TL;DR: Adapting to Agentic Commerce in the AI Era
Agentic commerce is reshaping shopping by enabling AI agents to fully automate purchasing processes. Businesses must optimize for these AI systems alongside human users to remain competitive.
• Understand new protocols: Adopt Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) and Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) to seamlessly connect with AI marketplaces.
• Prioritize structured data: Use detailed schemas and APIs for product information AI agents can easily digest.
• Build trust: Focus on reputation signals like reviews and authority links to appeal to AI decision-making systems.
• Start experimenting now: Early integration of ACP and UCP ensures future adaptability.
By preparing for this shift, businesses can secure relevance in an increasingly AI-driven market. Learn more actionable insights here.
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Agentic commerce marks a seismic shift: AI agents are now capable of autonomously managing entire shopping journeys. Optimizing for humans is no longer enough; SEOs must pivot to accommodating these digital intermediaries. As a serial entrepreneur navigating the complexities of AI and commerce for over two decades, I see this as both an opportunity and a critical challenge.
The introduction of the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) by OpenAI and Stripe in late 2025, and Google’s subsequent Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), is redefining how businesses must interact with AI-driven marketplaces. Founders and SEOs alike face pressing questions: how do we make our products visible to this new shopping ecosystem, and what strategies ensure long-term relevance in an agent-powered commerce landscape?
What is Agentic Commerce, and Why Should You Care?
Imagine AI agents seamlessly handling complex tasks, searching for products, comparing prices, and completing purchases, without requiring manual browser navigation. This isn’t just about convenience; it’s about fundamentally altering the nature of consumer-business interactions. Shopper behavior is shifting from “find me a product” to “solve my problem.” For example, instead of asking, “Which chair should I buy?”, agents operate more intuitively: “Furnish my living room for $1,000” and offer a tailored result instantly.
Protocols like ACP and UCP act as the backbone of this transformation. They standardize communication between merchants, payment systems, and AI agents, making commerce faster, frictionless, and increasingly autonomous. For businesses aiming to stay competitive, understanding and adopting these protocols is no longer optional, it’s foundational.
How Does ACP Differ from UCP?
- Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP): Launched by OpenAI in collaboration with Stripe, ACP standardizes the shopping process, focusing on open-source solutions for transactions within agent environments. ACP is heavily integrated in platforms like Shopify and Etsy.
- Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP): Google’s response to ACP, aiming to create a universal standard that works across all verticals and platforms, integrating features like post-purchase support and loyalty systems. It is built to connect diverse ecosystems, from Walmart to Visa.
UCP’s broader scope positions it as a unifying commerce layer across AI platforms, offering tighter integrations into consumer surfaces such as Google’s Gemini experience. ACP, meanwhile, thrives within agent-driven commerce funnels, especially those tied to conversational AI solutions like ChatGPT.
What Should SEOs Focus on Right Now?
- Structured Data Mastery: AI agents rely heavily on structured data (think schema.org or GS1 outputs). Ensure product listings include detailed schemas for price, inventory, location, and reviews.
- Fine-Tune Content Formatting: Agents prioritize concise, well-organized information. Fluff won’t just lower your rankings; it will exclude you entirely from AI query results.
- Brand Trust Signals: Agents analyze trust metrics like reviews, mentions, and authority indexing. Building a strong reputation matters more than ever, especially through third-party signals.
- Readable APIs: Merchants should prioritize APIs that support ACP/UCP standards, minimizing friction for AI agents’ data retrieval.
- Experimentation with Protocols: Early adoption of ACP and UCP allows businesses to test integrations directly with AI platforms and refine their systems before widespread reliance begins.
What Are the Biggest Mistakes to Avoid?
- Ignoring Crawlability: AI agents don’t browse like humans. If essential product data isn’t accessible programmatically (via structured feeds or schema), your products won’t exist in their universe.
- Failing to Embrace Structured Standards: The future is data-driven. Relying exclusively on conventional SEO tactics will leave your business invisible within an agent-first commerce model.
- Underestimating Reputation Factors: Trust indicators matter profoundly within agent ecosystems. Lack of third-party endorsements and public reviews can disqualify you instantly.
