The New Distribution Gold Rush: Why DTC Brands Need to Act on Agentic Commerce Now
OCT 05, 2025
VANESSA MOLINA AND GROUND
Last week, OpenAI quietly launched something that will reshape e-commerce distribution forever. The brands that move fast will win organic placement in the world’s most powerful shopping assistant.
Remember when DTC brands dominated legacy retailers by mastering Facebook Ads early? When nimble operators could out-compete massive brands because they moved faster on a new distribution channel?
That moment is happening again. Right now.
On September 29th, 2025, OpenAI launched Instant Checkout in ChatGPT, powered by the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP). U.S. users can now discover products, ask questions, compare options, and complete purchases without ever leaving the chat. Etsy merchants are already live and Shopify merchants will be live soon. The window to establish organic placement is open but it won’t stay that way forever.
What Is Agentic Commerce (And Why Does It Matter Right Now)?
Agentic commerce is when AI agents shop on behalf of customers by discovering, evaluating, and purchasing products with minimal human involvement.
Traditional Funnel: Awareness → Consideration → Intent → Nurture → Checkout
Agentic Funnel: Ask → Evaluate → Optimized Match → Checkout
The difference is dramatic. Instead of customers searching, scrolling, filtering, and comparing across multiple sites, they simply describe what they need. The AI agent does the research, evaluates options based on relevance and fit, and presents optimized matches ready for instant purchase.
Here’s what makes this moment critical: ChatGPT ranks products purely on relevance, not sponsored placements or ad spend. There’s no auction. No bidding. Just clean data, structured feeds, and genuine product-market fit.
The Brands That Win Won’t Be the Loudest, They’ll Be the Cleanest
AI agents don’t respond to marketing hype or brand storytelling. They respond to structured data, real-time inventory, and clear product information.
The Agentic Commerce Protocol provides the language that lets AI agents and businesses work together to complete purchases. It’s an open standard co-developed by Stripe and OpenAI that enables programmatic commerce flows between buyers, AI agents, and businesses.
🔌 Ready to position your brand for the agentic commerce revolution? Ground AI is building the infrastructure that helps DTC brands win organic placement before this becomes pay-to-play. Let’s talk strategy.
What agents look for:
If your product feed isn’t optimized, you simply won’t be surfaced. The brands that treat their backend data like their front-end marketing will dominate.
Why This Is the Facebook Ads Moment All Over Again
Just like DTC brands beat legacy retailers by mastering Facebook Ads early, scaling brands can win distribution now by adapting fast to agentic commerce:
Legacy brands move slow. They have committee approvals, complex tech stacks, and risk-averse cultures. By the time they implement agentic commerce strategies, the organic placement window will be closed.
ChatGPT ranks on relevance. Product search results with Instant Checkout are organic, ranked purely on relevance. No partnerships, no ad budgets, just clean feeds and structured data.
Shopify and Etsy merchants already have access. Etsy and Shopify sellers are already eligible and don’t need to apply. If you’re on these platforms, you’re already in the game.
OpenAI takes a fee but there’s no impact on consumer pricing. There is no charge to consumers, with OpenAI getting a chunk of the merchant’s sale. This is distribution, not advertising.
The early movers who establish their product feeds, optimize their data, and build authority now will own the organic placement opportunity.
Your Agentic Commerce Readiness Checklist
This isn’t a future-state. OpenAI is taking the first steps towards agentic commerce in ChatGPT, and it’s already live. Here’s what you should do today:
Immediate Actions:
1. Audit Your Product Feed
Is your data structured, complete, and up-to-date?
Do you have clean titles, descriptions, and specifications?
Are your images high-quality (minimum 800x800)?
Do you include GTINs and standard product identifiers?
2. Verify Your Tech Stack
Are you on Shopify or Etsy? If so, you’re already eligible for Instant Checkout
Do you use Stripe for payments? The ACP is built on Stripe’s infrastructure
Can you maintain real-time inventory updates?
3. Optimize for Discovery
Update product descriptions to match natural language queries
Include detailed variant information (size, color, material, gender)
Ensure return policies and shipping terms are clear and accessible
4. Get Familiar with ACP
Review the Agentic Commerce Protocol documentation
Understand how AI agents evaluate and rank products
Consider how your products would be described in conversational queries
5. Consider API Integration
Developers can design APIs to handle incoming order payloads from ChatGPT
Map conversational orders into existing ERP or Shopify flows
Ensure inventory, accounting, and fulfillment systems are connected
Resources to Learn More:
Official Documentation:
Application:
Merchants can apply to have their products included in ChatGPT search results via an online application form
Shopify and Etsy sellers are automatically eligible
Don’t miss your chance to act on Agentic Commerce. Book a demo with Ground to see how AI can elevate your Shopify performance.
The Early Mover Advantage
Every major distribution channel follows the same pattern: early adopters get organic reach, then it becomes pay-to-play as competition increases.
Facebook Ads. Google Shopping. Amazon. Instagram. TikTok Shop.
Agentic commerce is following the exact same path. Right now, you can establish organic placement based purely on product relevance and data quality. Six months from now? You’ll be competing with brands who’ve already established authority and figured out the optimization game.
The brands that act now will own distribution in the AI shopping era. The ones that wait will be scrambling to buy placement they could have earned for free.
Your competitors are reading the same news you are. The difference is what you do about it today.
🔌 Don’t let the opportunity to take action on Agentic Commerce pass you by. Book a demo with Ground today and discover how AI can transform your holiday performance — and your entire customer experience.