides from what the listing says, as an assistant does when someone hands it a purchase. That is what we measure, buyer by buyer. People also know brands, read reviews and ask friends, so we never turn these results into a market share or a sales forecast.
When can you trust simulated buyers?From $3,000. One week.
For innovation teams and investors. For founders, a lighter version on request.
Talk to us