Two different games
Traditional SEO is built around queries, clicks, and position on a results page. Agentic Engine Optimisation (AEO) is built around whether an assistant can read your product accurately, compare it to alternatives, and recommend it with confidence when a shopper asks in natural language.
If an agent cannot find a GTIN, a coherent description, or valid product structured data, it may skip your SKU entirely — even when your brand is strong on search.
What merchants should optimise first
Start with completeness and structure: titles and meta within sensible lengths, Schema.org Product JSON-LD, image coverage with meaningful alt text, and identifiers where your category expects them.
Then layer competitive signals — citations, mention rate, and how your data compares to category benchmarks — because agents increasingly rank within a consideration set, not a ten-blue-links list.