For the past 20 years, websites have served three core purposes:
- As sources of information
- As sources of brand and product discovery
- As purchasing engines for businesses
Even through the upgrade to HTML5 and numerous Google Search algorithm updates, businesses could always count on their website being in demand for these core purposes. But starting a couple of years ago, AI platforms began to change that.
At first, website owners began witnessing a massive drop in traffic, with some even reporting as much as 60% losses. It was eventually revealed that AI was summarizing informational content, making visits to a website to read the same information unnecessary. Next, some businesses reported that more discovery and product research traffic was taking place off-site as agentic search platforms began recommending businesses and products to users, effectively “taking the humans” out of search. In fact, a research study proves over a third of users start searches in AI now, not Google.
But perhaps the biggest shift in the way customers use websites has only just begun with an announcement from Walmart back in October of 2025: Users can now purchase products directly using ChatGPT without ever needing to leave the AI platform.
This single change has enormous implications for both businesses and the future of websites themselves. In this article, SteadyRain dives deep into the budding field of “aCommerce.”
The Story So Far: How AI’s Whirlwind Ascent Has Impacted Businesses
While AI has been slowly chipping away at website traffic and engagement over the past few years, business owners could still take comfort in the fact that users would eventually need to land on the website to make a purchase.
This was crucial because many of the analytics tools we use to understand customer behavior and what needs they have are tied to users landing on a website and performing specific actions. Even if AI made it so that a website only received direct sessions when users clicked through to purchase a product, useful information was still being passed to the business. Insights could be gleaned and used to optimize the website and buying journey, helping meet client needs.
But now aCommerce threatens that. We’ve entered a world in which a user can ask a simple question to an AI agent and wind up having something shipped to their door without ever visiting a company website. Zero-click search has gone from something to worry about in the future to a present truth that needs to be adapted to before it’s too late.
The Birth of aCommerce: A Watershed Moment for the Internet
In October of 2025, everything changed. Walmart posted an announcement to their site that they had partnered with OpenAI. The result was a unique API that allows users to discover, browse, and purchase Walmart products without ever needing to leave their ChatGPT session.
Suddenly, the world of eCommerce was turned upside down. Walmart proved it was possible for the future of online purchasing to take place without a business’ website ever entering the picture. In other words, the last core pillar of purpose on which websites stood had begun to crumble and “aCommerce” (AI Commerce/Agentic Commerce) was born.
Other Businesses Are Already Embracing aCommerce
Since Walmart’s announcement, other companies have made moves to let AI do the selling for them as well. In December of 2025, Instacart announced its own ChatGPT integration. They developed an API that allows ChatGPT to act as an agent on a customer’s behalf, even going so far as to build a meal plan and fill a virtual shopping cart with ingredients. The only part that requires user input is the initial request for a certain type of food. The agent handles everything else, including making the purchase and scheduling delivery if necessary. In other words, users never have to visit the Instacart website or utilize an app on their phone to purchase a product. All they have to do is give ChatGPT a command.
Not to be outdone, Google announced in January 2026 that it had created a whole new way of doing business on the internet. Partnering with Shopify, Google published the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). The UCP is a standard codifying how AI agents can talk to digital storefronts. Essentially, it’s the structural framework that paves the way for millions of other businesses to create agent-to-agent shopping experiences, where humans only need to give a general direction, and AI will take care of everything else: Searching, comparing, inquiring, and ordering.
Along with the debut of UCP, Google announced that it would start allowing businesses to integrate with Gemini, allowing users to find, compare, and purchase products without ever leaving Google. Lowe’s, Kroger’s and Papa John’s have all admitted they are actively working on developing AI shopping experiences to better meet their customers’ needs. Within just the span of a few months, aCommerce has gone from science fiction to the main way people find, interact with, and purchase products.
