# The 2026  Zero-Click Commerce Index™

Category analysis covering 57+ brands, 6 consumer categories, and 1,056 identified citation gaps. Discover how AI-powered search reshapes purchase decisions and which publishers drive measurable influence without clicks.

**What’s Inside:**

- HaloIndex™ methodology and category benchmarks
- Publisher and brand rankings by industry
- 1,056 citation gaps prioritized by contribution, including 47 critical priority gaps
- Strategic implications for advertisers, publishers, and partnership program leaders

[Download full report](https://go.partnerize.com/clickless-affiliation-index-report-download) [Read the launch blog](/content/resources/blog/the-invisible-half-partnerize-research-reveals-publishers-influence-2x-more-conversions-than-traditional-attribution-captures/index.html)

Meet the technology behind the research

VantagePoint™ is the measurement and governance layer that forms the economic infrastructure for machine-mediated commerce. It measures influence beyond clicks, quantifies fractional contribution, and establishes a shared, verifiable source of truth between advertisers and publishers in an era of AI-mediated discovery.

Then it converts that verified influence measurement into standardized compensation logic, applies enforceable, auditable compensation rules under the VantagePoint Fractional Compensation Standard™, and enables AI-Influenced Commissions to be executed through Partnerize's payment rails. The methodology behind this research tracks which editorial properties are cited in AI-generated answers to real commercial search queries, and connects that citation activity to downstream conversions to surface measurable, clickless influence.

[Learn more](/content/vantagepoint/index.html)

## HaloIndex™ by Category.

The HaloIndex™ is a metric that quantifies how much partner influence is undercounted by last-click attribution by comparing AI-influenced outcomes to traditional click-based outcomes. This year's index spans from 1.54x to 10.94x. Explore the specific publishers, brands, and shopping behaviors driving conversions in your industry.

### Consumer audio devices

**1.54 HaloIndex**

**EMERGING**

Audio buyers are spec-driven and review-reliant, leaning on trusted testing publishers before committing. Even the lowest score in the index means 54% more publisher influence than last-click registers — with brand-level multipliers like Sony at 5.01x hiding inside the average.

[Read category blog](/content/resources/blog/why-food-category-brands-cant-see-their-most-valuable-marketing-channel/index.html)

### Memory & storage

**2.27 HaloIndex**

**SIGNIFICANT**

The most spec-driven category in the index still scores well above parity. Compatibility and performance questions are increasingly answered by AI-synthesized editorial content, generating more than twice the publisher influence that clicks capture.

[Read category blog](/content/resources/blog/the-hidden-half-why-beauty-brands-are-missing-50-of-their-affiliate-influence/index.html)

### Beauty & personal care

**2.96 HaloIndex**

**SIGNIFICANT**

Beauty is a deeply personal, research-intensive buying experience built on ingredient research, shade matching, and trusted reviews. Across 57 brands analyzed, publishers are driving nearly three times more influence than clicks suggest.

[Read category blog](/content/resources/blog/your-best-tech-publishers-arent-getting-credit-and-why-thats-costing-you/index.html)

### Jeans & apparel

**3.2 HaloIndex**

**SIGNIFICANT**

Style and fit research runs through editorial guides and best-of roundups long before a buyer reaches a product page. For every conversion tracked through traditional clicks, apparel publishers are driving 3x more through clickless influence.

[Read category blog](/content/resources/blog/the-invisible-influence-behind-gift-basket-sales-when-occasion-driven-purchases-hide-true-publisher-value/index.html)

### Smart watches & smart rings

**7.33 HaloIndex**

**TRANSFORMATIVE**

Wearables purchases are comparison-heavy and identity-driven, and AI-powered search answers those questions with editorial content. Publishers like CNET drive nearly 7% of category purchase influence with zero click-based credit.

[Read category blog](/content/resources/blog/beyond-the-click-how-genai-is-redefining-retail-attribution/index.html)

### High-end luxury & fashion

**10.94 HaloIndex**

**TRANSFORMATIVE**

The highest HaloIndex™ ever measured. Luxury discovery is aspirational, editorial, and happens far upstream of any click, making nearly all publisher influence invisible to last-click attribution — an 11x gap between influence and credit.

[Read category blog](/content/resources/blog/home-improvement-publishers-drive-2-71x-more-influence-than-last-click-attribution-captures/index.html)