Draco Diamond credits AEO, AI traffic trends ahead of Cyber 5

There was only a 2% increase in return on ad spend during the Cyber 5 in 2025 for Draco Diamond, according to founder Garrett McMartin. He told Digital Commerce 360 he couldn’t attribute the increase to the Cyber 5 “because it’s not enough of a move.”

The Canada-based lab-grown diamond seller has “plenty of months” where sales and return on ad spend are up 2% or down 4% from the average, he said. But what he has learned from the holidays is how to time sales. Draco Diamond makes the vast majority of its products to order, McMartin shared.

“Being a made-to-order brand, the 14- to 21-day wait is already an eternity to somebody, especially when they just spent $3,000,” McMartin said. That wait time includes production, International Gemological Institute (IGI) diamond-grading certification and delivery, he noted.

As McMartin plans for the holidays, he has been diving into the details of Draco Diamond’s traffic to understand trends tied to artificial intelligence (AI)-powered search results. McMartin said his focus on answer engine optimization (AEO) in the spring this year has helped increase Draco Diamond’s traffic 31x in three months.

Draco Diamond’s share of traffic from AI answer engines increased to 5. 45% after McMartin’s AEO push, from 0. 18% before. At the same time, the online retailer’s traffic mix has shifted from paid toward organic and AI-powered.

Plus, buyers who arrived on Draco Diamond’s website from an AI referral spend 20% longer on-site than those who do not, McMartin noted. News Ecommerce Trends: Which online retailers AI is helping the most Brian Warmoth | Aug 20, 2026