The Agentic Commerce Glossary

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AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)

The practice of structuring content so that AI search engines — including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Claude — extract and cite it in response to natural-language queries. AEO differs from traditional SEO in that the goal is not a ranked search result but a cited answer inside an AI-generated response. Key AEO signals include direct opening answers, question-format headers, specific verifiable data, FAQPage schema, and topical depth within a content cluster. A brand with strong AEO appears by name in AI responses before a shopper ever visits a search results page.

For the complete framework, see our guide to AI search visibility for ecommerce brands.

Agent Card

A structured JSON file published at yourdomain.com/.well-known/agent-card.json that tells AI agents what a business does, how it operates, and what actions they are allowed to take. Defined by the A2A (Agent-to-Agent) open protocol and supported by over 150 organizations as of 2026. For ecommerce stores, an agent card covers product categories, shipping and return policies, supported workflows, and fallback instructions. Two versions exist: informational agent cards improve discovery and citation accuracy; action-oriented agent cards define specific workflows AI agents can execute such as browsing catalogs, routing inquiries, or initiating checkout.

For the complete ecommerce guide, see What Is an Agent Card? The Ecommerce Store Owner’s Guide.

Agentic Commerce

A category of commerce in which AI agents — rather than human shoppers browsing manually — discover, evaluate, recommend, and in some cases initiate the purchase of products on behalf of users. Agentic commerce encompasses AI-powered product discovery in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, and Microsoft Copilot, as well as emerging agent-initiated transaction flows where AI agents can add products to carts and route shoppers to checkout. Shopify reported that AI-driven traffic to its stores grew 8x year over year in Q1 2026, while orders from AI-powered searches increased nearly 13x. Agentic commerce readiness describes whether a store has the technical infrastructure — schema, feeds, crawler access, agent card — required to participate in this channel.

See our AI search visibility for ecommerce brands guide for the full agentic commerce framework.

Agentic Storefront

A Shopify feature launched in March 2026 that automatically syndicates eligible Shopify merchants’ product catalogs to ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Mode, and Gemini with no app installation or configuration required. Agentic Storefronts are built on the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) co-developed by OpenAI and Stripe. Products appear as organic, unsponsored results in AI shopping responses. Agentic Storefronts are available to eligible US merchants by default. WooCommerce stores are not eligible for Agentic Storefronts and must achieve equivalent AI commerce visibility through manual technical setup.

AI Citation

An instance in which an AI system references a specific brand, product, or URL as a source in an AI-generated response. AI citations are the primary metric of AEO performance. A brand that earns AI citations appears by name in answers that ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Google AI Overviews generate for relevant shopper queries. Citations differ from traditional search rankings in that they appear inside synthesized answers rather than as ranked links, and they typically come with attribution to the specific source page cited. Citation rate, citation volume, and citation accuracy are the core KPIs for AI search visibility.

AI Crawler Access

The configuration state of a website’s robots.txt file that determines whether AI crawlers — including OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, and GoogleOther — are permitted to crawl and index the site’s content. Sites that block AI crawlers are invisible to AI citation systems regardless of content quality or schema completeness. Many ecommerce stores block AI crawlers accidentally through legacy robots.txt configurations or security plugins written before AI crawlers existed. Restoring AI crawler access is the first step in any AI visibility remediation sequence.

For WooCommerce-specific setup, see WooCommerce AI Crawler Access: 2026 AI Shopping Guide. For the platform-agnostic guide, see robots.txt for Ecommerce: How to Configure It for AI Crawlers and Site Control.

AI Discovery Files

The four infrastructure files that determine how AI systems access, understand, and interact with a website: robots.txt (access layer), schema markup (understanding layer), llms.txt (discovery layer), and agent card (action layer). Most websites have only robots.txt. Very few have all four. A site with all four AI discovery files is accessible to AI crawlers, interpretable at the entity level, discoverable with accurate brand context, and actionable by AI agents initiating workflows. AI discovery files are distinct from and complementary to traditional SEO infrastructure.

For the complete framework, see The 4 Files Every Website Needs for AI Discovery.

Citation Eligibility

The minimum technical and content threshold a page must meet before AI engines will cite it in responses. For ecommerce product pages, citation eligibility requires at minimum: AI crawler access confirmed via robots.txt, Product Schema plus Offer Schema plus AggregateRating Schema in place, and a Google Merchant Center feed that is approved and error-free. For content pages like buying guides, citation eligibility requires a direct opening answer, question-format headers, specific verifiable data, and FAQPage schema. A page that meets all eligibility requirements may still not be cited if competing pages give AI engines stronger or more specific signals.

