[ BDSN ] The battle for AI shopping control

👀 THIRD-PARTY SOURCES DRIVE 85% of BRAND DISCOVERY

85% of brand mentions in AI search come from third-party sources, not your own content. You're 6.5x more likely to be discovered through external validation than your own website.

AI shopping assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Amazon's Rufus) are discovering brands through external mentions before they ever see your listing or website. If third-party sources aren't talking about your brand, you're invisible in AI-powered product discovery.

Action Steps for Amazon Sellers

1. Build Your Owned Content Foundation First

Your product pages and website establish the facts AI systems reference:

• Ensure your product detail pages are comprehensive and accurate

• Keep your brand website's product pages and homepage detailed and current

• Create clear, consistent messaging about what makes your product unique

• Focus on detailed specifications, use cases, and differentiation

2. Earn Third-Party Mentions Strategically

Get your brand cited in places where buyers research products:

• Target listicles and roundups ("Best [Product Category] of 2025") - they drive 90% of third-party visibility

• Pitch to be included in product comparison articles on established review sites

• Seek coverage in industry-specific blogs and publications

• Encourage and facilitate independent product reviews on YouTube, blogs, and review sites

• Aim for top-3 placement in listicles when possible (80% of mentioned brands ranked in top 3)

3. Leverage User-Generated Content

Real customer voices build credibility AI systems recognize:

• Actively encourage Amazon reviews (these become third-party signals)

• Build presence on community platforms (Reddit, Quora, niche forums)

• Engage with customers creating unboxing videos and testimonials

• Monitor and amplify authentic customer content about your product

4. Diversify Your Visibility Channels

68% of brands appear on only ONE AI platform - don't put all eggs in one basket:

• Ensure you're mentioned across multiple review sites (not just one)

• Get coverage in different content formats (videos, articles, podcasts)

• Build presence across various industry publications

• Remember: each AI system pulls from different sources

5. Create "Citation-Worthy" Content

Make it easy for others to reference your brand:

• Publish original research or data about your product category

• Share unique insights or expertise that reviewers can cite

• Create comparison charts or guides others will reference

• Develop thought leadership content worth linking to

6. Align Your Narrative Everywhere

Keep messaging consistent so AI systems see clear patterns:

• Ensure your key differentiators appear identically across all channels

• Use consistent product descriptions on Amazon, your website, and in PR

• Make sure third-party sources are referencing accurate, current information

• Create a unified story about who you are and what problem you solve

You can't control AI search results, but you can influence what AI systems learn about your brand.

The Amazon sellers who win in 2026 will be those whose brands are consistently mentioned, cited, and validated across the web - not just those with the best listings.

🃏  AMAZON vs. PERPLEXITY BATTLE for AI SHOPPING CONTROL

Amazon has sent a cease and desist letter to Perplexity AI, demanding they stop their Comet browser agent from making purchases on Amazon's platform. This escalated last week when Reuters reported Amazon filed a lawsuit against Perplexity.

Amazon's Position:

• Claims Perplexity's Comet tool fails to identify itself as AI (disclosure violation)

• Accuses the startup of computer fraud and violating terms of service

• Says it undermines user experience and personalization

• Currently developing their own AI shopping agents and vetting third-party options

Perplexity's Defense:

• Claims their tool is user-directed and transparent

• Accuses Amazon of protecting ad revenue dominance, not user experience

• Argues Amazon is trying to "eliminate user rights" to sell more ads

The Atlas/Comet Technical Advantage: Both Comet and Atlas agentic browsers have a key differentiator: as browser-based agentic tools, they're nearly impossible for Amazon to block technologically.

Unlike server-based crawling or standalone AI agents (like ChatGPT Operator), browser-based agents operate as part of the user's browser, making it impossible for Amazon to distinguish between human and AI activity without risking false positives.

Game over? Not quite. While there's no technological way to stop it, there's clearly a legalpath.

This isn't just a legal spat, it's about who controls the future of AI-powered shopping on Amazon. Browser-based AI agents could bypass Amazon's advertising ecosystem entirely. For a company with a $50B+ ad business, that's existential.

While Amazon develops its own AI shopping assistants, they're aggressively blocking third-party tools that could bypass their advertising ecosystem.

For sellers, this means the AI shopping revolution will likely happen on Amazon's terms, and through Amazon's ad platform.

The legal battles we're seeing now will shape whether independent AI agents can help customers shop, or if Amazon maintains total control of the gateway.

🔭 YOU GOTTA SEE THIS

AI isn’t coming. It’s here. And most e-commerce brands are sleepwalking straight into extinction.

In this episode of Marketing Misfits, Norm Farrar and Kevin King talk with Lutz Finger, Cornell faculty member, AI researcher, and former Google & LinkedIn exec, about how AI is rewriting the rules of e-commerce, branding, and marketing.

