Test-New-Blog
Test-New-Blog
December 17, 2025
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Using the same web content, ChatGPT and AI Mode do not come up with the same list of gifts for a Belgian. Behind these differences lie not so much chance as very specific algorithmic, SEO, and cultural logic... and an indicator of who will win, or lose, the battle for visibility in the age of AI.
When asked for Christmas decorating ideas, ChatGPT tends to suggest scented candles from major French brands, designer gift sets, and a few “catalog” items, as if you were walking through an international department store. AI Mode, on the other hand, readily suggests Maisons du Monde, Ikea, Hema, Dille & Kamille, Pols Potten, or VTWonen, with cowboy boot-shaped vases, tomato lamps, and crystal barometers that look like they came straight out of a Pinterest feed.
These responses may seem random, even unimaginative. However, the AIs are working with the same raw material: the web. But they process it differently. ChatGPT synthesizes an “ideal model” of a gift, shaped by years of global content, while AI Mode applies the hierarchy of Belgian and Dutch search results in real time. This discrepancy is neither inconsistent nor random: it reveals structured biases—technical, economic, and cultural—that determine which brands, products, and categories will win in a future where AI will increasingly serve as a gateway to consumption.
ChatGPT works like a super editor who has read a huge library of gift content prior to 2025: buying guides, blogs, product descriptions, press articles, and brand posts. When asked for “tech gift ideas for $150,” it doesn't necessarily check prices in real time; it uses statistical patterns to compile a list that resembles the most popular gift guides: major international brands, consumer tech products, perfumes, jewelry, gift sets, chocolates.
As a result, its answers are very “canonized.”
Analysis of citations shows a strong overrepresentation of reference sites, large e-commerce retailers, and major brands, and little sensitivity to geographical nuances: a Belgian, French, or Canadian user will often receive very similar suggestions if the prompt does not emphasize the local dimension.
Overrepresented brands: Apple, Sony, Amazon, Sephora, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Bongo/Wonderbox.
Leading categories: tech, perfumes, jewelry, gift boxes, chocolates—the classics of gift guides.
ChatGPT reflects the most global and stable layer of gift-giving culture, but with little geographical nuance.
As a result, its responses are very “canonized.”
AI Mode is connected to the Google Search ecosystem. For a gift-related query, it breaks down the request into several sub-questions and simultaneously queries Google's index (via FastSearch) and the Shopping Graph, in the user's language and country, before generating a summary.
As a result,
it brings up many more sites that are already present in the “traditional” results, including local players: Belgian wine merchants, concept stores, Dutch decoration shops, and Dutch gift platforms.
It will more readily draw on the decor brands and marketplaces that dominate the results in Belgium or the Netherlands, using their visual and sometimes “WTF” product selections highlighted in SEO content and local product catalogs.
To take the example again: when it comes to Christmas decorations, ChatGPT is content with candles from major brands and items from large retailers, while AI Mode takes you to Maisons du Monde, Dille & Kamille, and Pols Potten, with boot vases, tomato lamps, and crystal barometers as its “top picks.”
Among the categories we tested, certain types of gifts consistently dominate:
The more fragile categories (home & decor, cultural gifts, toys, food other than chocolate) are those where AI hesitates, where local players can still gain ground... or disappear completely.
The “winners” are those that combine brand power, SEO/editorial presence, and strong distribution. The losers are not necessarily weak players—DreamLand and Delvaux are proof of this—but players that are difficult for AI to read.
Tech: Amazon/Fnac/Coolblue are the winning trio on the distribution side; Apple/Samsung/Xiaomi/Sony on the product side. Vanden Borre hardly ever makes an appearance.
Gift boxes & experiences: Bongo/Smartbox/Wonderbox dominate, with a few Dutch platforms (Surprisefactory, Wensenlijstjes) at AI Mode.
Fashion: Zara, H&M, Zalando, Amazon, C&A everywhere; e5, Howlin’, Juttu, Espace Mode appear only sporadically, mainly via AI Mode.
Beauty: Sephora, Nocibé, Marionnaud, Galeries Lafayette, Rituals, Hema — virtually no Belgian beauty players.
Chocolates: the big Belgian brands dominate, complemented by Lindt/Milka.
Toys: King Jouet, Amazon, Carrefour, Lego; DreamLand is conspicuously absent.
Luxury: Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Chanel, Dior, Cartier, Rolex, Fragonard, Christofle; no trace of Delvaux, Natan or other Belgian brands.
The “winners” are those that combine brand power, SEO/editorial presence, and strong distribution. The losers are not necessarily weak players—DreamLand and Delvaux are proof of this—but players that are difficult for AI to read.
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