AI visibility for retail and online shops
Buying decisions increasingly start with "where can I get…?" rather than a search engine. The answer names a handful of providers. If you are not among them, you lose the sale before the customer ever sees your site.
The retailers named are those whose range is described rather than merely listed: what a product is for, how the variants differ, what comes with it. Advice, service and availability often count for more than price.
For bricks-and-mortar specialists there is an additional problem: their real strength – advice, spare parts, repairs, short distances – rarely appears on the website. So a model cannot weigh it against the large platforms.
How customers actually ask
Question types from our own measurement series, reworded generically – company, place and product names removed.
- „Where can I get spare parts for an older appliance?"
- „Which retailer near me gives personal advice and delivers quickly?"
- „Who has this product in stock rather than on order?"
- „Which specialist retailer also repairs what they sell?"
- „Where can I buy on account as a business customer?"
- „Which supplier delivers small quantities without a minimum order?"
- „Who takes away the old appliance on delivery?"
- „Which retailer carries a particular brand?"
- „Where can I get advice before deciding?"
- „Which shop delivers within 24 hours?"
What is usually missing
- Range as a bare list
Article numbers and images without explanatory text are nearly worthless to a model. What a product is for and how variants differ is the part an AI can cite.
- Service goes unmentioned
Repairs, spare parts, installation, take-back: exactly what people ask about when they do not want the cheapest option. If it is not stated, price decides.
- Availability unclear
"In stock", "two days", "to order" is the deciding factor for many requests. Without it you drop out of urgent enquiries.
- Nothing that sets you apart from platforms
Using the same manufacturer copy as everyone else gives a model no reason to name you. Your own assessment and experience are the difference.
How we work with you
- Where do you stand today?
We ask four AI systems about providers for your range – without naming you.
- Building blocks for your shop
Machine-readable product data, structured data, llms.txt. Often effective immediately, because the data already exists.
- Rework your existing site
We turn manufacturer copy into your own descriptive content – the lever against being interchangeable.
- A new site or shop
When the technology gets in the way of your product data, we rebuild.
- Ongoing support
Ranges change constantly. Without upkeep the profile goes stale faster than in any other sector.
Questions
- We mostly sell through platforms. Do we need this?
- Especially then. On a platform you compete on price; in an AI answer on suitability, advice and service. That is the ground specialist retail can win on – if it appears there at all.
- Do we have to publish our prices?
- Not necessarily. For a model, suitability, availability and service usually count for more than price.
- We have thousands of items. Must each be described?
- No. Describing the categories and the key items well is enough. Models answer needs, not article numbers.
- What does it cost?
- Scope and starting point differ a lot, so we discuss the price in a first call. The GEO check beforehand is free.
Regions where this sector is strong
Where do you stand in retail?
The GEO check takes seconds and costs nothing. For the full picture we measure four AI systems against the questions above.