Partnerize released groundbreaking research revealing a fundamental fracture in affiliate measurement caused by the rise of Generative AI search. The 2025 Clickless Affiliation Index Report analyzed hundreds of thousands of consumer journeys across more than 180 brands and found that publishers drive conversions at an average 2.06x higher rate than last-click-based attribution models.
AI has fundamentally altered last-click attribution. Echoing Partnerize’s study, research from Adobe also confirms that Generative AI-powered chat services and browsers are making their mark on the 2025 holiday season, helping consumers find deals and research products. Adobe analysts found that on Cyber Monday, AI traffic to U.S. retail sites (measured by shoppers clicking on a link) increased by 670% and that in the season so far (Nov. 1 to Dec. 1), AI traffic is up 760%. AI-assisted shopping is now standard, with publisher content driving measurable conversions directly from Gen AI search results.
Partnerize’s new research shows that premium partners are influencing buying decisions and proving their authority, yet they are missing credit and revenue because the click has been eliminated.
Category findings reveal significant variations in clickless influence:
- Home Improvement leads at 2.71x traditional attribution, driven by problem-solving content from The Spruce, HGTV, and The New York Times
- Clothing & Apparel follows at 2.70x, with GQ, Travel + Leisure, and Men’s Health shaping fashion decisions that happen directly on brand sites
- Consumer Electronics shows 1.87x influence, with tech publishers like PCMag, Wired, and TechRadar synthesizing complex product research
- Beauty & Personal Care demonstrates 1.50x influence through trusted sources like Allure and Byrdie
“This research finally puts hard numbers behind what we’ve all known: the customer journey has fundamentally changed,” said Matt Gilbert, CEO of Partnerize. “AI now sits squarely between publishers and purchasers, shaping recommendations, collapsing clicks, and erasing the signals legacy attribution depends on. Brands and content creators that modernize their measurement and monetization to this new reality will create real competitive advantage in the machine-mediated market.”
The report introduces the HaloIndex, a new benchmark that divides clickless conversions by traditional last-click conversions for each publisher-category combination.
- An index of 1.0 means clickless influence equals click-through performance
- An index exceeding 1.0 demonstrates that the publisher’s influence surpasses the limitations of traditional last-click attribution, thus justifying the allocation of a higher, appropriately earned commission.
- Categories scoring 2.5 or higher indicate impactful hidden value that changes how brands should value these partnerships.
The research was conducted using Konnecto technology, which Partnerize acquired in June 2025. Partnerize has since launched VantagePoint™, the industry’s first GenAI conversion attribution solution, built using Konnecto’s intelligent capabilities. The platform reveals how AI-surfaced content drives measurable outcomes and establishes a shared, verifiable measurement standard between brands and publishers.
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Partnerize Launches VantagePoint, a GenAI Conversion Attribution Solution
