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“Agentic commerce” is an emerging term gaining traction in conversations about AI and ecommerce. To put it simply, agentic commerce is a new shopping experience where AI systems lead consumers throughout the buying process, from gathering and comparing product information to narrowing options, managing price thresholds, and in some cases, making purchases on behalf of the user.
Right now, this is still more concept than reality, but it is worth understanding to get ahead of the game. As AI begins to influence how consumers discover products and make buying decisions, marketers will need to think about how their brands appear not just to people, but to the intelligent systems helping them shop.
This guide breaks down what agentic commerce is, who should be paying attention, and what marketers can do to prepare.
Setting the Stage: What Is Agentic Commerce?
As mentioned above, agentic commerce is the next evolution of AI and shopping, where AI agents complete shopping tasks on consumers’ behalf. These agents learn specific details about the user’s preferences, like budget, style, and brand affinity, and then use that context to suggest or complete purchases for the user.
For example, an AI assistant might handle part of the research for someone shopping for running shoes. It surfaces relevant options based on the person’s needs and past behavior. The human still oversees the purchase decision, but the path becomes shorter and more guided by AI tools that help filter and organize information.
Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) and communication protocols are making agentic commerce. LLMs help AI systems understand what you're looking for, summarize product information, and offer personalized recommendations. Communication protocols and APIs allow these systems to work across different platforms, creating a smooth, integrated experience.
We are already seeing early signs in ChatGPT’s browsing and shopping plug-ins, Perplexity’s product integrations, and Amazon’s connected device ecosystem. These technologies are forming the foundation for agentic commerce, and we can expect to see further advancements within them.
Who Should Be Paying Attention
Agentic commerce is relevant for any brand or marketing leader invested in digital visibility.
While agentic commerce may raise concerns for some marketers, it’s important to note that rather than replacing search or paid advertising, agentic commerce builds on them. It depends on the same foundations — clear data structures, relevant content, and strong brand signals that communicate trust and authority — but applies them within systems that interpret and act on information for the user. What changes is how the information is processed and presented.
Considerations for marketers:
- For eCommerce teams, this means ensuring product data is structured and accessible so AI systems can understand it accurately.
- For brand marketers, it reinforces the importance of credibility and trust, qualities AI models heavily prioritize in recommendations.
- For SEO and paid advertising professionals, it is a chance to think beyond human search behavior and work more towards optimizing content based on how AI systems interpret relevance.
None of this replaces the fundamentals of visibility or demand capture. It simply reframes them. As AI takes on more of the filtering and comparison work, brands that invest early in clarity, structure, and authority will be the ones most easily surfaced by both humans and machines.
How to Prepare for Agentic Commerce
Agentic commerce may not yet dominate consumer behavior, but marketers can take steps now to prepare.
1. Prioritize Structured and Accurate Data
AI systems depend on well-organized, high-quality information. Strengthen product feeds, schema markup, and metadata to ensure your offerings are machine-readable. This already supports SEO and paid campaigns and will become even more valuable as AI handles more of the discovery process.
2. Reinforce Brand Credibility
Trust remains central. Maintain consistent product details, transparent reviews, and authoritative content that clearly communicates expertise. AI models learn from signals of reliability, the same ones that drive human trust.
3. Experiment with Conversational Interfaces
Test AI-assisted chat tools or guided shopping experiences that make your brand easier to engage with. These experiments provide insight into how consumers respond to AI-driven interactions and how your product information performs in new contexts.
4. Stay Informed About AI
Keep an eye on how AI is being integrated into search engines and advertising platforms. Understanding these shifts early will help you adapt your visibility strategy ahead of competitors.
To get started with integrating AI into your commerce strategy, check out OpenAI’s eCommerce Developer Guide.
Looking Ahead
Agentic commerce is still taking shape, but it is beginning to influence how consumers discover and interact with digital content and product data.
The right approach today is not to overhaul strategy, but to evolve existing practices. Invest in clarity, credibility, and adaptability, while keeping a close eye on how AI tools are being integrated into commerce.
The landscape will continue to evolve, and marketers who stay close to these changes will be best positioned to respond. The brands that communicate their value clearly and consistently, in ways that both people and intelligent systems can easily interpret are the brands that will thrive.
Uproer’s Take
Agentic commerce sits at the intersection of search, personalization, and automation, where AI begins to move from showing options to choosing among them. For Uproer, this reinforces a core truth: visibility and trust still matter most. As discovery becomes increasingly AI-mediated, the brands that invest in structured data, credible content, and measurable value will continue to win, no matter who or what is doing the searching.
Curious about how Uproer can help your brand stay competitive in the AI era? Let's talk.