Lutz breaks down what 99% of sellers don’t understand: ChatGPT and Perplexity are the new gatekeepers of visibility. Aggregators like Amazon and Google? Their model is breaking.

💵  AMAZON RUFUS HITS $10 BILLION in SALES

Amazon's AI shopping assistant Rufus isn't a toy anymore—it's a revenue engine driving $10 billion in annualized sales.

The numbers that matter:

• 250M active customers in 2025

• Monthly users up 140% YoY, interactions up 210%

• Shoppers using Rufus are 60% more likely to complete a purchase

Rufus turns browsing into buying by weaving together reviews, Q&A, and product context into conversational guidance that leads straight to checkout. Prime Day 2025 proved it works at scale.

Amazon pulled back from Google Ads and doubled down on keeping shoppers inside their ecosystem. The new battleground isn't search rankings, it's being the answer Rufus gives when customers ask questions.

The shift is clear: AI assistants are becoming storefronts. If you're not optimizing for conversational discovery, you're missing the layer where intent turns into sales.

Quickly check to see what’s missing from your listing optimization here

✅  HOW to INCREASE CLICKS with TEXT OVERLAYS on IMAGES

New research from University of Bologna analyzed 8,200+ brand posts and found that where and how big you make text overlays dramatically impacts engagement.

The strategy is completely different for videos vs. static images—get it right and you can boost clicks by 19-127%. Get it wrong and you're leaving money on the table.

Key insight: Videos need text on the edges at specific sizes per platform. Static images need centered, larger text. Most brands do this backwards.

For Videos/GIFs (TikTok, Reels, Stories):

• Position text AWAY from center → Bottom third or sides work best

• Size text at 11-24% of frame (Instagram: 11%, X/Twitter: up to 46%)

• Edge placement beats center by 19-23% more clicks

For Static Images (Feed posts, Product photos):

• Position text IN the center

• Use larger text than you would on videos

• Counter-intuitive but proven: opposite strategy from videos

Instagram

• Keep text overlay at 11% of frame size for max engagement

• Can push up to 44% if needed, but 11% is optimal

TikTok/Facebook

• Medium-sized text wins:

  • 27% higher CTR than large text

  • 127% higher CTR than small text

• Avoid center placement on videos

X/Twitter

• Text can be larger: up to 46% of frame

• Sweet spot: 24% of frame for max clicks

Edge placement + right sizing = more balanced visual → our brains engage more → you get more clicks, comments, and conversions.

Bottom line: Videos = edges + smaller text. Static images = center + larger text.

🧠  AMAZON’S AI REVOLUTION - WHAT to KNOW from UNBOXED

BDSS Dream 100 member Jeff Cohen was at Amazon unBoxed this week and he says Amazon unveiled the biggest transformation to its advertising platform in years.

Amazon is consolidating everything into AI-powered tools that do the heavy lifting while you focus on strategy. The goal: simpler workflows, smarter optimization, and better results.

Campaign Manager - Your sponsored ads and DSP now live in one dashboard with 15 months of daily data. No more jumping between platforms to understand what's working.

Creative Agent - Generate professional video ads in hours instead of weeks, straight from your ASINs. This means you can finally test different creative approaches without agency timelines or budgets.

Sponsored Products Video - Your products can now show demo videos directly in search results. When someone searches "wireless headphones," they can watch your 30-second demo without leaving the page. This is huge for conversion.

Full-Funnel Campaigns - One campaign that automatically optimizes across display, video, and streaming TV. The AI handles budget allocation and targeting while you sleep.

Ads Agent - Describe your ideal customer in plain English ("eco-conscious parents buying cleaning products"), and AI builds the targeting for you with full transparency.

Sponsored Prompts with Rufus - Your ads can now answer shopper questions in real-time through Amazon's AI assistant. Someone asks "Is this gluten-free?" Your ad responds conversationally.

The Strategic Shift Amazon's betting that AI can handle complexity better than humans. They're right about execution—but you still own the strategy. The AI optimizes for Amazon's goals (efficiency, conversion). You need to optimize for yours (profit margins, market share, customer lifetime value).

Action Items:

• Start planning product videos focused on answering specific purchase questions (30-60 seconds, works without sound)

• Review your product detail pages and remember comprehensive information powers better AI-generated responses

• Test the new tools against your current setup to measure actual incrementality

• Remember: Amazon shows you Amazon performance. Your complete picture includes how Amazon fits with your other channels

The Real Opportunity Brands moving fast on these AI tools while maintaining strategic clarity will gain competitive advantage. Not because the tools are exclusive, everyone gets them, but because they'll use automation to free up time for better strategic thinking.

The complexity of Amazon advertising just got manageable. The question is: what will you do with that newfound capacity?

✌🏼 Have a great weekend.

See you again on Monday.

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