GEO needs infrastructure

Question / Claim

The winning GEO strategy is building AI-readable knowledge infrastructure, not just monitoring AI answers.

Key Assumptions

• AI-driven discovery and agentic commerce will replace a large share of traditional web browsing and search.(high confidence)
• AI models and agents rely more on structured, trusted knowledge sources than on raw web pages.(high confidence)
• Brands will compete to be chosen by agents, not just clicked by users.(high confidence)
• Providing the input layer to AI systems is more defensible than observing outputs.(high confidence)
• Agents will handle discovery and decision, while execution (logistics, fulfillment, returns) remains modular and API-driven.(high confidence)
• Commerce stacks will unbundle into specialized providers for logistics, returns, warehousing, and last-mile delivery.(medium confidence)
• Platforms like Shopify can become a dominant execution layer for agentic commerce if they expose standardized orchestration APIs.(medium confidence)

Evidence & Observations

• Google announced Universal Commerce Protocol and agentic commerce where AI agents can complete shopping flows directly.(citation)
• Tools like Peec and Profound focus primarily on measuring brand mentions in AI answers rather than supplying knowledge to models.(personal)
• Google introduced Universal Commerce Protocol and agentic commerce where AI agents can complete shopping flows directly.(citation)
• OpenAI introduced shopping and checkout experiences inside ChatGPT, indicating discovery and checkout moving into agents.(citation)
• Shopify positions itself as a commerce infrastructure platform with APIs, fulfillment, and an app ecosystem.(citation)
• Amazon’s moat is largely its fulfillment and logistics network, not just its marketplace UI.(citation)

Open Uncertainties

• How quickly will agentic commerce and AI-first discovery replace traditional search and websites?
• Will major AI platforms allow or prefer external canonical knowledge providers at scale?
• What is the best initial wedge: commerce, SaaS, or general brand knowledge?
• Will major agents prefer to integrate directly with large logistics networks instead of modular providers?
• How fast will consumers trust agents to complete purchases end-to-end without visiting merchant sites?

Current Position