The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released its AI-Era Attribution Blueprint on 12 November, giving advertisers a way to classify AI’s role in purchases. In its New York announcement, IAB says 45% of ad buyers rank comparing AI-driven and traditional customer journeys as their top measurement challenge, citing its 2026 Outlook Study: September Update.
Key points
- IAB classifies conversions as Human-Owned, AI-Assisted or AI-Executed.
- IAB says 44% of ad buyers use branded search and direct traffic as proxies for AI influence they cannot track.
- IAB calls on AI platforms to disclose whether recommendations are paid or organic and what information informed them.
IAB sorts conversions by three decisions
The blueprint asks who or what generated a shopper’s intent, made the choice and completed the transaction. IAB says the answers place each conversion in one of three pathways: Human-Owned, AI-Assisted or AI-Executed.
That classification determines which parties, if any, can make a decision claim or a contributory claim, and what evidence they need. IAB draws a firm line between claiming a role and receiving credit: a claim gives a party the right to have its contribution evaluated.
The framework comes from a working group of brands, agencies, publishers, AI platforms and measurement leaders. IAB says it extends its earlier Measuring Visibility in the AI Era playbook from tracking how brands appear in AI platforms to connecting that presence with sales.
IAB study finds 44% use proxies
IAB says 44% of ad buyers rely on branded search and direct traffic to stand in for AI influence they cannot track. Caroline Giegerich, IAB’s vice-president for AI, says AI-influenced purchases can be recorded under those channels, potentially directing marketing investment away from the channel that influenced the sale.
The changing customer experience is part of the industry discussion. Paul Longo, Microsoft’s general manager for AI in Ads, said consumers want relevant advertising in conversational experiences at an IAB roundtable, MediaPost reported.
Jon Roberts, chief innovation officer at People Inc., said the potential search market emerging through agentic technology exceeds what publishers and advertisers have encountered since the web began, MediaPost reported. That is his assessment of the opportunity, while IAB’s buyer figures concern the difficulty of measuring it.
IAB asks AI platforms for recommendation data
IAB says much of the evidence required to assess claims is either uncollected or held inside AI platforms. IAB calls on platforms to disclose whether recommendations are paid or organic, identify the information that informed them and label AI-originated traffic consistently.
The proposed work extends across the advertising chain. IAB says brands can estimate how many of their conversions fall into each pathway, while agencies can separate platform-reported claims from independently verified ones under a common evidence standard. Publishers can identify claims arising from their content and the evidence needed to support them.
