Your next customer is an AI agent. Are you ready for Agentic Commerce?
24.10.2025
Shoppers are delegating to AI. Agentic Commerce is here: customers compare and buy directly in chat. See what it is, why it matters, and how Shopify/Magento merchants can prepare with GEO/GXO to stay visible, trusted, and chosen.
Shoppers aren’t just “searching” anymore, they’re delegating. Instead of opening ten tabs, they ask an AI to find the right product, compare options, prices, and even complete the purchase in-chat. With features like Buy it in ChatGPT (Instant Checkout), the classic funnel Search → Category → PDP → Cart → Checkout is collapsing into a single conversation.
Adobe Analytics reports a ~1,200% YoY surge in generative-AI referral traffic to U.S. retail sites in February 2025 compared to July 2024. And the new data from Adobe shows that generative AI traffic has grown to 4,700% YoY in July 2025.
Agentic Commerce is here, and it’s bigger than one app. Beyond ChatGPT, surfaces like Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, and Perplexity are rapidly becoming shopping entry points. The practical takeaway for Magento and Shopify teams: you’re no longer just optimizing pages for people, you’re making your catalog legible to agents that decide what gets shown and bought.
In this post, we’ll explain what Agentic Commerce actually is, why it matters now, and how early movers are already selling inside AI conversations.
Finally, we’ll tee up what’s next: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), how to be visible to AI systems and GXO (Generative eXperience Optimization) - how agents describe and compare your brand.
What can you start doing today to be found, trusted, and chosen by both people and their agents.
The Shift Is Here: Users, Traffic, and AI Shopping
Consumers are moving from “search → click” to “ask → buy in chat.” Instead of opening tabs, they ask an AI to research, compare, and now even complete the order in the same conversation.
With Buy it in ChatGPT, shoppers get Instant Checkout - tap “Buy,” confirm shipping and payment, done without leaving chat. (Currently just in the US but a global spread is just a question of time).
Here is just an example of the ChatGPT shopping feature. Just one request and ChatGPT provides you with several product recommendations, stock availability, delivery prices, why you would like, what people are saying, and summarized reviews from different resources (Trustpilot, Etsy, Medium, Amazon, and others). From the user's perspective, it sounds like a dream - it saves so much time and effort, doesn't it?
How US customers use generative AI for shopping
According to a survey conducted by Adobe involving 5,000 U.S. consumers, 38% reported having used generative AI for online shopping, and 52% plan to do so within the year. The various shopping tasks that consumers utilize AI for include conducting research (53% of respondents), receiving product recommendations (40%), searching for deals (36%), creating shopping lists (30%), finding gift ideas (30%), discovering unique products (29%), and utilizing virtual try-on features (26%).
What is Agentic Commerce (in plain language)?
Agentic commerce is when AI agents autonomously discover, evaluate, and purchase products on behalf of users and then hand off to your systems for fulfilment and support. So instead of a person clicking around your site, an AI agent (e.g., ChatGPT/Copilot/Gemini) does the shopping for them. The agent understands the request, compares options, and can even place the order inside the chat. Your store still ships the order and handles returns, nothing changes there.
What actually happens:
- A shopper tells an agent what they want (“running shoes under €120, wide fit, next-day delivery”).
- The agent checks multiple stores, compares price, stock, delivery, and reviews.
- It recommends the best option(s) and, if approved, buys, very often without opening your webshop.
- Your Magento/Shopify store receives the order, takes payment, ships, and supports the customer as usual.
How this differs from classic eCommerce:
- Where discovery happens: not only in Google or your nav (on-site serarch, catalog, filters, etc), but inside AI chats.
- Who does the comparison: not the shopper in 10 tabs, but the agent does it for them.
- Where checkout happens: increasingly in the chat (the agent’s surface), not just on your checkout page.
- What you must optimize: less for keywords and banners, more for clean product data, clear policies, and reliable APIs agents can read and trust.
Bridge (why the funnel feels different):
- Classic funnel: Search → Category → Product page → Cart → Checkout
- Agentic funnel: Prompt → Compare → Buy (then your systems Fulfil → Support) The steps inside the chat replace many clicks on your site. That’s why data quality and machine-readable info matter more than ever.
Trust is everything: Agents will choose the store they can understand and trust. That means:
- Clear, structured product data (titles, attributes, sizes, SKU, images).
- Up-to-date availability, price, delivery times, and returns policy.
- Strong reviews/SLAs and low cancellation/return friction. (Reviews not only on your website but on other platforms)
There’s an open standard called the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) that lets agents and stores “speak the same language” to create carts, take payment, and manage order status. You remain the merchant of record; your payment processor, fulfilment, and support all still run on your side. (Think of ACP as a tidy connector so the agent can check out smoothly.)
