Affiliate marketing was built on a clean equation: a reader clicks, a reader buys, everyone gets credit. That equation is coming apart. AI is absorbing editorial coverage into answers that never send anyone to the article, discovery has scattered across newsletters, podcasts, Substacks and shopping assistants, and the channel's oldest measure of success — the last click — is no longer telling the whole story. Six marketers and affiliate leads weigh in on where the value is moving, what's quietly converting, and why trust may be the only metric that still travels.

Sabai, courtesy of Wolf PR

When the Trail Goes Cold | Nora Wolf, Founder, Wolf PR + Wolf Craft

“One of the biggest changes we're seeing in affiliate right now is that attribution is getting much harder to see.

“A few years ago, if a client was included in a commerce story, they could often see pretty clearly that the article was driving traffic and sales. Now we know those same articles are being read and synthesized by robots, aka AI, and showing up in AI-generated search results. The consumer doesn't necessarily click through to the original article anymore. So the media coverage can still be influencing the purchase, but neither the brand nor the publication can necessarily trace that article's influence on the purchase. It's way more nebulous than it has been for the last 6-8 years. 

“I always follow the money. How publishers make money informs what kind of content they produce. Commerce became an important revenue stream for media over the last decade. Publishers made money when readers clicked through their articles and bought something. Now those readers may be getting the answer they need without the article, even if the article is driving the AI generated answers. It's a bit of a snake eating it's tail.

“Right now we're still seeing the same amount of commerce opportunities for our clients, and publications are still testing products, writing reviews and putting together shopping stories. I'm very curious about how this change will inform what kinds of content publications produce, and if they will be able to survive this big change in revenue generation. If the media can't make as much money from the commerce content they're producing, I have to expect at some point we will see changes to commerce coverage.

“So media is stuck in a catch-22: editorial coverage likely is influencing more places than it ever has before, because it's feeding search and AI, but it's becoming harder to attribute and less lucrative for the publisher that created it in the first place.

“From a client perspective, it feels like it's going back to when I started working in PR nearly 20 years ago, when everything was in print and very little was measurable. Our clients knew getting media placements was important for their brand, but they could never exactly point to what articles were generating brand awareness or revenue for them. It may be that we're going back to that place. I'm cautiously optimistic that this may bring in a new golden age of media. Fingers crossed!”

A Mention Is Not a Win | Lauren Kleinman, Founder & CEO, Dreamday

“AI is already very much part of the shopping journey, whether brands are ready for it or not. During the last Cyber Week, about 20% of consumers used AI to guide their product search, and that number keeps climbing. People are asking ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude to research and compare before they ever land on a brand's site, which means organic click-through rate is down roughly 61% industry-wide. The research is happening inside the AI conversation now, not on a results page.

“What most brands get wrong is assuming a mention means a win. We had a skincare client that AI recommended as a top pick for sensitive skin, but the citation linked out to a third-party editorial site instead of the brand's own product page (as they often do — and why PR has never been more important to rank in GEO and AEO search results). If that publisher isn't in the brand's affiliate network, that's a missed commission on top of a missed first-party relationship.

“It's reshaping the affiliate funnel as discovery used to live in a handful of predictable places (e.g. press articles, sub-affiliate networks, first page of Google recommendations). Now it's spread across editorial, newsletters, podcasts, creators, and AI shopping tools all at once. The brands that come out ahead will be the ones building an authentic brand moat and community, real advocacy and storytelling across a diversity of channels, and authority that shows up consistently across the customer discovery journey – that's what AI ends up pulling from anyway.”

One Ecosystem, Not Two | Kayla Lee, VP, Growth Marketing, Autumn Communications

“Affiliate is no longer simply a last-click conversion channel. Consumers are increasingly turning to trusted voices - from creators and commerce editors to newsletters and podcasts - to discover brands, validate products and ultimately inform what they buy. That shift is making the connection between PR and affiliate more valuable than ever. PR creates credibility, cultural relevance and third-party validation, while a diverse mix of affiliate partners can influence consumers across the full journey, from discovery and consideration through to purchase. The brands seeing the strongest results are treating the two as part of the same ecosystem: using trusted storytelling to create demand, then affiliate to amplify, capture and measure it. As the path to purchase becomes increasingly fragmented, the combination of credible recommendation and measurable commerce will only become more important.”

The Zero-Click KPI | Teresa Grammatke, VP of Affiliate, Performance PR & Influencer Marketing, eAccountable, a MarketOnce company

“Although affiliate has always been seen as a channel driven by sales, we are now talking to the value created by the channel beyond sales.  The whole ecosystem has changed, so are now looking beyond click-based value driven and focusing on other KPIs such as branding, demographics reached, user-generated content, and GEO impact.  When talking with publisher partners, we are now asking for ‘zero-click KPIs’ such as citations and share of voice. 

“Smart publishers are focused on winning AI answers and LLM visibility, and are including that in media kits, case studies and results.  

“We are seeing a strong focus on traffic diversification as well.  With the change in user behavior, organic search alone is not enough to drive traffic and to show value to advertisers.  Publishers are leaning into other channels such as Reddit, Discord, email and social platforms.”

Relevance Over Reach | Quinlan Talaric, Director of Affiliate Marketing, LaRue

“We’re seeing affiliate marketing become increasingly diversified, with brands looking beyond traditional affiliate partners to reach consumers throughout more of the purchase journey, from brand discovery and consideration to the point of purchase. Newsletters, editorial content, Substacks, podcasts, loyalty partners, and increasingly AI shopping tools are creating new opportunities to influence consumers where they are already researching and making decisions. The strongest programs are not chasing every new channel, but focusing on where partners have genuine audience trust and where we can see clear conversion. As consumer behavior evolves, relevance and trust are becoming more valuable than reach alone.”

Trust Beats the Trend | Lauren Weil, Executive Vice President, MSQ Sport + Entertainment 

"AI shopping tools get a lot of attention, but most of what's actually converting right now is much less flashy — it's creators with smaller, highly engaged audiences and genuine product fit. The hype cycle chases new formats; the results still come from trust and relevance.

“In the era of AI optimization, real, human endorsement is even more important. Whether their following primarily lives on social, audio, or Substack, these creators hold real influence with audiences within their niche, and affiliate commissions provide a tangible way for their audiences to support the voices they care about.”