From SEO to GEO and AEO: What BigCommerce Says to Change First

BigCommerce just published a comprehensive look at how ecommerce AI is transforming business in 2025. You can read the full article here. It covers personalization, forecasting, logistics, and more.

For most brands, the immediate question is not what AI can do in theory. It is what to change this month. Here is a tactical translation of their guidance into a GEO and AEO checklist that works whether you are on Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, or a custom stack.

What to retire vs. what to retool

Traditional SEO is not dead, but the center of gravity shifted. Here is what to stop, what to keep, and what to add.

Stop doing

Publishing thin content just to target long tail keywords
Optimizing meta tags without fixing underlying product data
Treating your product feed as a compliance exercise

Keep doing

Building credible backlinks from authoritative sources
Publishing useful guides and comparisons that help buyers decide
Maintaining clean site structure and performance

Start doing

Structuring product data for machine consumption, not just human browsing
Testing your visibility in conversational interfaces weekly
Earning citations that AI systems ingest and trust

The tactical GEO and AEO checklist

Use this checklist for one category at a time. Ship it, measure it, then move to the next category.

Product data completeness

Every SKU has a complete set of attributes. Title, description, price, availability, images, materials, dimensions, weight, care instructions, compatibility, warranty, sustainability claims.
Variants are structured clearly. Size, color, fit, and options are machine readable.
Use cases and buyer intents are explicit. What problem does this solve? Who is it for? When would you use it?

Schema and feed quality

Product schema is deployed and validated on all product pages.
Your product feed is updated daily and includes all the attributes AI systems need.
Images have descriptive alt text that goes beyond just the product name.

Source authority and citations

Each hero SKU has at least three credible third party sources. Reviews, buying guides, comparisons, editorial mentions.
You have a plan to earn more citations over time through partnerships, PR, and customer advocacy.
Monitor which sources AI systems cite when they recommend competitors.

Conversational presence

Run weekly visibility checks for your top buyer intents in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI shopping interfaces.
Document what shows up, what does not, and why competitors appear.
Fix the gaps and retest.

Checkout readiness

Your checkout flow works seamlessly when initiated from an external agent or assistant.
You support instant checkout paths with minimal friction.
Payment and shipping options are clear and fast.

Reporting cadence and KPIs

BigCommerce highlights personalization, forecasting, and logistics as areas where AI drives value. For most brands, the first unlock is visibility and discoverability. Here is what to track.

Weekly:

Visibility rate for top five buyer intents
Attribute completeness for new SKUs launched
Source mentions and citations

Monthly:

Share of voice in AI shopping vs. competitors
Conversion rate from agent initiated traffic
Top queries that surface your products and top queries that do not

Quarterly:

Revenue from AI shopping channels
Catalog coverage and data quality score
Strategic source partnerships secured

Platform specific notes

If you are on Shopify, use apps that extend your product data model and feed quality. Native Shopify attributes are good but often not enough for AI shopping.

If you are on WooCommerce, invest in plugins that automate schema deployment and feed generation. Manual work does not scale.

If you are on BigCommerce, leverage their native product data capabilities and make sure your feed includes every custom field you capture.

If you are on a custom platform, treat your product feed as a first class API. It powers discovery, so give it engineering resources.

How to prioritize when resources are tight

You cannot fix everything at once. Start with the SKUs that drive the most revenue and have the highest buyer intent volume.

Fix data completeness first. That is table stakes. Then work on source authority. Then expand to more categories. Do not try to do everything in parallel. Sequential focus wins.

Where Wildcard fits

Brands tell us they waste time guessing what to fix. Wildcard shows you exactly where you rank, what competitors have that you do not, and which attributes matter most for your category. That clarity speeds up every decision.

BigCommerce laid out the vision. Now it is time to execute. Pick one category, run through this checklist, and ship the fixes this month. Then measure, iterate, and expand.