Anecdotes
Before Muse, lead generation companies could see the opportunity in LLMs, but the case for meaningful traffic was still thin. Muse and other personal AI agents bring that prospect closer.
On Aug. 3, before Muse launched earlier this month, online insurance comparison marketplace EverQuote said it had launched its ChatGPT app the previous quarter, “and it’s getting some traffic.” The company is pursuing LLM traffic through content (“developing answers to the questions that people may pose through the LLMs”), paid advertising and technical integrations. It said the combination could allow EverQuote to tap into that traffic “in a more material way” over time. Still, its CFO said revenue from these new offerings is not expected to be material this year.
MediaAlpha also sees signs of insurance shoppers arriving through LLMs. It said consumers starting their search there appear to be driving incremental referrals through its marketplace, though that traffic is “not yet material” to its results. The company pointed to a leading LLM’s greater emphasis on advertising as a development that could “meaningfully accelerate LLM referral traffic and revenue growth” for MediaAlpha and its partners.
Experian, the consumer credit bureau and data company that acquired insurance marketplace Gabi and powers SoFi’s insurance offering, sees a familiar playbook. “Plug-ins are really the equivalent of paid or organic search in the way that developed with Google,” its CFO said. As attention shifts from general search to LLMs, he expects an “SEO/SEM equivalent funnel to convert traffic into product” to emerge.
The field is already taking shape. Seven US companies offered auto insurance shopping through ChatGPT before Allstate joined: Experian, Insurify, AIS Insurance, Autoinsurance.net, Liberty Mutual, EverQuote and Freeway Insurance. Allstate brings the total to eight. “Shopping” is too strong a word.
There’s a familiar pair among the ChatGPT entrants: Liberty Mutual and Allstate both launched Alexa skills during an earlier wave of interest in voice assistants. Those skills had no discernible impact on insurance distribution, a reminder that an early presence on a new platform does not guarantee a lasting channel. Advertising spending is a firmer signal: Progressive and Allstate drove nearly 80% of the growth in industrywide P&C advertising spending from 2021 to 2025, according to MediaAlpha.
Now, at least anecdotally, post-Muse launch, Progressive is winning.
In a post on X, Joe Devoy said Muse bought him a policy that saved $3,500 a year and canceled his old one. He later said he received an email confirmation and a written policy from Progressive. Shmuel Sokol said he followed the same process and switched from GEICO to Progressive. (This was shared on Sept. 15)
Others reported mixed results. Cliff Dailey said Muse found $2,526 in annual savings, but did not say whether he bought the policy. Juan Caviglia said he spent more than 15 minutes answering questions and received one quote, which was higher than his current premium. According to Caviglia, Muse said most insurance sites blocked it from obtaining quotes.
Nic Carter reported saving about $6,500 annually on two cars and a motorcycle after switching from GEICO to State Farm, but he used Codex, not Muse.
Muse is now the No. 1 app in Apple’s App Store and is reaching ~700k daily users in the US. Reviewers describe handing it ongoing work: monitoring inboxes and prices, tracking leads, updating Sheets and Shopify, calling businesses, and booking reservations.
“I’ve been using this for product research and even finding personal service recommendations. The fact that an agent can make a phone call for me is really impressive. It also was able to find a product service manual and download it for me. I’m using it to keep my inbox clean as well. I’m quite surprised and impressed with what this can do and am interested in finding out more things that I can use it for.”
Another reviewer is weighing Muse against a $110-a-month Grok subscription: “I’ve worked on Grok daily since its inception, but Muse does things so quickly, and efficiently that it will probably replace my $110 a month Grok account. I showed it to 2 other colleagues, and we have simplified our work days by hours a day. This app has been nothing short of amazing so far.”
Insurance shopping through LLMs remains a matter of anecdotes. There are no definitive figures for how many people use them to shop for coverage. What we do know is that auto insurance shopping overall is near a record high: 47.2% of policies in force had been shopped at least once in the preceding 12 months. The direct channel accounted for 45% of shopping activity in Q2 2026, although its year-over-year growth slowed from 9.4% in Q1 to 4.6% in Q2. AI agents could turn more intentions into completed searches and purchases. But so far, there is no evidence of an insurance rush on the scale of a Tesla launch, a PlayStation release or a Taylor Swift presale. TruStage’s site is still having problems; there is no evidence that AI shopping caused them.
In June 2017, eight months after Lemonade launched, the company said customers were switching from incumbents daily: 21.5% came from GEICO, 20.5% from State Farm, 17.1% from Allstate, 10.5% from Liberty Mutual and 5% from Progressive. Co-founder Shai Wininger also noticed who else was signing up: “I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our customers who work for Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Allstate, Travelers, and Progressive. Don’t worry guys, your secret is safe with us.” Insurance insiders were buying Lemonade policies to study the experience. No different than today.
Now the internet is changing, and AI Maya is conversing with AI Muse. Maya handles the conversion; Muse controls the conversation. In the background, Lemonade shares touched a 52-week low of $43.28 on Sept. 24 before closing at $45.28, less than half their 52-week high of $99.90.
If history rhymes, consider Tesla. Automakers did not take over insurance, but Tesla built a billion-dollar premium insurance business. The anecdotes around Muse could likewise point to the birth of a new business without telling us that the whole industry will be displaced. This week gave us a glimpse of who fears that possibility. It did not tell us who will win.