ithms determine who gains visibility.  “We’ve entered the answer economy, where ChatGPT decides which brands get bought or buried,” said Celia Harding, founder of LEOPRD and AI visibility expert. “With limited real estate in AI responses, being algorithmically invisible now means being commercially invisible.”  Discovery without the digital shelf In traditional e-commerce, merchants controlled their digital storefronts and captured valuable customer data along the way. Inside ChatGPT, discovery happens through natural language. “Agentic commerce enables natural language discovery by categories typically harder to search for in traditional e-commerce environments, eg, ingredients, sustainability credentials and responsible sourcing,” Harding explained. “Now consumers will be infinitely more educated at the point of purchase because AI surfaces the information that matters to them – whether brands are ready to share it or not. Supply chain transparency is no longer optional.” The new parameters create both opportunity and risk. Brands that have invested in detailed product data, credible sustainability claims and third-party validation could find themselves at an advantage.  But those without may simply fail to surface in AI-driven recommendations. The customer relationship The most immediate challenge for retailers will be the loss of traditional customer touchpoints. ChatGPT’s checkout does not share customer email addresses with merchants, removing one of the most valuable levers for remarketing, loyalty and CRM. Retailers will need to prioritise attribution, data capture and even how they measure return from investment from AI-driven transactions.  For mid-tier and independent retailers who often rely on direct email campaigns as a low-cost acquisition and retention tool, this shift could be particularly disruptive. Earning one’s place Harding points to another key shift that paid placement won’t work in a conversational interface, the way it does in search or social feeds. According to Leopard’s Leo Insights Report 2025, 63 per cent of AI brand visibility comes from earned media.  “Agentic commerce reinforces this dynamic,” said Harding. “ChatGPT doesn’t rank you based on what you say about your products – it evaluates external signals of quality and credibility. You can’t buy placement. You have to earn your place in the limited real estate ChatGPT provides.”  This may highlight the importance of PR, reputation and authoritative third-party content, areas many see as “soft” compared to performance marketing. Dean Salakas, retail expert at Retail Doctor Group, emphasises that the rise of agentic commerce demands a fundamental rethink of the digital shelf.  “Retailers should be looking at how they can increase their visibility in AI currently,” he told Inside Retail.  He pointed out that the algorithms shaping AI recommendations are already heavily influenced by external platforms. According to a recent Semrush analysis, Reddit is the single most cited source for large language models like ChatGPT, far ahead of Wikipedia, YouTube and Google. When users ask AI for product advice, recommendations or reviews, Reddit discussions are evidently shaping the answers. “There is some data available on the sources AI uses, and, as I understand it, Reddit is the number one source. So anyone without a Reddit strategy as part of their search engine optimisation (SEO), or what some are now calling generative engine optimisation strategy (GEO), is missing a major opportunity.”  “Culturally, I think people are fearing job losses, and so I don’t think we are ready. An AI strategy or AI policy seems to be lacking among retailers. The focus appears very tactical rather than strategic”. Stripe and OpenAI have positioned the Agentic Commerce Protocol as an open standard, providing businesses with a single way to integrate with AI agents while retaining control over fulfilment, payments, and fraud checks.  While the pilot is US-only, Stripe has confirmed that global rollouts will follow. If Instant Checkout proves successful, the next wave could see ChatGPT evolve into a true retail operating layer entity, where shopping lists are built from natural conversations, bundled across multiple merchants, and checked out. Loyalty programs may shift from retailer-centric to agent-led, and personalisation could reach new levels, as AI anticipates replenishment needs or curates gifts aligned with a user’s tastes. For Australian retailers, the question is not “if” but “when”. Retailers who start preparing product data, sustainability disclosures and reputation signals now will be best placed to appear in AI-driven purchase flows later. The shift also raises governance questions for boards, particularly regarding their own readiness for AI commerce. Is it a marketing issue, a technology issue, or a supply chain issue? In practice, it may be all three. Australian retail is entering an era where AI agents mediate visibility. Retailers that treat ChatGPT commerce as just another sales channel may find themselves left out of the conversation altogether. As Harding warned, “We’re in the era of the answer economy and if you’re not part of the answer, you’re effectively being erased from the conversation.”