Google AI Mode Checkout Canada: Who AI Names

On November 4, 2026, Google turned on direct checkout inside AI Mode and the Gemini app in Canada. Shoppers can buy from eligible retailers — including lululemon, Shoppers Drug Mart, Simons and some Shopify stores — with Google Pay, without bouncing to a separate cart. Retailers can request access now; Merchant Center opens the simplified Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) path to all retailers next year. How those sales show up in analytics is still unknown.

That is a checkout story. The discovery story is different. Before someone buys inside Google's AI surfaces, an answer has to name a retailer. So Beket AI asked a separate question the same week: when Canadians ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overview where to buy ordinary products online, which retailers get named?

This study covered ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overview only. It did not measure Google AI Mode or the Gemini app — the surfaces where the new checkout actually runs. Treat the numbers below as a snapshot of who AI already names for unbranded Canadian shopping questions, not as a scorecard of the new checkout partners.

Sources for the launch: Google Canada's announcement (November 4, 2026) and CBC News (November 4, 2026).

These numbers are what the AI engines returned. They are not Beket AI's opinion or a ranking of quality. AI answers change over time, so read this as a snapshot.

What we asked

One Beket AI market audit on November 5, 2026, location Canada, language English. Audit ID: 5cdf4db9-717d-4c86-9e0e-ff9c98d7bf4f.

We selected 25 unbranded shopping prompts — apparel, beauty/pharmacy, home, electronics and outdoor — and ran them on ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overview (not Copilot, not AI Mode, not Gemini). Examples:

best place to buy running leggings in Canada
where to buy skincare online Canada
best Canadian online store for winter boots
best Canadian electronics store online
best place to buy hiking gear in Canada

ChatGPT and Perplexity answered all 25. Google AI Overview answered 20 of 25. The audit also added 4 discovery prompts of its own; those answers are included in the mention totals.

After merging Canada-suffixed name variants (Best Buy Canada → Best Buy, lululemon Canada → lululemon, and similar), the engines named 57 distinct retailers and brands across 651 mentions.

Who AI named most

Rank	Retailer / brand	Mentions	Named first	Origin
1	Best Buy	62	12	US
2	Costco	38	2	US
3	Amazon	36	2	US/global
4	MEC	27	6	CA
5	Canadian Tire	27	3	CA
6	Shoppers Drug Mart	23	5	CA
7	Nike	23	0	US
8	lululemon	22	4	CA
9	Sport Chek	21	3	CA
10	Adidas	20	1	DE/global
11	Well.ca	20	1	CA
12	Home Depot	20	0	US
13	Walmart	19	1	US
14	Sephora	17	7	FR/US
15	Decathlon	17	3	FR

Source: Beket AI market audit, November 5, 2026. Name variants combined. Origin is editorial judgment (HQ/founding), not an audit API field.

Best Buy led with 62 mentions and was named first 12 times. That lines up with our earlier Black Friday shopping study, where Best Buy also led unbranded shopping answers in Vancouver and Seattle.

Amazon placed third overall (36) but had 0 Google AI Overview mentions on this run. ChatGPT named Amazon 26 times and Perplexity 10 times. AI Overview did not add Amazon to this shortlist.

Google's checkout partners: lululemon, Shoppers Drug Mart, Simons

Google's Canada launch named three large retail partners plus select Shopify merchants. Here is how often those three appeared in ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overview answers for unbranded shopping prompts:

Brand	Mentions	Named first	ChatGPT	Google AI Overview	Perplexity	Engines
Shoppers Drug Mart	23	5	7	7	9	3/3
lululemon	22	4	12	3	7	3/3
Simons	6	0	4	0	2	2/3

Shoppers Drug Mart and lululemon both cleared all three engines. Simons appeared on ChatGPT and Perplexity only — 0 Google AI Overview mentions in this audit. Being a checkout partner and being named in AI answers are related jobs, not the same job.

Engines disagree on the shortlist

Engine	Retailers named	Mentions	Top names
ChatGPT	55	385	Best Buy (30), Costco (30), Amazon (26), Canadian Tire (17)
Perplexity	35	146	Best Buy (22), MEC (10), Amazon (10), Shoppers Drug Mart (9)
Google AI Overview	34	120	Adidas (12), Best Buy (10), Shoppers Drug Mart (7), Well.ca (7)

26 retailers were named by all three engines. 10 were named by only one. ChatGPT names the widest set; Google AI Overview's top of the list looks different (Adidas led that engine on this run). That engine split is the same pattern we see when we compare AI Mode and AI Overviews for local businesses in our AI Mode vs AI Overviews guide.

Canadian vs US and global retailers

Of the 651 mentions after merges:

Canadian retailers: 27 names, 277 mentions. Leaders: MEC (27), Canadian Tire (27), Shoppers Drug Mart (23), lululemon (22), Sport Chek (21), Well.ca (20).
US and global retailers: 30 names, 374 mentions. Leaders: Best Buy (62), Costco (38), Amazon (36), Nike (23), Adidas (20), Home Depot (20).

Canadian names fill most of the middle of the board. US and global chains still take the top three slots by raw mentions.

