Brands Reinvent Loyalty Programs as AI Agents Take Over Consumer Decisions

Traditional loyalty strategies built around emotional connections, points and tiered benefits may lose their effectiveness as AI agents such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini search, compare prices and place orders for consumers. Retailers, payments providers, telecom companies and financial institutions are therefore shifting toward reward rules that machines can query, interpret and optimize in real time, seeking to preserve brand visibility within AI interfaces.

PYMNTS reported on March 3, 2026, that a PYMNTS Intelligence survey found more than 60% of US consumers had used dedicated AI platforms over the previous year, while more than half of users preferred to complete purchases directly on those platforms. Eagle Eye has launched its AIR real-time loyalty engine, while PayPal integrated with Perplexity in 2025. The report did not disclose the amounts invested.