OpenAI just launched Instant Checkout, a new way for people to buy products directly through ChatGPT. It is powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), an open standard that connects AI agents, merchants, and payment systems to complete transactions securely.

What’s changed?

It’s live now with Etsy, and Shopify is coming soon. It won’t be long before other merchant providers and eCommerce platforms also support this functionality.

If you’re a merchant on either, you are auto enrolled. Everyone else needs to build a product feed, enable their Stripe based checkout using ACP, and submit a form.

What eCommerce CMOs need to know

ACP changes how shoppers will discover and buy online. Chat is moving from a discovery touchpoint into a direct revenue channel, where intent is captured and converted in a single flow.

This shift matters because it creates a new form of attribution. Transactions that happen inside ChatGPT can be tracked more cleanly than multi step journeys across web and ads, giving CMOs a clearer view of channel performance.

The competitive edge will not come from keywords but from structured data. CMOs must ensure their teams treat product information as a strategic asset, with consistency across pricing, fulfilment, attributes, and reviews. Incomplete data means missed visibility and lost revenue.
ACP also changes budget considerations. Instead of paying for clicks, you only pay a small fee when a transaction completes. This has the potential to alter how acquisition cost is measured compared to ad driven platforms.

Adapting our eCommerce SEO strategy

The first instinct will be to map a Google Shopping feed across. That would be a mistake. ACP isn’t a search index, it is closer to a conversational database.

There are no keyword fields or custom labels. ChatGPT isn’t optimising for keyword matches. It is breaking down queries across structured fields like [product_category], [description], [price], and [delivery_estimate].

Winning in ChatGPT Shopping may come down to data density. The most complete and accurate data wins, not the catchiest keywords.

Imagine a shopper asks:
“I need waterproof trail running shoes with good cushion for under £150 that will arrive by Friday.”

The system checks attributes like material, weight, shipping speed, return window, and review count. If your product feed contains those details, you are more likely to appear as the best match.

If this is being driven by AI, and not a simple database/attribute lookup, this could be akin to the Google Gemini functionality we are seeing portrayed on the current series of Samsung phone adverts.

The opportunity

Most brands will not do this. Their product data is incomplete, and they won’t invest in filling optional fields. That attrition creates an opening. The brands willing to do the detailed work gain an informational advantage.

The [description] field, with its 5,000 character limit, is also a battleground. It becomes the source material for the AI’s answer and should be packed with rich, contextual detail.

• Aim for 100% field completion wherever relevant. Each field is another chance to match a query or filter.
• Treat your [description] like a knowledge base for your product.
• Build a data moat with useful user information and attributes, like [material], [colour], [size], [weight] and more.

The future of AI eCommerce

At its core, ACP represents a shift in how e commerce works. Search and SEO are no longer just about discovery, they are becoming about conversion inside AI interfaces.

For CMOs, the priority is clear. Audit your product data, build a process to maintain completeness, and rethink attribution models for a world where conversations are transactions.

Agentic commerce is here, and it is reshaping the future of shopping.