Shoppers increasingly ask AI assistants what to buy: "best vitamin C serum for sensitive skin", "most comfortable running shoes for flat feet under $150". The answer is a short list of products, not ten blue links. If your products are not on that list, you are not in the consideration set. Generative engine optimisation (GEO) for ecommerce is the work of getting onto it.
How AI Assistants Choose Products
AI shopping answers draw on a mix of sources, which vary by platform:
- Product data: merchant feeds and product databases (Google's AI features draw on its Shopping Graph, fed by Merchant Center), plus structured data on your product pages.
- Web content retrieved in real time: reviews, comparison articles, "best of" lists, forums and brand pages.
- Consensus across sources: products mentioned positively by many independent sources are more likely to be recommended than those only praised on their own site.
So GEO for ecommerce has four parts: clean product data, pages that answer buying questions, reviews, and third-party mentions.
1. Make Your Product Data Complete
- Keep your Google Merchant Center feed complete and accurate: titles, GTINs, attributes, price, availability, shipping and returns.
- Add Product, Offer, AggregateRating and Review structured data to product pages, and keep it in line with what is visible on the page. See our schema markup for AEO guide.
- Use specific attributes, not marketing adjectives: material, dimensions, ingredients, skin type, compatibility, certifications.
- Make sure AI crawlers are not blocked in robots.txt if you want to be included, and that product pages render key content without heavy client-side scripts.
2. Answer the Questions Buyers Ask
AI assistants match products to needs. Your pages should state clearly who a product is for and who it is not for.
- "Best for" statements on product pages: "Best for oily and acne-prone skin"
- Comparison pages: your product vs alternatives, honestly
- Buying guides for your category, with clear criteria
- FAQs covering sizing, compatibility, ingredients, care, delivery and returns
3. Build Real Review Volume
Reviews give AI systems specific, independent evidence ("great for wide feet", "no irritation after two weeks"). Ask every customer for a review, respond to negative ones, and encourage reviews on third-party platforms and marketplaces as well as your own site.
4. Get Mentioned Where AI Looks
- Editorial roundups: "best X for Y" articles on publications in your category. Digital PR targeted at these lists is one of the highest-impact GEO activities.
- Creator content: reviews and videos from creators, which are also indexed and cited. Our beauty influencer playbook covers this for one category.
- Communities: genuine presence in forums and Reddit threads where your category is discussed. Do not astroturf; it backfires.
Consistency matters. If your price, sizes or ingredients differ between your site, your feed and marketplace listings, AI systems may skip you or show wrong information. Keep one source of truth.
How to Measure It
Build a list of 30 to 100 buying prompts for your category and check regularly which brands each AI assistant recommends. Track your share of those answers over time, alongside referral traffic from AI assistants in analytics. Our guide to measuring AI citations explains the method.
Where to Start
- Audit your product feed and structured data
- Rewrite your top 20 product pages with clear "best for" and attribute detail
- Publish comparison pages for your most-searched alternatives
- Launch a review programme
- Pitch your products to the roundups AI already cites
We run this as part of our LLM visibility service. To see where you stand today, get a free AEO audit.
FAQ
How do I get my products recommended by ChatGPT?
Make sure your product data is complete and consistent, add structured data to product pages, state clearly who each product is best for, build review volume, and get mentioned in the third-party roundups, reviews and communities that AI assistants retrieve when answering shopping questions.
What is GEO for ecommerce?
Generative engine optimisation for ecommerce is the work of getting products included and accurately described in AI-generated shopping answers from assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode and Perplexity. It combines product data, on-page content, reviews and digital PR.
Does product schema help with AI search?
Structured data such as Product, Offer, AggregateRating and Review makes product details easier for machines to read accurately. It is not enough on its own, but it supports correct prices, availability and ratings being used in AI answers.
How do I track whether AI assistants recommend my products?
Build a list of buying prompts for your category, run them regularly in each major AI assistant, and record which brands are recommended. Track your share of those answers over time alongside AI referral traffic in analytics.