More than half of customer service journeys specifically 51% now begin not on a company’s own channels but on third-party platforms, such as Google, YouTube, and AI tools like ChatGPT. According to Gartner’s latest industry report, this trend is reshaping the landscape of customer support and is even more pronounced among Gen Z, with an impressive 74% of these younger customers preferring to start their service quests through these external platforms.
These platforms have become the new “front door” for customer service. Today’s consumers trust these third parties ranging from search engines to social communities like Reddit even as concerns about information accuracy and AI-generated “hallucinations” persist. This shift can be traced, in part, to the limitations of older self-service tools and the ongoing frustration consumers feel when brands make it difficult to find contact information or direct support.
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From the consumer’s perspective, the motivation is clear. When earlier attempts to solve issues through traditional self-service tools don’t work, or when searching for help requires too much effort, people naturally turn to trusted and familiar third-party options. These platforms deliver results more quickly and conveniently, driving higher usage and trust across diverse user groups.
However, only 22% of customers are managing to start, navigate, and resolve their service requests solely within a company’s own channels. By comparison, customer success rates on popular third-party platforms are significantly higher customers report a 62% resolution rate when using Google and YouTube for assistance. This gap reveals a challenge and an opportunity for organizations: to meet shifting consumer behavior, brands must transform their self-service experiences.
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Keith McIntosh, Senior Principal of Research at Gartner, urges organizations to acknowledge this new reality. It’s vital to consider how customers are successfully resolving issues through third-party platforms and how companies can integrate or influence these touchpoints for a better experience. Rather than competing head-to-head with third-party channels, businesses might focus on engaging customers where they already look for answers, or gently pulling them into a streamlined, effective first-party support journey.
The trend isn’t limited to digital searches. Google, for example, has filed a patent for an on-device AI chatbot that autonomously handles phone calls, pointing to a future where both humans and AI assistants (“machine customers”) collaborate for support needs. With customer journeys growing more complex due to subscriptions and connected devices, businesses will need to anticipate touchpoints where first-party service offerings can provide reliable and efficient help ultimately nurturing loyalty and satisfaction while aligning with evolving customer expectations.
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