If your data is clear, your policies are visible, and your systems are stable, agents will recommend (and buy from) you more often, bringing you orders even when the shopper never visits your homepage.
As a merchant, you’ll lose some control you had on your webshop: agents own the first impression, comparison framing, and even the checkout surface, so your brand story can get compressed to specs, price, and delivery. That raises real risks: race-to-the-bottom pricing, ranking opacity (why an agent chose a rival), margin squeeze, lost attribution, bad data cascades (stale price/stock → canceled orders), more returns, fraud vectors, and platform dependency on a few agent ecosystems.
The upside: if you step in early, you can shape how agents read your catalog, build GEO/GXO advantages, win preferred placement, and lock in trust signals (reviews, SLAs, low latency) that compound over time, so you’re chosen for value, not just the lowest price.
What does Agentic Commerce Mean for Merchants and Retailers
Discoverability shift. Agents parse context and intent, not just keywords. A prompt like “eco hoodie under €60, ships this week” becomes entity-level matching across attributes, stock, delivery promises, and reviews. If your data is thin or stale, you’re invisible.
Competition shift. Instead of fighting for clicks and ad slots, you’re competing on data quality and agent visibility: clean specs, reliable availability, clear policies, fast responses via APIs/webhooks. Agents prefer merchants they can understand and trust at machine speed.
Personalization leap. Agents optimize to the buyer’s constraints like price tolerance, delivery speed, fit/size, sustainability, warranty, returns friction, and will auto-prefer merchants whose data matches those preferences consistently.
What this changes for Magento/Shopify teams (quick wins):
- Enrich product data: titles, attributes, SKU, images with alt text, sizing/fit, materials, care.
- Expose freshness: live price/stock, cut-off times, delivery SLAs, returns window, warranty terms.
- Strengthen trust: verified reviews, star ratings, store policies in structured form.
- Tighten ops signals: low cancel/return rates, on-time fulfilment, clear RMA steps, surface these.
Signals that make agents choose you
- Specs & attributes (complete, standardized)
- Availability & price (live, consistent)
- Delivery promise (speed, cut-off, cost)
- Returns & warranty (clear, low friction)
- Reviews & reliability (ratings, SLA performance)
- Policy clarity (tax, duties, sustainability claims)
Agentic surfaces reward merchants who are machine-readable, trustworthy, and fast. Invest in data quality and operational signals now to be chosen more often.
Businesses from what you can shop directly within ChatGPT
Live now (U.S.)
Etsy sellers - you can buy eligible Etsy items directly in ChatGPT via Instant Checkout. U.S. ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Free users can now buy directly from U.S. Etsy sellers right in chat.
Rolling out
Walmart & Sam’s Club - Walmart announced in-chat shopping in ChatGPT using Instant Checkout. So Walmart and Sam’s Club customers can buy directly inside ChatGPT with Instant Checkout, plan meals or restock essentials in chat, then confirm shipping and payment in one flow. It’s part of Walmart’s broader AI-first push (learning, planning, predicting) that builds on existing AI for catalog enrichment and customer care
Coming soon
With ChatGPT instant checkout, Shopify merchants (e.g., Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx, Vuori) will soon be able to sell their products via ChatGPT.
It’s Not Just ChatGPT shopping
Multiple AI surfaces are becoming shopping entry points, so you’re optimizing for more than one “assistant”:
- Microsoft Copilot. Microsoft launched the Copilot Merchant Program so brands can feed catalogs/specs to Copilot and surface products (with pricing and purchase options) inside Copilot experiences.
- Google Gemini / AI Mode in Search. Google is adding AI Mode to Smart Shopping; Gemini + the Shopping Graph (50B+ listings) help users describe what they want conversationally and refine to buyable options.
- Perplexity. Perplexity Buy like a Pro recommends products with sources and buy paths; it has piloted merchant programs and native purchase experiences that collapse research and checkout.
What Shopify merchants can do to get the maximum from Agentic Commerce
If you’re on Shopify, congrats, you basically pulled the lucky ticket. Just sit and enjoy 😁 If you’re a Shopify merchant (US based), you do not need to apply or build an integration for Instant Checkout - you are already eligible. But it's only about Instant Checkout in ChatGPT, Agentic Commerce is much wider and you can always do better so there are things to do.
Channel strategy
Treat agents (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity) like new sales channels you can “list into.” Manage eligibility, feed quality, SLAs, and attribution the same way you would a marketplace.
