"With the slow death of the search bar, brands can no longer rely on SEO to help how they rank on a search results page, as every interaction, from discovery to purchase, is increasingly filtered through algorithms, making brand story a strategic asset. The shift reflects "a generational change" in consumer behavior, said John Harmon, senior retail and tech analyst at Coresight Research."
"Whoever controls the AI agent, the data and the training decides how the brand is seen when a bot, not a person, is doing the buying. That shift places an immediate premium on detailed product data, from dimensions and materials to sourcing and sustainability attributes, raising the risk that smaller brands will fall behind unless they can meet a new, higher bar in order to be read and understood by chatbots."
Agentic AI chatbots are replacing traditional search behavior by synthesizing recommendations and weighing trade-offs instead of returning lists of links. Brand visibility increasingly depends on how AI agents rank, present, and narrate products, making brand story and rich product metadata strategic assets. Control of AI agents, underlying data, and model training determines how products are represented during bot-led purchasing. Detailed product attributes—dimensions, materials, sourcing, and sustainability—become essential, raising barriers for smaller brands that cannot meet higher data requirements. Early adoption shows about 13 percent of consumers used chatbots to support shopping, creating opportunity despite transaction friction.
Read at WWD
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