Three studies map how hunters, shooters, and outdoor buyers search, from Google and YouTube to ChatGPT, and where the answers come from.
ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. The Coutts Agency, a marketing agency for firearms, hunting, and outdoor brands, has published three studies on how people search for guns and outdoor gear, including how AI engines answer firearm questions and which sources they trust.
For The State of AI Search in the Firearms & Outdoor Industry, the agency asked six AI engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode) 240 real buyer questions, 10 times each, and traced all 118,612 citations in the 14,400 answers. YouTube was the most-cited site, and YouTube, Reddit, enthusiast media, and forums together earned more than 21% of the citations. Brand-owned websites earned just 1.5%. About a quarter of the brands an engine recommended changed between identical runs of the same question. In early results, firearm questions were answered 91–97% as completely as matched questions on other topics.
The State of Search in the Firearms & Outdoor Industry mapped about 225 search terms covering 1.16 million searches a month. Video results appear on 99% of that search volume. Google’s AI Overviews show up on 86% of research searches and 14% of commercial ones, and “Glock 19” alone draws 350,000 searches a month, more than every “best X” search in the study combined.
Search Seasonality in the 2A & Outdoor Industries tracked 24 months of search history across 22 categories. Firearms demand swings only 1.2 to 1.8 times across the year. Outdoor categories swing up to 12.8 times, led by ice fishing, on four separate calendars: fall hunting, summer water, winter ice, and spring turkey.
“As AI answers spread, from Google’s AI Overviews to ChatGPT, we weren’t sure whether they’d treat gun questions fairly, so we tested them. In our early results, they answer firearm questions nearly as fully as any other topic, and they recommend the brands the hunting and shooting community already talks about on YouTube, Reddit, and in reviews,” said AJ Coutts, founder of The Coutts Agency.
All three studies, with their full methods and data, are free at couttsagency.com/research. Editors can find the headline numbers and a media contact at couttsagency.com/research/
About The Coutts Agency
The Coutts Agency is a full-service marketing agency for firearms, hunting, and outdoor brands, built by shooters, hunters, and outdoor enthusiasts who live the lifestyle. It runs search, AI search, compliant advertising, social, and email for brands in those industries.
Media Contact
AJ Coutts, Founder
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