Citation Rate

The frequency with which a brand, domain, or specific page is cited by AI systems across a defined set of queries over a defined time period. Citation rate is the primary performance metric for AEO. A high citation rate indicates that AI systems are reliably identifying and referencing a source when answering relevant queries. Citation rate is typically tracked using purpose-built tools that query AI platforms systematically and record source attribution. It is distinct from AI-referred traffic, which measures the downstream click and session volume from AI citations.

FAQPage Schema

A schema.org structured data type that marks up question-and-answer content on a page so AI engines and search crawlers can extract it as structured answers. FAQPage schema wraps FAQ sections in JSON-LD script blocks, allowing AI systems to identify specific questions and their direct answers without parsing surrounding page content. Pages with FAQPage schema earn AI citations at higher rates than equivalent pages without it because the structured answers are directly extractable. FAQPage schema is validated using Google’s Rich Results Test and confirmed through the Search Console Enhancements report.

For implementation guidance, see Product Schema for Agentic Commerce.

Google AI Mode

A Google search experience that uses AI to generate conversational, synthesized answers to queries, drawing from Google’s index, Google Merchant Center feeds, and schema markup. Google AI Mode surfaces product recommendations from the Merchant Center feed as the primary data source, with product page schema as the secondary confirmation signal. Ecommerce stores that want visibility in Google AI Mode require a clean, approved Merchant Center feed with complete product data including GTINs, accurate pricing, and AggregateRating data. Google AI Mode is part of Google’s broader Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) infrastructure launched in January 2026.

GTIN (Global Trade Item Number)

A standardized product identifier (UPC or EAN barcode) that allows AI engines and commerce platforms to cross-reference a product across multiple data sources including Google Merchant Center, Amazon, Microsoft Merchant Center, and third-party review platforms. GTINs are not required for basic Google Shopping eligibility but are required for Google AI Mode confidence scoring. Products without GTINs receive lower AI recommendation confidence scores because AI engines cannot verify them against external sources. WooCommerce does not prompt for GTINs during product setup, making GTIN gaps one of the most common reasons WooCommerce stores underperform in Google AI Mode.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

The practice of optimizing content and technical infrastructure so that generative AI systems including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini accurately represent, recommend, and cite a brand in their generated responses. GEO is often used interchangeably with AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), though some practitioners distinguish them: AEO focuses specifically on earning citations in AI-generated answers to questions, while GEO encompasses the broader goal of shaping how generative AI systems understand and represent a brand across all query types. Core GEO signals include topical authority, schema markup, structured content, third-party brand mentions, and technical AI infrastructure including robots.txt configuration, llms.txt, and agent cards.

For the complete framework, see our guide to AI search visibility for ecommerce brands.

llms.txt

A plain text markdown file published at yourdomain.com/llms.txt that gives AI language models a curated, structured summary of what a website contains and which pages are most important. Proposed in September 2024 by Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI, llms.txt addresses the problem of AI systems having to parse full HTML pages — with navigation menus, cookie banners, and JavaScript — to find relevant content. An ecommerce llms.txt typically includes a brand description, primary product categories, key page links with descriptions, policy summaries, and an agent card reference. llms.txt is an emerging convention rather than a formal standard. Perplexity has publicly confirmed support. Google has explicitly stated it does not read it. Developer-facing AI tools including Cursor and GitHub Copilot do read it actively.

For the complete implementation guide, see llms.txt for Ecommerce: How to Help AI Systems Understand and Cite Your Store.

Merchant Center Feed

A structured product data file submitted to Google Merchant Center or Microsoft Merchant Center that syndicates a store’s catalog to shopping channels and AI product discovery surfaces. For Google, the Merchant Center feed is the primary data source that Google AI Mode and Gemini use for product recommendations. For Microsoft, it feeds both Bing Shopping and Microsoft Copilot product results. A feed with errors or missing attributes is invisible to AI shopping surfaces regardless of how complete the store’s page-level schema is. Shopify has a native Google Merchant Center app. WooCommerce requires a plugin or third-party feed tool.

For WooCommerce Google feed setup, see WooCommerce Google Shopping Feed Setup: The Complete 2026 Guide. For Microsoft, see WooCommerce Microsoft Shopping Feed Setup: The Complete 2026 Guide.

Offer Schema

A schema.org structured data type that tells AI engines the commercial details of a product — specifically price, availability, purchase URL, currency, and seller information. Offer Schema is a required component of the citation-eligible product schema stack. Without it, AI agents cannot confirm whether a product is available for purchase or at what price, which causes them to treat the product page as informational rather than transactional. Offer Schema must be combined with Product Schema and AggregateRating Schema to meet the minimum threshold for AI product recommendation eligibility. Price and availability in Offer Schema must match what appears visibly on the product page.

