The New Era of Shopping: From Clicks to Conversations
E-commerce is evolving faster than ever.
Customers are no longer typing “best running shoes” into a search bar — they’re asking ChatGPT questions like:
“What are the best running shoes under $100 with great arch support?”
And instead of showing ads or search results, ChatGPT can now respond with real product listings — complete with pricing, descriptions, and buy buttons — all powered by a new technology standard known as the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP).
For BigCommerce merchants, this represents a massive opportunity: to make your products discoverable and buyable directly through AI agents like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
That’s what GXO.dev was built to do.
What Is Agentic Commerce?
Agentic commerce is the evolution of e-commerce where AI agents handle product discovery, recommendation, and purchase facilitation on behalf of the user.
It’s made possible through the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) — a standardized way of sharing structured product data that AI models can read and reason over, just like they process natural language.
When your BigCommerce product data is ACP-compliant, AI agents can:
- Discover and understand your products through natural queries
- Recommend them based on customer needs
- Facilitate direct purchases via instant checkout integrations
In short, your store becomes conversationally accessible — where customers don’t browse, they just ask.
Why BigCommerce Merchants Should Care
BigCommerce is known for flexibility and enterprise-grade performance, but traditional SEO and ads are becoming less effective as AI agents take over search intent.
If your product catalog isn’t readable by AI systems, it’s effectively invisible to a growing share of buyers.
Let’s put it simply:
- AI is becoming the new search engine.
- The brands that prepare their data for AI are the ones that will get surfaced first.
- Everyone else will compete for shrinking visibility on outdated channels.
The future of BigCommerce success lies in being AI-discoverable — and that’s exactly where GXO.dev comes in.
How GXO.dev Connects BigCommerce with ChatGPT
GXO.dev turns your BigCommerce catalog into an AI-optimized, ACP-compliant feed that allows ChatGPT and other AI systems to find and recommend your products seamlessly.
Here’s how to set it up.
1. Connect Your BigCommerce Store
Start by creating your GXO.dev account, then head to Integrations → BigCommerce and click “Connect BigCommerce.”
You’ll be redirected to log in through BigCommerce’s secure OAuth flow.
Once authenticated, GXO automatically imports your product data — including titles, descriptions, prices, images, inventory levels, and categories — directly from your BigCommerce API.
2. Generate Your ACP-Compliant Feed
After connecting, GXO generates your ACP product feed, which reformats your catalog into the structured format AI agents require.
Each product entry includes:
- Product title, description, and category
- Price, SKU, and inventory availability
- Images with alt-text metadata
- Product attributes (size, color, material, etc.)
- AI-readable conversational tags
This feed can be exported or accessed via API and is automatically updated whenever you change your BigCommerce catalog.
3. Validate and Optimize Compliance
GXO runs every feed through its built-in ACP Validator, checking for missing fields, invalid metadata, or low-quality content that could hurt discoverability.
You’ll receive a compliance score, along with recommendations to:
- Improve product descriptions for AI readability
- Add missing attributes or images
- Ensure proper category hierarchy
- Refine conversational keywords
The higher your score, the more likely your products are to appear in ChatGPT shopping results.
How ChatGPT Shopping Works for BigCommerce Stores
Let’s imagine a potential buyer asks ChatGPT:
“Find me a sustainable home office desk made from natural wood.”
If your BigCommerce store is ACP-compliant through GXO, ChatGPT can:
- Identify your product as a match.
- Display its name, image, description, and price.
- Provide a Buy Now link that triggers your BigCommerce checkout flow directly — all within the conversation.
That’s agentic commerce in action — a seamless, conversational buying journey that collapses the distance between discovery and purchase.
Optimizing Your BigCommerce Products for AI Discovery
While GXO automates most of the heavy lifting, your product data still benefits from thoughtful optimization.
Here’s how to make your listings stand out to AI systems.
1. Write Descriptions in Natural Language
Avoid short, mechanical product blurbs. Instead, describe your products conversationally, just like you’d talk about them to a customer.
Example:
“Standing desk adjustable” → “A sustainably made adjustable standing desk crafted from solid oak, designed for ergonomic comfort and long-term durability.”
This helps AI agents better understand the intent behind your product.
2. Optimize Product Images
AI models now use visual signals to understand and compare products.
Make sure your images:
- Are at least 1000x1000px
- Include descriptive alt text (e.g., “handmade wooden standing desk with adjustable height”)
- Use consistent lighting and styling
3. Enhance Metadata and Attributes
BigCommerce allows custom fields for color, material, and other specifications.
The more complete your attributes, the more accurately AI agents can match your listings to buyer queries.
4. Use Conversational Keywords
Traditional SEO keywords still matter, but AI agents prefer contextual, human-like phrasing.
Use long-tail conversational tags like:
- “eco-friendly office furniture”
- “handcrafted wooden desk”
- “ergonomic home office setup”
These feed directly into GXO’s AI discovery mapping, making your listings more visible in relevant AI searches.
Monitoring and Improving Performance
Once live, GXO provides feed analytics for your BigCommerce store, tracking how your products perform across AI platforms.
Metrics include:
- AI discovery frequency
- Product recommendation rates
- Conversation-driven conversion metrics
- Compliance and data quality trends
You can test improvements by updating your product data, regenerating the feed, and comparing performance in AI Previews — a built-in simulation of how your products appear inside ChatGPT.
Real Example: BigCommerce Meets AI Checkout
One BigCommerce merchant selling custom phone accessories recently integrated through GXO.dev. Within the first month:
- Their products began surfacing in ChatGPT shopping recommendations
- They saw a 21% increase in conversion rate for users coming through AI-driven discovery
- And average order value rose 14%, likely due to contextual upsells within AI conversations
The merchant didn’t change their website — only their data structure.
That’s the quiet power of becoming agentically discoverable.
The Strategic Advantage for BigCommerce Merchants
Think of AI agents as the new sales associates — infinitely scalable, conversational, and available everywhere.
BigCommerce merchants who prepare for this shift early will:
- Capture visibility in AI-native search experiences
- Enable instant, frictionless checkout through conversation
- Future-proof their product data for multi-agent ecosystems
Meanwhile, competitors who rely solely on ads and SEO will start losing visibility — not because their products got worse, but because their data wasn’t structured for the new world.
How to Get Started
You can make your BigCommerce products discoverable to AI agents in minutes:
- Create your GXO.dev account
- Connect your BigCommerce store via the integrations dashboard
- Generate your ACP-compliant product feed
- Validate compliance using the built-in GXO Validator
- Test AI discovery with AI Previews
- Monitor feed performance and improve your compliance score
That’s it — your products will be ready to appear in ChatGPT shopping recommendations.
Final Thoughts
BigCommerce merchants have always thrived on flexibility and innovation.
Now, the next evolution of that innovation is agentic commerce — where your storefront becomes a data-driven conversation.
The brands that adapt today will lead tomorrow’s market — because they won’t just sell products online, they’ll sell them through AI conversations happening everywhere.
Connect Your BigCommerce Store to GXO.dev
Ready to make your BigCommerce store buyable inside ChatGPT?
Connect your store to GXO.dev to generate your ACP-compliant product feed, validate compliance, and preview how AI agents see and recommend your products.
The future of commerce isn’t clicks — it’s conversations.
