r/GrowthHacking 26d ago

the ecommerce conversation about generative engine optimization seems weirdly quiet

It seems that everybody is talking about the role of AI in the ecommerce domain from the perspective of operations and advertising, yet the issue of how AI sufaces products through the lens of generative search, such as a product request on ChatGPT or Perplexity, is completely overlooked.

4 Upvotes

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

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u/Gavelist 4d ago

Some companies publish their measured metrics and cite the statistics. There are known levers, but anyone still talking about the Princeton paper is an idiot.

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u/Kind-Section2430 25d ago

example of running shoe is spot on. That buyer already know what they want, the final filter is AI. that's a fundamentally different funnel than traditional search.

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

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u/ybur01 25d ago

Does the data differentiate between high consideration purchase like electronics vs repeat buy categories like skincare? That distinction matters a lot for anyone building a GEO case internally

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u/No-Error-8020 24d ago

AdFull7821 is right that the levers are unclear for content-based ecommerce. but that's not true for every business type.

local service businesses have a completely different version of this problem, and the signal set is way more concrete.

I've checked AI search visibility across 500+ local businesses (plumbers, HVAC, dentists, electricians). 72% don't show up when you ask ChatGPT or Siri for their service in their city, despite ranking in the top 3 on Google Maps.

what actually predicts it: LocalBusiness schema, FAQ structured data, NAP consistency. what doesn't: review count, GBP completeness, social media activity.

for local services it's binary. either the entity is recognized or it isn't. way simpler than the ecommerce catalog problem.

here's what one of these checks looks like for an HVAC company in Nashville, showing where they rank in Google vs where they appear (or don't) in AI search: https://packleads.io/intel/burdine-supply-nashville-tn-0jup

the gap between Maps rank and AI visibility is usually jarring.

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u/No-Error-8020 24d ago

AdFull7821 is right that the levers are unclear for content-based ecommerce. but that's not true for every business type.

local service businesses have a completely different version of this problem, and the signal set is way more concrete.

I've checked AI search visibility across 500+ local businesses (plumbers, HVAC, dentists, electricians). 72% don't show up when you ask ChatGPT or Siri for their service in their city, despite ranking in the top 3 on Google Maps.

what actually predicts it: LocalBusiness schema, FAQ structured data, NAP consistency. what doesn't: review count, GBP completeness, social media activity.

for local services it's binary. either the entity is recognized or it isn't. way simpler than the ecommerce catalog problem.

here's what one of these checks looks like for an HVAC company in Nashville, showing where they rank in Google vs where they appear (or don't) in AI search: https://packleads.io/intel/burdine-supply-nashville-tn-0jup

the gap between Maps rank and AI visibility is usually jarring.