Last Thursday’s webinar hosted by Kevin King and Norm Farrar has attendees saying “mind blowing,” “wow wow wow” “invaluable stuff” and “this content is amazing.”

You can now watch the replay (or rewatch it a second time).

AI shopping is exploding. 60+ million daily queries on ChatGPT alone, and Amazon's Rufus contributed $10 BILLION in incremental sales last year.

If you're not optimizing for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), you're invisible to the future of commerce.

Topics Covered:

Actionable Tactics Shared:

Bonus from Dan Kurtz:

This is NOT theory. This is the exact playbook working for brands seeing 150-468% growth in 90-100 days.

⚠️ First-mover advantage is NOW. The brands dominating AI search in 2030 are the ones taking action today.

Watch the replay

New data from Smart Scouts just confirmed what we've all suspected: The top spot doesn't just get more clicks: it captures 18.7% of ALL sales for that search term.

Scott Needham of Smart Scout analyzed 2 million search terms in January 2026.

Here's what the data shows:

Position 1:

Position 2:

Position 3:

The takeaway? You don't necessarily need to rank #1. You need to get clicked more than anyone else.

4 Ways to Win the Click

Calculating the Revenue Potential of Ranking Higher

Last week, BDSS Dream 100 member Jon Derkits shared a method in his newsletter for using Amazon's first-party data to determine if a ranking push is worth the investment.

The scenario: You're at the bottom of page 1 for a relevant keyword. You're confident you can reach the top. But will the PPC or influencer investment actually pay off?

Here's how to estimate your revenue potential:

STEP 1: Open the Search Terms Report in Brand Analytics.
STEP 2: Filter for your target keyword. (Example: "gift wrapping paper")
STEP 3: Note the Click Share and Conversion Share for the #1 ASIN. For "gift wrapping paper": 4.21% click share, 2.19% conversion share
STEP 4: Go to Search Query Performance and find the Search Query Volume. "Gift wrapping paper" in this example for December 2025: 358,155 searches
STEP 5: Check Product Opportunity Explorer for the Search Conversion Rate of your niche. Use recent data or average it out if it's volatile
STEP 6: Calculate your potential:

Search Volume × Search Conversion Rate × Conversion Share × Your ASP = Monthly Sales Potential

Using the above example:
358,155 × 5.42% × 2.19% × $20 = $8,502/month

That's the revenue ceiling if you win and hold the #1 organic spot for "gift wrapping paper."

Now you know the juice. The question is: Is it worth the squeeze?

The Wall Street Journal published an article over the weekend on how businesses are manipulating ChatGPT results, highlighting the need for sellers to adapt.

What You Need to Know About Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)

If you've mastered Amazon SEO, it's time to learn AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). As ChatGPT and other AI assistants increasingly recommend products, a new industry has emerged to help businesses rank in AI-generated answers.

The Shift Is Real

The numbers tell the story: Just 18 months ago, 90% of referral traffic came from Google. Today, AI chatbots account for 44% of referrals on average, according to leading SEO firms. And those AI referrals are valuable as users who click through from ChatGPT spend more time on sites, view more pages, and convert at higher rates than Google referrals.

Why This Matters for Amazon Sellers

When shoppers ask ChatGPT "what's the best [product] for [use case]," they're bypassing Amazon's search entirely. The AI decides which products to recommend before the customer ever reaches your listing.

This represents both a threat and an opportunity. Sellers who optimize for AI discovery can capture customers earlier in the journey. Those who ignore it risk becoming invisible to an entire channel of high-intent shoppers.

How AI Recommendations Actually Work

Unlike Amazon's algorithm, AI chatbots synthesize information from across the web.

They're looking for:

Think of it this way: AI is easier to influence when it has less built-in knowledge about a topic. For specialized products, exactly what many private label sellers offer, this creates opportunity.

Practical Strategies for Amazon Sellers

Build Off-Amazon Authority

Optimize Your Brand Presence

Don't Neglect Traditional SEO ChatGPT and other AIs still crawl Google results. Your Google ranking influences AI recommendations, so traditional SEO remains foundational.

The Reality Check

AI recommendations aren't verified like human reviews. They're synthesized from available information, which means they can be influenced. Smart sellers will learn to shape that narrative using companies like DragonFish.

But here's the caveat: If major media has already defined your brand story (like country of origin controversies), even the best AEO won't override established facts.

What's Next

As ChatGPT adds more shopping features and Rufus becomes more sophisticated, AI-driven discovery will only grow. The sellers who invest in building credible, off-Amazon brand authority now will be positioned to capture this emerging traffic.

The question isn't whether AI will change how customers discover products, it already has. The question is whether you'll adapt before your competitors do.

Bottom line: Start thinking beyond Amazon's A9 algorithm. The next frontier of product discovery is AI-powered, and it rewards sellers who build genuine authority across the web.

A ChatGPT-Amazon partnership looks increasingly likely, and it could reshape how your products get discovered and sold.

Google just locked down major retailers (Walmart, Target, Shopify, Best Buy, etc.) for their AI shopping platform, leaving ChatGPT scrambling. Meanwhile, Amazon's holding all the cards and knows it.

Key stats that matter:

Why Amazon Products Win in AI Shopping

When AI models recommend products, they prioritize three things: price, trustworthiness, and delivery speed, exactly what Amazon's infrastructure provides through Prime, reviews, and competitive pricing.

Research testing 500 e-commerce queries found Amazon dominated recommendations across AI platforms, even without paying for placement. Your investment in Amazon's ecosystem is positioning you perfectly for AI-driven discovery.

Amazon's $68 Billion Problem

Here's the catch: Amazon generated $68B in advertising revenue last year, built on consumers clicking through 14+ times on average before purchasing. AI shopping compresses that funnel dramatically as users get 3-5 curated options, copy the product name, paste into Amazon, and buy. Fewer clicks = fewer ad impressions.

Any ChatGPT partnership would need to replace that lost ad revenue.

The Likely Deal Structure

If they partner, expect:

What This Means for You

The shift toward AI-powered shopping isn't coming, it's already here. Amazon's infrastructure advantage means sellers optimized for Amazon's ecosystem are automatically positioned for the AI shopping era.

Amazon's Rufus AI assistant is fundamentally changing product discovery, and most sellers haven't noticed yet.

Here's what's happening:

When shoppers search for specific products like "men's lotion," they see the standard product grid. But type in something broader like "men's skin care," and Rufus takes over curating products and marking them as "Researched by AI." Amazon is distinguishing between shoppers ready to buy and those still figuring out what they need.

Traditional keyword ranking isn't dead, but it's no longer enough. For broad, high-intent searches, being selected by Rufus matters as much as ranking well organically.

Four changes you need to make now:

Amazon isn't just displaying search results anymore. It's actively guiding purchase decisions. As AI-curated discovery expands, sellers who clearly position their products within customer routines will dominate broad, research-oriented searches.

The shift is already happening. The question is whether you'll adapt before your competitors do.

✌🏼 See you again Thursday …

The answer to today’s STUMP BEZOS is
ChatGPT ads is expected to top $25B by 2030