How to Stand Out in AI Shopping
Online shopping is changing rapidly. Here’s how e-commerce websites can take advantage.
In April, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT Shopping, offering specific product recommendations and direct links for shopping queries. This will bring the product directly to users, bypassing search engines and even allowing them to purchase through the ChatGPT app.
Now Google has announced AI Mode, with new Shopping features, already available in the US and coming to UK users in the next few months. The Deep Search feature will let users type long queries into the search bar, detailing everything they are looking for at once. Gemini (Google’s AI LLM) will then separate this into smaller, separate queries to find answers online and synthesise a response.
So rather than planning a holiday with 10-20 searches, for flights, hotels, sights to see and places to eat, you can make one search with everything you want.
Shopping in AI Mode
Users will refine their shopping ideas, track prices, see Augmented Reality views of products in their own photos, and evenlet Google check out for them. The sci-fi AI assistant is ever closer, but what does it mean for eCommerce?
How to Get Your Products Recommended in ChatGPT Shopping and Google AI Mode
New marketing channels don’t come around every day, so this is worth grabbing with both hands. At eSterling, we are advising clients to act decisively to:
- Maintain search visibility as more users switch to AI Mode
- Corner AI Shopping Results in your industry ahead of your competitors
- Expand your reach among users who are ready to purchase
- Maintain market share in a changing eCommerce landscape
- Improve consumer trust and brand reliability
- Increase revenue for your business
Our Digital Marketing Team is developing methods to support eCommerce SEO clients through this shift. Methods are based on SEO and designed specifically to optimise your product feed for AI Shopping.
AI Mode SEO Checklist
Here’s what we know so far (in May 2025).
Edit Robots.txt
This is the documentation to adjust to make sure both OpenAI’s and Google’s crawlers can find and index your pages. If they can’t index you, they won’t recommend your products.
Check All Metadata
Implement and improve structured metadata for prices, descriptions, dimensions, reviews, images, features and every detail possible. Both ChatGPT and Gemini need to be able to see the fine detail to match your products to complex queries.
Flesh Out Product Descriptions
Update your product descriptions to include every piece of information logically and clearly. You might need to add additional tabs and text spaces to the page or upload pdf specifications.
Don’t rush this stage: dumping a block of unformatted detail into product pages can ruin user experience.
Improve Product Images
Product images are about to become even more important, from all angles, in all configurations. Even better if you can add videos demonstrating the product.
Update Your Google My Business Profile
To show in searches that specify locations, GMB will link your site to location data, and back up the features you fill in there, such as price range, services, step-free access, busy times, and so on. Long story short: the more you fill in, the better.
Don’t Leave Anything Out
Include every product variation, additional service and special offer as clearly as possible on your site. If you also do repairs, for example, but only mention it in a blog, this won’t feed through to the AI Mode summary.
There’s a lot to do, and it takes time to do it all well. Our digital marketing team is prepared to work with you to get everything up to date, so don’t hesitate to ask for support.
Can we track AI Mode in GSC?
Google have now fixed the bug, as of the 28th of May, that would have stopped marketers from tracking clicks through AI Mode. We’ll be able to see how much of your traffic is coming through Google’s AI Mode and how much is coming through traditional search.
Is AI Shopping a flash in the pan?
It looks more like this is just the beginning. Google’s announcements included plans to integrate “many features and capabilities from AI Mode right into the core Search experience.” We’re preparing for a seismic shift in eCommerce marketing, and a huge opportunity for our clients to be among the first brands gaining sales from AI Shopping.
To discuss how we can prepare your website for AI Shopping, contact the digital marketing team today.
Call 0121 766 8707 or email info@esterling.co.uk.
What is F-Commerce?
We’re all familiar with the term ‘e-commerce’ when it comes to selling products online. Now f-commerce (the ‘f’ stands for Facebook) is becoming more and more popular with brands and consumers alike.
If you’re an online retailer, it is essential that you understand the impact that social media is having on e-commerce. Unique selling opportunities now exist on Facebook and other social media platforms. These networking sites allow you to engage with your customer base – and in the ideal scenario have them promote your products to their network of friends.
At the simplest level, this can be done by the addition of Facebook’s ‘Like’ button to your website, which acts as a simple content sharing device. When someone clicks on the ‘Like’ button on your site, this information is posted to that person’s Facebook wall and this will be viewable by their friends. As the average Facebook user has over 100 friends, this simple action could have a snowball effect as more and more users ‘Like’ your brand.
This communication is not just one-way. A page on your website can pull information from Facebook to show the names and profile pictures of people who have ‘Liked’ your product. This way you can find out more about the customers that are interested in you.
The opportunity now exists to take further steps forward to integrate e-commerce with your Facebook page. This means not just engaging your customer through your social presence, but also inviting them to buy products (in part or in whole) over the Facebook platform.
To achieve this, the look of your Facebook page can be tailored to look less like the profile page familiar to most users and more like a standard web page. This also allows you to integrate e-commerce elements, either by pulling product information onto your page using an API, displaying your shop through an ‘Iframe’ or even creating an App to perform the whole process through Facebook.
A number of online retailers have already rushed to take advantage of this new opportunity. Brands like Max Factor, Heinz, Thorntons and JD Sports have all made the transition from promoting their brand to selling goods through their Facebook pages.
The time internet users spent on Facebook in 2010 surpassed the time people used both Google and Yahoo. It is therefore essential to use social media platforms to find a bigger audience for your goods. Large brands such as Coca-Cola get more than 10% of their traffic from their Facebook page and this figure is only growing.
The Facebook platform is currently completely free and businesses can take advantage of this to set up a page with no hosting charges, fees or percentages paid. Call eSterling today to find out the ideal social media and e-commerce strategies we can offer you so that you can make the most out of f-commerce.
What is Google Shopping?
When your customers search using Google, it is possible for them to refine their search to shopping only results to help them find the products that they need. This is useful to consumers if they have a specific product in mind and they wish to compare prices between different retailers.
To try out Google shopping for yourself, simply click on “Shopping” at the top left of the Google home page and type in a product name (e.g ‘iPhone 4’). This directs you to the Google Product Search page and here you will find a list of products that are available to buy on the internet. These results can be sorted by category, price, brand and retailer – helping the user to locate exactly what they want quickly and easily.
If you have an e-commerce website, you will not want to miss the opportunity to get your products listed in the Google Shopping results. Making sure that your products appear in this search will help you attract new business and generate sales by helping your customers to find your site easily.
With the help of eSterling, it’s simple to submit a product feed to Google, as we can configure this to happen automatically from your e-commerce database. For further information about how to get your products listed in Google Shopping, please contact eSterling Limited by emailing enquiries@esterling.co.uk.