AI-related searches in India have crossed 654 million ahead of the 2025 festive season, a 2.6x increase from last year, according to the GRWAi (Get Ready With AI) festive report by GIPSI, the research division of Tonic Worldwide.

The report tracks how AI is influencing consumer behaviour across celebration, commerce, and content creation. It comes as India’s festive e-commerce Gross Merchandise Value is projected at INR 1.15 lakh crore, following the GST Bachat Utsav.

The study also notes the importance of human oversight in AI-driven initiatives, highlighting recent backlash over AI-generated advertising.

The GRWAi report utilises GIPSI’s HI+AI methodology, which combines digital listening and primary research through the GIPSI App. The study covers data from September 2024 to September 2025.

Key findings:

• Festive planning: Moodboarding has extended beyond fashion and beauty into gifting, décor, invitations, food, and experiences. Pinterest searches reached 413,000 for Diwali outfits and 6,000 for Pooja invitation card backgrounds, while top Instagram reels on festive photo poses garnered 400,000 shares.
• Impact of GST Bachat Utsav: The mid-festive GST Bachat Utsav is expected to drive a 20% lift in e-commerce sales, with projected festive GMV reaching INR 1.15 lakh crore. Searches for ‘GST’ grew 120% year-on-year in September.
• AI in search: AI-powered tools are increasingly shaping consumer queries and product discovery. Four out of five Indian online shoppers rely on or seek AI chatbots for brand and product guidance. The report emphasises Share of Model (SOM) as a key metric beyond traditional SEO.
• E-commerce and AI assistance: AI is helping brands recover abandoned carts, personalise recommendations, and boost conversions. Over 10 million Amazon India users tried Rufus, the AI assistant, while Myntra’s AI assistant, Maya, increased purchase likelihood by three times and expanded product discovery by 16%. Event-based commerce is also rising, with tens of thousands showing interest in city-wide festive events and concerts.
• Content creation: Consumers are using AI prompts to generate content across social media. Top AI-generated YouTube Shorts for events like Rakshabandhan reached 250 million views, while searches for AI prompts jumped 7.5x year-on-year.
• HI-proofing AI: The report cautions brands to combine AI with human oversight. Missteps in AI-generated ads, such as Rado and Britannia campaigns, highlight risks to authenticity and consumer trust. Rado's ad was mocked for the actors not looking at each other, whereas Britannia received backlash for AI-generating grandmaster Gukesh.

Anjali Malthankar, global strategy director and GIPSI co-head, Tonic Worldwide, said, “This festive season, GRWAi is not just a report but a CTA as we enter the second half of the season. AI is not just a marketer’s tool; there are clear signals of consumers experimenting, engaging with and flaunting AI. Some of this behaviour is intentional and some has slipped into their behaviour without them realising it. I strongly feel that, as far as AI is concerned, predictive, generative or both, brands can ignore AI but can’t escape it. Because either you are lacking, levelling or leading with AI. There is no ’fighting’ it. While I say this, I don’t think the role of HI (Human intelligence) will be undermined. In fact, in our report, we caution brands to HI-proof the use of AI.”

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