What AI cites

Across 923 citation events, the domains cited most often were retailer sites:

Domain	Citation count
bestbuy.ca	105
amazon.ca	38
sephora.com	26
decathlon.ca	25
canadiantire.ca	24
sportchek.ca	24
mec.ca	20
shoppersdrugmart.ca	16
google.com	14
stores.bestbuy.ca	14

Source: Beket AI citation rollup for this audit (top 10 domains). Retailer own-domains dominate. That matters for anyone trying to show up in Google AI Overviews: the engines are already leaning on the store sites themselves.

What this means for Canadian retailers

A short version, based on what this audit returned and what Google announced:

Checkout access is not the same as being named. lululemon and Shoppers Drug Mart already show up in ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overview answers. Simons shows up less, and not on AI Overview in this run. Google says retailers can request UCP checkout access now, with broader Merchant Center access next year — that is a product integration path, separate from whether AI names you when a shopper asks an unbranded question.
Best Buy is the default electronics answer. If you sell electronics or appliances in Canada and AI never names you, you are competing with a retailer that took 62 mentions here and 105 citations to bestbuy.ca.
Amazon is not automatic on every engine. Amazon had 36 mentions overall and zero on Google AI Overview in this audit. Do not assume one marketplace owns every AI surface.
Ads in AI Mode are a parallel track. Google is also expanding ads in AI Mode in Canada; our earlier note on ads in AI Mode in Canada is about paid placement. Being named in the organic answer is still the free inventory.
One run is a snapshot. Phrasing, day and engine all move the shortlist. Re-check the prompts that matter for your category.

How did we run the study?

We ran one Beket AI market audit on November 5, 2026, between 2:24 and 2:34 PM Pacific time (America/Los_Angeles). Its location was set to Canada and its language to English. Audit ID: 5cdf4db9-717d-4c86-9e0e-ff9c98d7bf4f.

Questions. The audit had 25 selected unbranded shopping questions, the same on all three engines. None named a retailer.
Discovery prompts. The audit also added 4 longer prompts of its own, and the counts include their answers.
Mentions. A mention is a retailer or brand named in an answer. Rank-1 counts answers where that name came first.
Name variants. We combined Canada-suffixed and casing variants (for example Best Buy Canada → Best Buy, lululemon Canada → lululemon).
Engines. ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overview only. Not Copilot, not Google AI Mode, not the Gemini app.
Coverage. ChatGPT 25/25, Perplexity 25/25, Google AI Overview 20/25 selected prompts.

We did not rate, verify or rank any retailer ourselves. Origin labels (Canadian vs US/global) are editorial judgment for this report.

How far can you trust these numbers?

Treat them as one careful snapshot, not a verdict.

One run on one afternoon. Answers can differ by day, by phrasing and by user.
Google AI Overview answered 20 of 25 selected questions, so that engine's counts are thinner.
Merging name variants can still miss a spelling we did not catch, or double-count if one answer used two forms we did not merge.
One or two mentions can change a rank near the top.
Only three engines were tested. AI Mode and Gemini — where the new checkout lives — were not in this audit.
A mention says nothing about price, stock, shipping or service quality.
How UCP checkout sales appear in retailer analytics is not documented in the sources we checked.

What questions did we ask?

The 25 selected questions, asked on all three engines:

best place to buy running leggings in Canada
where to buy skincare online Canada
best Canadian online store for winter boots
best place to buy yoga pants online in Canada
where to buy makeup online Canada
best Canadian pharmacy for beauty products online
where to buy vitamins and supplements online Canada
best online store for home decor in Canada
where to buy kitchen appliances online Canada
best place to buy furniture online in Canada
where to buy headphones online Canada
best Canadian electronics store online
where to buy a laptop online in Canada
best place to buy hiking gear in Canada
where to buy outdoor jackets online Canada
best Canadian online store for athletic wear
where to buy winter coats online Canada
best place to buy sneakers online in Canada
where to buy perfume online Canada
best Canadian online store for bedding and linens
where to buy camping gear online Canada
best place to buy jeans online in Canada
where to buy smartphone accessories online Canada
best Canadian online store for kids clothes
where to buy hair care products online Canada

Discovery prompts the audit added on its own:

"If I want to buy a new laptop or home appliance online in Canada, which major retailers have the best return policies and customer service?"
"What are the best online department stores in Canada for ordering household goods and electronics with fast shipping?"
"Where can I shop online in Canada for a mix of home improvement tools, automotive accessories, and outdoor gear with reliable local store pickup?"
"Which Canadian online retailers offer the best subscription delivery programs or loyalty rewards for frequent shoppers?"

How can a retailer check its own AI answers?

Any business can run its own free check at https://beket.ai/. The free Beket AI audit covers 25 prompts across 3 engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overview. Beket AI Pro is $49 a month and re-audits daily, starting at 50 prompts across the same three engines. Integrations today are Webflow, Google Analytics and Cloudflare. A retailer can also ask Beket AI for another run of this study.

About the author: The Beket AI Team builds Beket AI, an AI search visibility platform for brands and agencies.

Google AI Mode Checkout Is Live in Canada: Which Retailers Does AI Name? (2026 Study)