Meet Them Where They Scroll — How Gen Z Buys in 2026
- OTB Social Media STL
- May 13
- 2 min read
Your customer didn't stop searching. They stopped using Google to do it.
If you run a small business in Fenton or anywhere in the St. Louis area, your future customer is already deciding whether you exist — and they're doing it on TikTok, Reddit, and ChatGPT. Gen Z is 13 to 28 years old right now. They're not "coming." They're here. And they're influencing what their Millennial siblings and Gen X parents buy.
I just walked an AU Connect luncheon through this exact playbook. Here's the short version — the full 13-page PDF is below.
Three numbers that should change how you run your marketing this month
40% of Gen Z uses TikTok or Instagram instead of Google for everyday search. (Adobe / SOCi, 2024–2025)
3 in 4 Gen Z shoppers now use generative AI tools when researching purchases — up from 53% the prior year. (Salesforce Connected Shoppers, 2025)
40% of consumers — across all ages — already use AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini to make purchase decisions. (Capgemini Research Institute, 2024)
This isn't a teen trend. It's how the buying funnel actually works now.
The three jobs every business has this month
1. Be discoverable on TikTok, Reddit, and Instagram. That means real short videos with captions, real Reddit answers, and a Google Business Profile that's claimed, complete, and updated. AI tools cite these surfaces when people ask "who should I hire for ___ in Fenton?"
2. Be recommendable inside ChatGPT and Gemini. Reviews on Google, Yelp, and your industry's review sites are now training data for AI. If you have 11 reviews and your competitor has 240, AI is going to recommend your competitor — even if you're better.
3. Be verifiable in 10 seconds. Hours, address, phone, services, and pricing should be findable in one click. Inconsistencies across Google, Facebook, Yelp, and your website make AI hesitate to recommend you.
The full playbook (free, 13 pages)
The full Gen Z + AI Search Playbook covers the buyer, the platforms they're actually using, the search shift (Google → TikTok / ChatGPT / Reddit), what's happening in the living room with TVs like Gemini Air, how AI decides who to recommend, and a 10-question self-audit you can run on your own business in 15 minutes.
Want me to do the audit for you?
I'm offering a free 15-minute AI Visibility Audit for the first 10 St. Louis–area businesses to claim one this month. I'll show you exactly how ChatGPT, Gemini, and TikTok see your business right now — and the three highest-leverage fixes.
Reply to this post, email matt@otbsocialmedia.com, or text 636-253-1387.
— Matt Fleshman
OTB Social Media · Fenton, MO
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