Readiness checklist (do now)
- Structured data: Product/Offer/Review/Brand/Sustainability JSON-LD on PDPs. Include titles, attributes, GTIN/MPN, high-quality images, price, availability, delivery promise, and returns.
- APIs & webhooks: Reliable events for
orders/create,fulfillments/update,refunds/create, cancellations, inventory/price updates. - Feed hygiene: Clean variants (size/color), consistent taxonomy, real-time stock, shipping methods + cut-offs, clear return policy URLs.
- Trust signals: Verified reviews/ratings, warranty & returns clarity, delivery SLAs visible and machine-readable.
- Attribution: Tag agentic orders (order notes/metafields/tags) and build saved reports to track conversion and margin.
Medium-term moves
- Multi-agent merchandising: keep a shared attribute dictionary; iterate copy/images/promises per agent surface.
- Performance & reliability: keep Storefront/Admin API latency low; use Bulk APIs for large refreshes; monitor webhook failures.
- Top-50 SKU sprint: fix specs, images, availability, delivery/returns first - prove lift, then scale.
What Magento (Adobe Commerce) merchants can do to get the maximum from Agentic Commerce
The partnership between OpenAI and Shopify gives Shopify merchants a head start in Agentic Commerce as they’re already plugged into the Instant Checkout rollout. But what if your store runs on Magento or Adobe Commerce? The good news: you can absolutely benefit from this new channel too. You just need to make your catalog, data, and brand signals ready for AI-driven discovery and in-chat purchases.
As an Adobe Commerce merchant, you might ask: what is Adobe doing to prepare businesses for Agentic Commerce? Adobe’s answer lies in its GenAI ecosystem — including GenStudio for Performance Marketing (AI-powered campaign creation), Adobe Express (quick content design), and the AI Assistant in Adobe Experience Platform (data and workflow insights). These tools boost marketing efficiency and content quality, but they’re built to enhance human shopping experiences, not to serve autonomous AI agents like ChatGPT or Copilot.
So what to do then?
Think of ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Perplexity as the next generation of marketplaces. You can’t buy ad space there yet, but you can earn visibility by maintaining clean data, clear policies, and fast fulfilment. Merchants who prepare now will have a major head start once Agentic Commerce becomes mainstream.
Get your catalog ready for AI
Make your products easy for AI agents to understand. Agents can’t guess or “interpret” vague data — they depend on clean, structured facts.
-
Use clear product names: Instead of “Model 2356,” write “Men’s Waterproof Hiking Boots – Brown Leather.”
-
Add rich attributes: Include size, color, material, weight, dimensions, fit, sustainability info, and any relevant certifications (e.g., organic cotton, FSC-certified wood).
-
Write descriptive text: “Handmade stoneware coffee mug, 350 ml, dishwasher safe” gives AI much more context than “Ceramic mug.”
-
Provide quality images: Use multiple angles, lifestyle shots, and alt text like “woman wearing lightweight recycled running jacket in navy blue.”
-
Keep data accurate and fresh: Update stock and price daily (or automatically via API). Agents penalize outdated or missing data.
-
Show delivery details clearly: “Ships in 24 hours – free returns within 30 days” tells both people and AI how fast you deliver and how safe it is to buy.
-
Use structured data (JSON-LD): Add schema for
Product,Offer, andReviewso ChatGPT, Gemini, and other agents can read your content as structured facts, not just text.{ "@context": "https://schema.org/", "@type": "Product", "name": "Organic Cotton T-Shirt", "description": "Soft, breathable unisex T-shirt made from 100% organic cotton.", "brand": "GreenLeaf Apparel", "sku": "GL-OC-TSHIRT-001", "offers": { "@type": "Offer", "price": "29.00", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock" } }
Example in practice: If a shopper tells ChatGPT “find a sustainable white T-shirt under $30 that ships fast”, agents will only find you if your product data clearly says “white,” “organic cotton,” “$29,” and “ships in 24 hours.”
The more structured, specific, and up-to-date your catalog is, the easier it is for AI agents to recommend you over competitors.
Strengthen your brand signals
AI agents select stores based on trust and reliability. Highlight verified reviews, delivery speed, return policies, and sustainability details. If your store consistently delivers what it promises, agents will show your products more often.
Be ready for Instant Checkout in ChatGPT
- Apply to participate in Instant Checkout. OpenAI is accepting applications from merchants who want to (1) integrate their products into ChatGPT search results and (2) enable Instant Checkout in ChatGPT through the Agentic Commerce Protocol.
- Share an accurate product feed (price, stock, shipping, returns) according to Product Feed Spec, so ChatGPT accurately indexes and displays your products with up-to-date price and availability.
