Preparing your Shopify store for agent commerce: Why product data is the new competitive advantage

For years, eCommerce success was defined by rankings. Then, it was about conversion optimization. Now, we’re entering an era where AI agents, not humans, will increasingly discover, compare, and purchase products on behalf of consumers.

Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), launched in January 2026, represents the most significant infrastructure shift in eCommerce since mobile. AI agents from Google, OpenAI, and others are building the capability to mediate purchase decisions at scale. McKinsey estimates $3-$5 trillion in global retail will flow through agent commerce by 2030. Forrester reports 33% of consumers are already willing to complete purchases via AI agents and that number is growing rapidly.

The question isn’t whether agent commerce will matter. It’s whether your store will be visible when it does.

Shopify merchants have a structural advantage, but it’s not automatic

Shopify co-developed UCP alongside Google, holding four of 12 Tech Council votes. This means UCP is becoming a native platform feature, not a custom engineering project. What once required an eight-week implementation now becomes a configuration toggle.

Here’s what you need to remember, though: Shopify handles the protocol layer. They don’t handle your product data.

When merchants opt in to UCP, their stores become either discoverable or invisible to AI agents based entirely on data quality. The technical barrier is disappearing. The only remaining competitive differentiator is how well your product information is structured for machine consumption.

Traditional SEO and agent commerce are converging

The same structured data that improves your organic search performance today, will power your agent commerce visibility tomorrow. This convergence means investment in product data preparation delivers immediate ROI through traditional channels while positioning your store for the emerging agent economy.

The strategic insight is clear: you’re not betting on agent commerce adoption timelines. You’re doing SEO work that’s structured to also work for agents. The ROI case is today. The upside is tomorrow.

What AI agents need that traditional SEO doesn’t provide

Most product data is optimized for humans. Marketing copy, lifestyle imagery, and persuasive descriptions work well for shoppers browsing your site. But AI agents don’t browse their query.

Simply put, agents need data they can parse, filter, and trust. Without structured attributes, relationship data, and retrievable Q&A content, your products risk invisibility in the next generation of commerce.

The new hierarchy for product visibility

Product visibility in the agent commerce era follows a clear hierarchy. Each layer builds on the one below it.

1. Merchant Center health 

Foundation nothing works without this. Feed errors, disapproved products, and data quality warnings must be resolved before anything else matters.

2. Product data completeness 

The new ranking factor for agent selection. Gaps in product data lead directly to missed opportunities. Agents can’t recommend what they can’t understand.

3. Structured attributes 

What agents query and filter against. Material composition, dimensions, compatibility, specifications these become the selection criteria when agents compare options.

4. Relationship data 

Compatibility, substitutes, and accessories. When an agent needs to recommend alternatives or complete an outfit, relationship data determines whether your products surface.

5. Q&A content 

Retrievable answers for agent conversations. When a user asks an agent about sizing, care instructions, or compatibility, structured Q&A content provides the answers.

6. Traditional SEO 

Still essential additive, not replaced. Technical SEO foundations remain non-negotiable for human discovery while supporting machine readability.

The competitive window is six to 12 months

Current state: low UCP adoption equals high visibility for early movers.

Brands that invest in their product data foundations today will accumulate advantages that compound. The cost of waiting is invisibility when the channel scales.

A practical framework for agent commerce readiness

To prepare your Shopify store for agent commerce, focus on these priorities:

Foundation phase

• Complete Merchant Center audit and fix all errors
• Export product feed and assess attribute completeness
• Identify top 20% of products by revenue for priority enrichment
• Establish baseline metrics for organic traffic and conversion rates

Enrichment phase

• Design metafield schemas for structured attributes
• Enrich priority products with missing specifications
• Generate Q&A content for top products (5-10 pairs each)
• Implement relationship data: compatibility, accessories, substitutes

Activation phase

• Extend enrichment to next product tier
• Build automated feed health reporting
• Monitor for Shopify UCP opt-in availability
• Prepare agent commerce tracking infrastructure

Measuring success across both channels

The same metrics that indicate traditional SEO health also signal agent commerce readiness.

As agent commerce attribution matures, additional metrics will emerge: UCP-Agent header tracking, conversions with no prior site visit, and revenue by agent source. The merchants who prepare now will have the data infrastructure to measure and optimize these channels from day one.

Ready to prepare your store for agent commerce?

The convergence of SEO and agent commerce creates a unique opportunity: invest once, benefit twice. Product data enrichment, structured Q&A content, and feed optimization deliver immediate organic search improvements while positioning your store for the agent economy.

Whether you need a readiness audit to understand your current gaps or hands-on implementation to enrich your product catalog, Codal can help you prepare for both channels with a single, strategic investment.

Contact our team to assess your agent commerce readiness and build a product data strategy that works today and scales tomorrow.