For implementation guidance, see WooCommerce Product Schema: The Complete Setup Guide or Product Schema for Agentic Commerce.

Product Feed

A structured data file — typically XML or CSV — that contains a store’s full product catalog with attributes including title, description, price, availability, images, GTIN, and category. Product feeds are submitted to shopping channels including Google Merchant Center, Microsoft Merchant Center, Meta, and others. The feed is the primary data source for AI shopping surfaces including Google AI Mode and Microsoft Copilot. A product feed tells AI what a store sells. An agent card tells AI how to buy it. Both are needed for full agentic commerce readiness. Feed quality — specifically title optimization, GTIN coverage, and zero disapprovals — directly affects AI recommendation confidence scoring.

robots.txt

A plain text file at the root of a domain that tells web crawlers which pages they are and are not allowed to visit, using the Robots Exclusion Protocol. robots.txt is the access layer of the AI discovery infrastructure stack — if it blocks AI crawlers, no other optimization can compensate. For ecommerce stores, robots.txt should explicitly allow OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, and GoogleOther while blocking transaction pages (cart, checkout, account), admin paths, and parameter-generated duplicate URLs. robots.txt is a crawl guidance document, not a security system — it does not prevent indexing of blocked pages that have external links pointing to them.

For the complete ecommerce configuration guide, see robots.txt for Ecommerce: How to Configure It for AI Crawlers and Site Control.

Schema Markup

Structured data embedded in page HTML, typically as JSON-LD script blocks, that uses the schema.org vocabulary to tell AI engines and search crawlers what page content means rather than just what it says. Schema markup is the understanding layer of the AI discovery infrastructure stack. Without it, an AI reading a product page sees text. With it, the AI sees a structured Product object with a defined name, description, price, availability, brand, rating, and seller. The citation-eligible schema stack for ecommerce product pages requires Product Schema, Offer Schema, and AggregateRating Schema at minimum. Shopify auto-generates basic Product Schema. WooCommerce generates zero schema by default.

For the platform-agnostic guide, see Product Schema for Agentic Commerce. For WooCommerce-specific implementation, see WooCommerce Product Schema: The Complete Setup Guide.

Topical Authority

The degree to which an AI engine or search engine recognizes a domain as a reliable, comprehensive source of information on a specific topic or category. Topical authority is built by publishing a cluster of interconnected content that covers every aspect of a topic — from introductory questions through advanced comparisons — with each piece linking to related pieces in a hub-and-spoke structure. AI engines interpret this interlinking pattern as evidence of genuine expertise rather than surface-level coverage. A brand with strong topical authority in a category earns citations across multiple queries in that category, not just for its highest-traffic pages. Topical depth within a focused area consistently outperforms broad shallow coverage for AI citation frequency.

Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)

An open infrastructure standard announced by Google in January 2026 and backed by Walmart, Target, Shopify, Etsy, and over 20 other major merchants that powers AI-driven product discovery in Google AI Mode and Gemini. UCP enables AI agents to access real-time product data, pricing, availability, and purchase workflows directly from merchant catalogs. Shopify pushes UCP updates globally for its merchants automatically. WooCommerce merchants can access UCP infrastructure through their Google Merchant Center feed and product schema implementation. The Universal Commerce Protocol is distinct from the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) developed by OpenAI and Stripe for ChatGPT Agentic Storefronts.

For the full context, see Universal Commerce Protocol.

WooCommerce AI Visibility

The set of technical configurations and content investments required for a WooCommerce store to appear in AI-powered product discovery, recommendations, and citations. WooCommerce starts at a structural disadvantage relative to Shopify because it generates no schema by default, does not auto-allow AI crawlers, and has no native Google Merchant Center connection. The WooCommerce AI visibility sequence has four steps: restore AI crawler access in robots.txt, implement the citation-eligible schema stack (Product, Offer, and AggregateRating Schema), connect a Google Merchant Center feed, and publish buying guides structured for AI citation. A store that completes all four steps is citation-eligible across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Gemini, and Claude.

Start with Why Your WooCommerce Store Is Not Being Cited by AI (And How to Fix It) for the complete sequence.

🎯 Put These Terms Into Practice

Understanding the vocabulary is step one. Building the infrastructure is step two. We help ecommerce brands implement the complete AEO and agentic commerce stack — schema, feeds, AI discovery files, buying guides, and agent cards. Book a free 30-minute strategy call to see exactly what your store is missing.

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The brands that understand and implement this vocabulary now will own AI search visibility before their competitors realize the channel exists.