Agentic Commerce: The Future of E-Commerce is Here
The shopping landscape is transforming dramatically. Agentic Commerce – where AI agents handle the entire shopping journey within chat interfaces – is replacing traditional website browsing with seamless, conversational experiences.
- Agentic commerce allows users to purchase products directly within a AI chat
- This marks a fundamental shift from transactional websites to seamless, AI-driven shopping experiences
- It’s not just a new channel; it’s an entirely new way for consumers to discover, research and buy
What Is Agentic Commerce?
It’s about AI agents acting on behalf of users
- Success in this new ecosystem depends on how well products are understood and presented by conversational AI
- Instead of browsing a website, a user simply tells their AI assistant what they want
- “Find me a waterproof jacket for hiking, under $150, in a size large, blue or black”
- The AI then finds the best options, presents them, and facilitates the purchase – all within the conversation
Shop with AI Mode on Google
Google’s Shop with AI Mode is rolling out in the US but expect it in Australia soon!
- Google’s new AI Mode enhances shopping: It uses Gemini AI and the Shopping Graph (over 50 billion product listings) to deliver personalised inspiration and curated recommendations, constantly updated for accuracy
- Visual shopping experience: AI Mode shows dynamic panels with images and products tailored to your preferences, helping you easily narrow searches by specific needs, such as travel or weather.
- Agentic checkout with Google Pay: Shoppers can track prices, set preferences, and let Google securely complete purchases automatically once the price fits their budget
- Virtual try-on with your own photos: Google’s virtual try-on feature uses AI to let you upload a photo and see billions of apparel items on yourself, reflecting realistic fit and fabric detail; available for shirts, pants, skirts, and dresses.
- Features roll out in the U.S. through 2025: AI Mode shopping, agentic checkout, and virtual try-on will continue expanding via Search Labs, offering more interactive, personalised shopping experiences over coming months. Expect it in Australia soon!
OpenAI Launches Instant Checkout
OpenAI has released Instant Checkout integrations with Etsy and soon launching with Shopify for Conversational Commerce:
- Open-source commerce tech: The Agentic Commerce Protocol is open-sourced to allow merchants and developers to easily integrate and build new shopping experiences with AI agents.
- Seamless checkout experience: Product searches are organic and unsponsored. Purchases are completed in-chat with payment and shipping details handled securely, acting like a digital personal shopper.
- Merchant-friendly integration: Merchants retain full control over payments, customer relationships, and fulfillment, paying only a small fee per transaction while using their existing payment systems.
- Emphasis on trust and security: Users explicitly confirm each step, payment tokens are encrypted, and only essential order information is shared, ensuring privacy and security throughout the buying process.
The Customer Journey has been Reimagined
The Opportunity for Early Adopters
Higher Conversions: Eliminates cart abandonment through frictionless purchasing
New Revenue Streams: Capture the growing AI-assisted shopping audience
Deeper Engagement: Build loyalty through personalised, consultative interactions
Key Differences for an AI Optimised Feed
Key Elements
- OpenAI Flags to control whether a product is discoverable or purchasable inside ChatGPT
- Video links at a product level that’s publicly accessible
- Popularity score and return rate to highlight social proof
- Warnings/Product disclaimers (e.g. contains lithium battery)
- Q&A attribute to leverage FAQ content from GEO to feed algorithms and improve visibility (e.g. Q: Is this waterproof? A: Yes)
Maximising SEO Visibility with AI-Optimised Feeds
Key Elements
- AI-driven product recommendations increase impressions in zero-click and rich snippet results.
- QnA and structured product feeds capture long-tail and voice search queries.
- Optimized feeds improve crawlability and indexation, ensuring all products are visible.
- Early adoption of AI-ready SEO boosts organic reach and top-of-funnel discovery.
Higher CTR and engagement compared to traditional SEO alone.
Types of SEO 2025
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) | GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) | Local SEO | AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) | |
Definition | Optimising website to rank higher on traditional search engines like Google for relevant search queries. | Optimising content to be understood and featured by generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google SGE etc. | Enhancing online presence to appear in local search results and map listings for geo-targeted queries. | Structuring content to be selected as direct answers in search results and by voice assistants. |
Primary Channel | Google/Bing SERPs | Generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) | Google Snippets, voice assistants | Google Maps, Local Pack, GBP |
User Intent | Informational, commercial | Informational, contextual, prompt-driven | Direct answers, factual queries | “Near me” or city-specific searches |
Search Model | Keyword-based | Entity and context-based | Conversational/intent-based | Proximity-based + keyword |
Content Format | Blogs, landing pages, product pages | Entity-rich articles, FAQs, data sources | FAQs, definitions, how-to guides | Location pages, service area content |
Success Metric | Rankings, traffic, CTR | Brand mentions, LLM citations, AI visibility | Featured snippets, AI assistant use | Map pack rankings, direction clicks |
Key Platforms | Google, Bing | OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Gemini | Google, Siri, Alexa, Cortana | Google Maps, Apple Maps, GBP |
AEO / GEO Growth Framework
Strengthen the Foundation (AI-Ready Baseline)
Goal: Establish a robust, credible, and AI-ready SEO foundation.
Why it matters: Builds long-term technical stability, ensures search engines can trust and surface your content, and sets the groundwork for AI-driven visibility.
Expand Visibility (AI-Optimised Content & Launches)
Goal: Amplify reach, engagement, and discoverability across traditional and AI-powered search.
Why it matters: Enhances presence across multiple search touchpoints, increases brand authority, and drives consistent, high-quality traffic.
Future-Proof (AI + Multimodal SEO)
Goal: Anticipate and adapt to emerging search formats.
Why it matters: Positions your brand as a leader in new search formats, protecting long-term visibility and growth.
Next Steps: Partner for AI Search Success
Three pillars for success:
- Adapt content for answer engines, not just search engines.
- Integrate product data with a feed management provider to enrich product data
- Iterate with AI performance data to stay ahead of algorithm shifts.
Your action plan:
- Priority 1: Audit site for effective FAQ content that’s discoverable by AI platforms
- Priority 2: Audit existing product data for Agentic Commerce compatibility
- Priority 3: Schedule a 2025 AI search roadmap session
Let’s discuss how MM can accelerate your AI search success. Contact our team.
