Playbook: Prepare for the Age of AI Shopping

AI-powered shopping is quickly becoming the new baseline for consumers. 72% expect AI-assisted shopping experiences from retailers within the next year.¹ Getting this right pays off. AI-referred visitors arrive ready to buy, converting 42% better than non-AI traffic.²

But AI shops differently from humans. Rather than responding to imagery, design, or storytelling, it reads structured data. And agents don't give partial credit. If your data is incomplete or out of date, you're not just lower in the results... you might eliminate yourself from the recommendation entirely.

As AI assistants and agents become a trusted part of the shopping journey, it can be hard to know what actions businesses should take to have the greatest impact.

That's why we've built a playbook to address exactly that: Prepare for the Age of AI Shopping. It’s a practical guide to help businesses get ready in the new age of agentic commerce.

What's inside

Extend your foundation for agentic commerce with three moves:

• First, get discovered: Before AI can recommend you, it has to find and understand you. This starts with an AI-ready product feed in Microsoft Merchant Center, so agents can identify and trust what you sell.
• Then, be chosen: Meet shoppers at the moment of decision with AI-native ads across Bing and Copilot, let them buy without leaving the conversation through Copilot Checkout, and give every customer a personal shopper with a Brand Agent on your site that’s customized to your brand voice and products.
• Finally, understand what's working: AI Visibility insights in Microsoft Clarity show you which AI platforms cite you, which grounding queries and topics they associate your brand with, how you compare to competitors, and what AI-referred shoppers do after the click. Use these insights to take your generative engine optimization (GEO) strategy to the next level.

Plus, every action comes with step-by-step guidance and a 90-day activation roadmap, so you can put it in place regardless of your level of AI experience.

The foundations you build today will shape how your brand is discovered, chosen, and trusted in the years ahead.

Ready to be the brand AI recommends?