- Build your Agentic Checkout API following the Agentic Checkout Spec. This includes: a) Implementing the required REST endpoints b) Setting up webhooks to notify OpenAI about key order events c) Returning a detailed checkout state with every response
- Build your payments integration. Use a trusted payment service provider (PSP) that complies with the Delegated Payment Spec to securely handle and charge payment credentials. If you already use Stripe Stripe’s Shared Payment Token is the first implementation compatible with this spec, with more PSPs coming soon. If you’re a PSP or a PCI DSS Level 1 merchant managing your own vault, see the guide on how to build a direct integration with OpenAI. If you need Stripe Payment method for Hyvä React Checkout, we developed this one.
Finally, certify with OpenAI and move to production. To verify that products, payments, and order flows are fully functional, work with OpenAI to pass conformance checks and gain production access.
From SEO to GEO
Agentic Commerce isn’t just changing how people buy, it’s changing how they find and evaluate products in the first place. Instead of typing keywords into Google, shoppers now ask questions in ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot and expect a single, trustworthy answer.
This shift means brands must evolve from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - built for human search - to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), which prepares your content and data for AI-driven discovery.
What is GEO?
Generative Engine Optimization focuses on how generative AI systems interpret, trust, and describe your brand.
- Make your catalog machine-understandable: use clear product names, attributes, and structured data (schema.org).
- Keep product information fresh and consistent across APIs, feeds, and JSON-LD markup.
- Ensure transparency: your prices, availability, and delivery promises must match what shoppers actually experience.
What about GXO?
Generative Experience Optimization (GXO) is the next layer — it’s about shaping how AI agents present your brand to users. The tone, visuals, and facts AI uses when describing your product should reflect your real strengths: reliability, design, sustainability, or customer care.
| Concept | Focus | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| 🔍 SEO | Human discoverability | Get found by people |
| 🤖 GEO | Machine readability | Get understood by AI |
| ✨ GXO | AI-driven brand experience | Get represented the way you want |
In essence: SEO helped you get found. GEO helps you get understood. GXO ensures you’re described accurately and persuasively by AI agents.
In upcoming guides will dive deeper into GEO and GXO, with actionable steps for Magento and Shopify merchants to stay visible in the agentic era.
What to Expect in the Next 12–18 Months
The Agentic Commerce landscape is moving fast and the next year and a half will bring major shifts that redefine how brands compete, measure, and sell.
Agent integrations expand
Expect broader rollout of ChatGPT Instant Checkout, plus new AI-shopping integrations from Walmart, Google, and others. Agents will connect directly to merchant catalogs, payment systems, and logistics providers shrinking the buyer journey to seconds.
Early adopters take the lead
Brands that prepare early (clean data, reliable APIs, transparent policies) will gain first-mover visibility and higher conversion rates inside agent surfaces. Once AI systems “trust” your data, that trust compounds over time.
SEO becomes GEO
Traditional SEO teams are evolving into GEO consultants, focusing on data clarity, entity modeling, and AI discoverability instead of backlinks and meta tags. Structured data, schema, and accuracy will matter more than keyword density.
New challenges ahead
As agents handle more transactions, expect issues like ranking opacity, AI-generated content spam, fraudulent listings, and even “returns-in-chat.” Merchants can mitigate risks by:
- Setting data contracts with partners to guarantee feed accuracy.
- Running agentic testing - simulating how agents perceive and transact with your catalog.
- Monitoring how your brand is represented across different AI systems. (For instance, [Ahrefs trackes AI traffic](How to Track and Analyze Your AI Traffic))
The next 12–18 months will separate those who experiment from those who adapt. The merchants who invest in GEO-ready data, strong trust signals, and continuous testing will be the ones AI agents choose again and again.
Summary
Agentic Commerce is changing how people shop online. Instead of searching in browsers and then on websites, shoppers can now ask AI assistants like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to find and even buy products for them directly in the chat.
Big retailers such as Walmart and platforms like Shopify and Etsy are already joining this trend.
For online stores, this means a new reality: sooner or later AI agents will be your biggest customers. To stay visible, your store needs clear product data, up-to-date stock and pricing, and easy-to-understand delivery and return policies.
In the coming year, more agents and platforms will join this movement.
Is it already time to optimise webshops for AI agents? Yes, the shift has already started. AI agents are learning how to find, compare, and buy products, and they’ll soon become an essential part of online shopping. Stores that prepare early with clean product data, fast APIs, and reliable fulfillment will be the ones these systems choose first. And the best part? All these improvements also make shopping better for real people, faster searches, clearer information, and smoother checkout experiences.