A structured summary of the agentic commerce funnel—key concepts, dynamics, stages, and implications in one quick-reference guide.
The Core Thesis
- The transactional funnel collapses; the brand funnel transforms.
- Agentic commerce compresses the entire journey into a single AI-mediated moment.
- Brand becomes upstream infrastructure for AI recommendation.
The Five Structural Dynamics
| # | Dynamic | Old | New | Implication |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intent | Inferred from behavior | Declared in language | Tracking loses leverage |
| 2 | Discovery/Transaction | Separate moments | Same interface | Website optional |
| 3 | Research | Consumer does it | AI does it | Authority gains value |
| 4 | Consideration Set | 10-20 options | 2-4 options | #5 = invisible |
| 5 | Attribution | Multi-touch | Binary (0 or 1) | Unforgiving |
The New Funnel Stages
| Stage | Question | Requirements | Failure |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Accessibility | Can AI find you? | Structured data, APIs | Invisible |
| 2. Consideration | Does AI trust you? | Entity authority | Outranked |
| 3. Recommendation | Does AI pick you? | Relevance, confidence | Never shown |
| 4. Transaction | Can they buy? | Checkout protocol | Redirect kills |
| 5. Relationship | Will they return? | Loyalty integration | Missed retention |
Winners and Losers
Winners
- Strong entity authority
- Structured, real-time data
- Protocol-enabled checkout
- Category leaders
Losers
- Comparison sites
- Long-tail products
- Discovery-ad-dependent
- No data infrastructure
New Metrics to Track
| Metric | Measures |
|---|---|
| AI Recommendation Rate | How often in top 3? |
| Agentic Conversion Rate | When recommended, buy rate? |
| Protocol Transaction Volume | AI checkout purchases |
| Entity Authority Score | AI evaluation rating |
The Bottom Line
Does the AI recommend you, and can the user buy immediately?
Everything else exists to win that moment.
This is part of a comprehensive analysis. Read the full analysis on The Business Engineer.
More Resources