- Missed Opportunities for Early Adoption: Waiting too long to integrate ACP/UCP protocols can leave you playing catch-up with competitors.
How Can Businesses Prepare for Agentic Commerce?
Preparation comes down to proactive action. Here’s a quick-start checklist:
- Audit APIs: Ensure that product and payment APIs meet ACP/UCP benchmarks to avoid friction with AI agents.
- Invest in Schema Markup: Comprehensive, machine-readable schema details covering price, stock status, and customer reviews are non-negotiable.
- Test Agent Interactions: Enable trial runs with AI platforms using ACP/UCP and analyze how agents perceive and represent your brand.
- Build Multi-Channel Trust: Reduce reliance on single-platform visibility by planting trust signals across multiple ecosystems (social proof, authoritative links).
- Educate Teams: Train SEO specialists about agentic systems and their technical protocols to stay ahead of evolving standards.
Closing Thoughts: The Agentic Revolution
By 2026, businesses must optimize for both human and agentic shopping journeys. This isn’t just about staying competitive, it’s about survival. SEOs must align their strategies with evolving shopping standards like ACP and UCP while keeping one eye on experimentation and future-centric innovation.
The rise of agentic commerce creates immense opportunity for founders willing to invest in adaptability. With structured APIs, reputation-building, and schema-based strategies, we can move toward not just visibility but relevance in this AI-driven marketplace. As someone who’s deeply invested in multidisciplinary problem-solving, I encourage every entrepreneur to lean into the transformational potential here, because waiting too long isn’t just risky; it’s a guaranteed setback.
Want actionable tips straight from 2026 commerce pioneers? See real-world insights on SEJ.
FAQ on Agentic Commerce (ACP & UCP)
1. What is Agentic Commerce?
Agentic commerce refers to AI agents autonomously managing shopping tasks like product discovery, comparison, and purchasing. Instead of browsing manually, users can rely on agents to handle complete shopping journeys. Read about how agentic commerce works
2. What are ACP and UCP?
The Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), launched by OpenAI and Stripe, standardizes agent-to-merchant interactions for shopping and payments. Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), introduced by Google, goes beyond ACP by covering broader commerce aspects like post-purchase support, loyalty, and system interoperability. Learn how ACP works
3. How does ACP differ from UCP?
ACP focuses on enabling agent-driven commerce through merchant feeds and direct transactions, supported by platforms like Shopify and Etsy. UCP provides a universal commerce rail that connects merchants, payment providers, and agents across all verticals, integrating with Google’s services like Gemini. Check out the differences between ACP and UCP
4. How do AI agents shop for users?
AI agents solve specific user needs like "furnish my living room for $1,000" by accessing merchant data, comparing products, and completing purchases via protocols like ACP and UCP. Learn more about agentic shopping
5. Why is structured data essential for agentic commerce?
AI agents rely on structured data, like schema.org and GS1 standards, to read product attributes such as price, availability, and reviews. Without structured data, businesses risk being invisible to AI agents. Read about structured data’s role
6. How can SEOs prepare for agentic commerce?
SEOs should prioritize structured data mastery, optimize content for conciseness, build brand trust signals, and ensure product APIs are compatible with ACP/UCP protocols to stay relevant in AI-driven commerce. Explore SEO strategies for agentic commerce
7. What are the biggest mistakes to avoid in agentic commerce?
Mistakes include ignoring structured data, underestimating brand trust signals, overlooking crawlability for AI agents, and delaying early adoption of ACP/UCP. Find out more about common mistakes
8. What industries are adopting ACP and UCP?
Retailers like Shopify, Etsy, and Wayfair are leading ACP adoption, while UCP supporters include Walmart, Target, and platforms like Visa and American Express. Check out where ACP and UCP are being used
9. How are consumers benefiting from agentic commerce?
Consumers benefit from seamless shopping experiences, where tasks like comparing products, applying loyalty rewards, and coordinating deliveries are completed by AI agents intuitively and efficiently. Learn how consumer behavior is changing
10. How can businesses start integrating ACP and UCP?
To begin, businesses should audit APIs, invest in schema markup, test interactions with AI platforms, and train teams on agentic commerce protocols. Get started with ACP integration
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the “gamepreneurship” methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the point of view of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.