Shopify’s efforts to help its clients appear in AI product recommendations are quite notable. Specifically, the news and rumors around integrations with platforms like Perplexity, ChatGPT, and likely others soon.

The question is, what can other platforms do to create the same impact for their clients? Both SaaS and on-premise platforms, especially the latter.

One way to approach this is to do nothing and simply wait for AI platforms to improve their crawlers, introduce direct product data feeds, and begin offering paid placements. But wouldn’t it be nice if some of the larger e-commerce platforms took the initiative and negotiated similar deals with conversational AIs? They could introduce a centralized flow of information: from an individual shop, to a central hub, to the AI. Imagine just installing a plugin, doing a bit of configuration, and you’re all set. Later, that plugin could be adapted for direct integration.

Are we just being a dreamer?

AdobeShopware VTEX BigCommerce Salesforce P.S. When will we hear about any collaboration with Google? Or maybe we won’t, since Google already knows almost everything about everyone in e-commerce, having been the dominant force in how we search for products for decades.