How Will Agentic Commerce Revolutionize Your Online Shopping Journeys?

Agentic commerce enables direct purchasing through conversational AI like ChatGPT or Gemini, compressing the marketing funnel into a single conversation. 34% of French consumers are ready to buy without going through an e-commerce site. To remain visible, brands must structure their data, optimize their reviews, and master GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), the successor to SEO.

What Should You Remember About Agentic Commerce and Its Disruption of Current E-commerce?

Agentic commerce radically transforms how consumers shop online. Instead of manually browsing e-commerce sites or marketplaces, users now delegate their purchasing decisions to conversational AI agents like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity.

This revolution compresses the traditional marketing funnel (awareness, interest, decision, action) into a single conversation. The AI becomes a prescriber: it compares products, analyzes reviews, negotiates prices, and finalizes the transaction — without the user leaving the conversational interface.

The data shows massive adoption: 34% of French consumers are ready to buy directly through AI, and 27.5% of American Black Friday sales were influenced by AI agents. Brands must structure their product data, optimize their customer reviews, and position themselves on "generative AI engines" to remain visible.

What Are the Expert Strategic Levers of Agentic Commerce?

Agentic commerce rests on three technical pillars: the conversational agent (ChatGPT, Gemini), the merchant (Shopify, marketplace), and the payment provider (Stripe, Google Pay). This triad enables a seamless, frictionless shopping experience.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is progressively replacing SEO. The goal is no longer to rank a site higher in results, but to ensure that the brand's information is used by AI to generate responses. This requires rigorous data structuring (Schema.org tags, metadata), omnipresence across directories and marketplaces, and proactive reputation management through customer reviews.

The central hypothesis: whoever controls the entry point controls the transaction. Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft are competing to become the reference conversational interface, as this will give them access to billions of transactions. OTAs (Booking, Expedia) are threatened if they don't quickly partner with these players.

What Are the Debatable Points and Our Position?

[Opinion] In my view, the claim that "e-commerce sites will disappear" is excessive. Websites retain strategic utility: proprietary database, logistics management, exclusive content not exposed to AI. However, their role as the primary user interface is eroding. My experience shows that brands keeping part of their content private (buying guides, comparisons) for their own conversational agents create a competitive advantage.

[Generalization] I would nuance the idea that "reviews define what AI thinks of you." Reviews are a major source, but AI also weighs press coverage, comparison sites, and specialized forums. Focusing solely on Google Reviews without working on your overall editorial presence is a mistake.

[To Verify] The figures on AI influence (27.5% of Black Friday sales) come from a Profoundé study based on behavioral tracking. This data is promising but deserves confirmation from independent European studies. The French market has a regulatory lag (absence of AI Overviews) that distorts comparisons with the USA.

[Experience Feedback] Having supported retail networks on local GEO, I observe that store locators structured with Schema.org systematically outperform in AI agent recommendations. BNP Paribas, Matmut, and Axa all saw their local GEO visibility explode after redesign.

• Should You Structure Your Product Data with Schema.org and Enriched Metadata? — AI agents read code, not design. Well-tagged data (price, availability, features) improves your ranking in AI recommendations. Action: audit your site with Schema.org validation tools and complete missing tags.
• Do Customer Reviews Define What AI Thinks of You? — AI agents heavily rely on Google, Amazon, and other reviews to compare and recommend. A lower rating or untreated negative reviews eliminate you from suggestions. Action: implement active review collection and respond systematically, especially to negative ones.
• Does Omnipresence on Directories and Marketplaces Boost Your GEO? — The more present you are on different sources (directories, comparison sites, marketplaces), the more AI finds your information and recommends you. Action: distribute your data via a PIM or presence management tool across maximum platforms.
• Does Reserve with Google Prepare for Agentic Booking and Offer a First-Mover Advantage? — Connecting your calendars to Google via Reserve with Google allows AI agents to check your availability and book for users. Action: integrate Reserve with Google with a technical partner if your booking SaaS doesn't offer it natively.
• Should You Create Personas to Measure Your GEO Positioning? — Since AI responses are ultra-personalized, you must simulate your typical customers (profiles, location, preferences) to track what AI says about you. Action: use tools like Meteora to ask 10,000 questions and analyze your visibility by segment.
• Should You Avoid Delegating 100% of Your Content to AI — and Keep a Proprietary Base? — E-commerce sites remain useful for exclusive content (guides, comparisons, services) that you don't want to expose publicly. Action: develop an on-site conversational agent with a private knowledge base to create a competitive advantage.
• Should You Monitor Amazon and Google's "Buy for Me" Mode — Does It Change the Game? — Amazon and Google now allow buying for you on other e-commerce sites, capturing the transaction even if the product isn't theirs. Action: analyze whether your dependence on marketplaces exposes you to this risk and strengthen your direct channel.
• Are AI Overviews Coming to France — Should You Prepare Now? — Although blocked by neighboring rights, Google's AI Overviews are already transforming search in 180+ countries. When they arrive in France, latecomers will be invisible. Action: follow Anglo-Saxon GEO best practices and structure your content accordingly.