The Future of CRO And LLMs

Guest Post: Nermin Canik | Lead CRO Strategist Blend Commerce

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) is often perceived as a set of design tweaks to improve a website’s user experience. Yet, in reality, it influences and is influenced by every stage of the customer journey: from discovery to conversion, including subscription management and cancellation.

Because of this, CRO is directly shaped by both technological and behavioural shifts in the market. Looking ahead, artificial intelligence (AI) will play an increasingly dominant role. Platforms like ChatGPT are evolving beyond their initial purpose as generative AI tools and are becoming active players in advertising and discovery ecosystems.

As users begin to rely on AI to order a pizza or book a concert, these systems will learn to recommend the best options based on countless variables. That’s precisely where CRO comes in. Factors such as user reviews, page load speed, content quality, and accessibility will increasingly determine how AI ranks and selects websites. This means CRO specialists will soon need to optimise not just for human users but also for AI-driven decision systems.

Rather than fearing AI, CRO professionals must master its use to their full advantage. In the past, teams might have A/B tested static product images. Still, AI-powered solutions will soon generate personalised visuals on the fly, adapting to each user’s demographic profile, intent, or browsing context in real time.

What once seemed like a futuristic concept is now within reach. This shift will require CRO experts to continuously monitor AI advances, integrate intelligent feedback loops into existing tools, and evolve their optimisation strategies accordingly.

Many eCommerce sites are already adapting creative assets and promotions dynamically based on user source or location. For instance, they show snow tyre ads in a U.S. state experiencing winter while promoting garden irrigation systems in a warmer region. As the industry moves further away from “one-size-fits-all” models, AI is making these types of geographic and contextual optimisations faster, smarter, and more scalable.

At the same time, user behaviour is rapidly changing. Instead of typing long queries, many now prefer voice search and even direct conversations with AI. In this new attention economy, some websites experiment with “listen to this product” features on product pages to engage users differently.

User research shows that in high-commitment decisions, such as expensive purchases or subscription services, people seek human reassurance before completing the transaction. They often ask questions via chat, even if they already know the answers, simply to confirm that support is available when needed.

AI is beginning to fill this gap, too. Intelligent voice agents can now hold near-human conversations, allowing limited human teams to assist many more customers efficiently. In fact, during a recent industry event, we attended a panel where we were 90% convinced that one of the speakers was AI; that’s how real it has become.

About Blend Commerce

At Blend Commerce, our CRO work has already been recognised with multiple industry awards, including Standout CRO Agency of the Year at the Global Digital Excellence Awards. We’re proud to help Shopify brands turn traffic into profit with strategies built for the next wave of AI-driven discovery. If you’d like to explore how CRO can future-proof your store, get in touch with our team – we’d love to talk.