What aCommerce Means for the Rest of the Internet
Here’s the uncomfortable truth for marketers and eCommerce teams: If AI can answer questions, recommend options, and now also complete the transaction, then the website is no longer guaranteed to be the default front door to your digital shop.
In fact, for the majority of B2C (and some B2B, but far fewer) businesses, 99% of what customers need from you can be done off-site. This presents a problem.
aCommerce Removes Our Access to Data and Insights
When users land on a business website, that business gets insight into how the user arrives at and uses their website. That data is crucial for predicting new marketing trends, judging the success of new products and services, and finding bottlenecks on the website that prevent users from crossing the finish line when making a purchase.
Businesses do not get data and insights when steps A-Z occur within an AI platform. While we’re confident that the rapid pace of AI advancement will guarantee new AI data tools will pop up in the future, right now, all this means is that many businesses are flying blind.
AI “Hallucinations” Can Prevent Your Products from Showing Up Organically
One of the most nerve-wracking aspects of AI dominating the search and shopping landscapes is the fact that AI platforms often experience “Hallucinations.” Everyone has encountered an AI hallucination at some point. It could be as minor as getting the date wrong for a major historical event, or as major as telling users to eat glue (Yes, this actually happened)! In November of 2025, new research came out that explored the rates of AI hallucination by platform, with rates ranging from 37-98%! That means that whenever a user queries an AI agent, there’s a pretty significant chance the agent is delivering incorrect or completely falsified information back to the user. This includes answering questions about your business. And unfortunately, there’s no fool-proof way to stop it (but it can be mitigated).
SMBs are likely to be impacted more because they already have a smaller digital footprint than a Fortune 500 company with international brand recognition.
AI Makes it Harder to Demonstrate Performance to Stakeholders
It probably goes without saying, but a lack of data and insights also means the KPIs you’ve used up until this point might not work anymore. If you were depending on traffic numbers to prove your marketing is doing what it’s supposed to, well, you’re going to have some explaining to do when the numbers continue to tumble downward as Zero-Click becomes the new normal. Do you use conversions tracked through platforms like GA4 and Google Tag Manager to demonstrate engagement and predict conversion intent? You might want to rethink that strategy when more product purchases begin happening on AI platforms that don’t keep track of your carefully curated user events.
Does this mean you’ll never be able to demonstrate conversion growth again? Not at all. But it does mean you’re going to need to completely rethink what “success” looks like for your business.
Are Websites Dead?
The biggest fear we see clients facing is wondering what role their website plays in the AI Search process. After learning that AI can now do almost anything a website can do, but faster and with less heavy lifting required from a prospective customer, it’s only natural to ask: Does my website even matter anymore?
The answer is still a resounding “absolutely!” None of these changes mean websites are going to disappear. However, it does mean they need to evolve.
Moving Forward in a Zero-Click World: Get Tips to Succeed from SteadyRain
If you’re anything like us, you’ve probably felt a sense of anxiety that has continued to grow as you read this article. After all, we need to come to terms with the fact that AI has taken a wrecking ball to everything we’ve known about digital marketing going back to the dawn of the internet. It’s a major paradigm shift, and it’s happening faster than anyone could have ever predicted.
Where once websites were the primary digital storefront driving sales, a corporate bulletin board informing potential customers about your business, and a limitless depository of helpful information, AI has finally become advanced enough to assume all three of those responsibilities. As increased traffic and customer interactions are pulled off-site, we’re beginning to lose visibility into consumer behavior and conversions, data that many marketers took for granted for a long time.
But this isn’t the end for your website. Just as technology grows and evolves, your website needs to as well. Want to know how? Discover actionable tips and tricks to turn your website into an AI Search magnet in Part Two of this series on aCommerce.
Can’t wait that long? Speak with our experts directly! SteadyRain has been in the trenches since day one of the AI takeover, and we’ve pioneered tried-and-true methods to help your business continue to thrive in a zero-click world.
Reach out to one of our AI Search strategists today!
Get Started