Stand Out When AI Narrows The Choices
How brand, experience, and customer relationships may shape preference in agentic commerce.
Chapter 5
Question: If AI increasingly narrows customer choices, what gives my business a reason to be chosen?
This chapter of the Amex Business Playbook for Agentic Commerce includes contributions by Stripe subject matter experts.
Earlier chapters explored how AI may change the way customers discover businesses and how businesses can improve their visibility in AI-assisted search.
Visibility is only one factor in whether a customer chooses a business. Visibility is about whether AI can find, understand, and accurately describe your business. Preference is about why your business may be a better fit for a particular customer once it is considered.
AI-assisted shopping can help customers compare information and narrow a large set of options. That increases the importance of giving customers a reason to choose your business over another, particularly when products, prices, and convenience are similar.
"Customers are fundamentally changing where they're getting information and making decisions," says Hannah Bozian, Vice President of Agentic Commerce and Partner Experiences at American Express.
How brand identity, loyalty programs, offers, and direct customer relationships will carry into third-party AI shopping experiences is still developing. Keep investing in what makes your brand distinctive today. Those qualities are likely to remain important as agentic commerce develops, and new shopping experiences find more ways to reflect them.
"'How do I show up?' is part of the broader question, which is: 'How do I maintain the relationship with the customer?'" says Allison Xu, Agentic Commerce Product Manager at Stripe.
Businesses can still strengthen many of the qualities that create customer preference today.
New Amex Trendex research found that 85% of U.S. merchants surveyed somewhat (41%) or significantly (44%) agree that as AI agents narrow customers’ choices, having a trusted brand will become even more important for attracting new customers.1
Disclosure: Amex Trendex figures are rounded for simplicity and ease of presentation.
Welcome to the fifth chapter in our series on navigating agentic commerce. It’s one example of how American Express is backing businesses with practical insights, tools, and resources to help them prepare for what's next.
Summary: What businesses can do today
1. Define why customers choose your business. Identify the value your business offers beyond product availability and price.
2. Deliver a customer experience that reinforces your value. Make sure the customer experience supports the reason people choose your business today and consider how those qualities can carry into AI-assisted channels as they develop.
3. Strengthen the relationships you've already built. Give customers meaningful reasons to return through exclusive benefits, offers, and loyalty programs. Continue building loyalty, repeat business, and recognition through the channels you control today.
4. Ask how your competitive advantages may apply to agentic commerce. Talk with commerce, loyalty, payment, and technology providers about customer recognition, benefits, offers, brand presentation, and service.
Action 1: Define why customers choose your business
Readiness question:
If price and availability were similar, could I clearly explain why a customer should choose my business?
Traditional online shopping often requires customers to compare products, reviews, websites, and marketplaces themselves. AI-assisted shopping can consolidate some of that information and present a smaller set of options based on the customer’s stated preferences, budget, or other available context.
A strong value proposition explains what your business offers, who it serves, and what makes that value meaningfully different. Beyond making information clear and understandable, as discussed in Chapter 2, businesses should identify why a customer would prefer them among other options and make that reason clear to AI agents.
Expertise, quality, service, design, selection, reliability, reputation, or existing relationships will play an important role.
"If you're a Merchant, focus on the customer, your brand message, and your core values," said Casey Klyszeiko, Executive Vice President, Global Merchant and Network Services Product at American Express.
Businesses that consistently and clearly communicate what they stand for, and deliver on that promise, can help create differentiation that is difficult to replicate.
Define your reasons for being chosen
- What do customers consistently value about your business?
- What do you offer that is difficult to compare on price alone?
- Which customer feedback or behavior supports that view?
Action to take: Research what your business is known for
- It's distinctive “weird & caffeinated” identity
- Artist-driven branding
- Creative, seasonal drinks and freshly roasted specialty coffee
- A strong focus on community and customer experience
For Bizarre Coffee, the goal is not only to be recognized as a coffee shop. It is also for the creative personality, distinctive product, and community-focused experience that sets the business apart to come through.
"If you're a Merchant, focus on the customer, your brand message, and your core values," said Casey Klyszeiko, Executive Vice President, Global Merchant and Network Services Product at American Express
Test your positioning
Customers choose us because we ____________, especially when they value ____________.
The statement should not be customer-facing copy; it is an internal test of whether your business has clear and specific reasons to be chosen.
Example:
Home audio system provider: Customers choose us because we offer expert guidance both before and after the purchase, especially when they value support in selecting a complex product.
Action to take now: Identify two or three reasons customers choose your business. Use customer feedback, repeat-purchase patterns, reviews, or customer service to test whether those reasons reflect what customers actually value.
Action 2: Deliver a customer experience that reinforces that value
Readiness question:
Does the experience my business delivers support the reason I want customers to choose it?
Compare your promise with the experience
These qualities matter to your customers today and may also shape how your business is understood and represented as AI-assisted shopping develops. Check whether the experience you deliver consistently supports your brand promise.
- If your business promises convenience: Is the purchase and return process straightforward?
- If it promises expertise: Can customers access useful guidance before and after purchase?
- If it promises reliability: Do product availability, delivery timing, and communications match the actual experience?
- If it promises premium service: Do customers receive responsive, helpful support that goes above and beyond expectations and are issues resolved quickly?
How American Express is applying this principle
Action 3: Strengthen the relationships you already built
Readiness question:
Am I giving customers meaningful reasons to return and strengthen their relationship with my business?
Loyalty can take many forms beyond a formal rewards program, including familiar service, relevant offers, recognized preferences, membership benefits, or a consistent experience that gives customers confidence in returning.
Businesses can strengthen those relationships through the channels they control and influence today. How customer identity, loyalty status, and benefits will be recognized and applied across third-party AI shopping experiences is still developing.
According to Amex Trendex research, 68% of U.S. consumers surveyed somewhat (35%) or strongly (33%) agree that, despite the ease of AI-assisted shopping, they will remain loyal to select small businesses with which they have an existing relationship.2
Give customers a reason to come back
Exclusive offers, personalized experiences, and meaningful membership benefits can help strengthen customer relationships over time. As AI-assisted shopping evolves, these ongoing relationships may become another way businesses differentiate themselves beyond price alone.
What businesses can do today
- Keep loyalty or membership information clear and easy for customers to understand.
- Confirm that customers receive the benefits, points, or offers they are promised through current sales channels.
- Identify which benefits customers value and use most.
- Review whether purchases made through supported third-party channels can connect to customer accounts and service histories.
- Keep customer service and post-purchase support easy to access regardless of where the purchase begins.
- Encourage customers who have had a positive experience to leave reviews.
What is still developing
It is not yet clear how consistently AI-assisted platforms will recognize known customers, connect purchases to loyalty accounts, apply eligible offers or benefits, or support post-purchase communications. Continue strengthening the relationships you control today and ask your commerce platform, loyalty provider, payment processor, or other technology partners what is supported as these capabilities develop.
What loyalty could look like in an AI-assisted journey
In the future, a customer might authorize an AI assistant to recognize their hotel loyalty account or eligible travel benefits when planning a trip. The assistant could then consider factors such as member rates, room upgrades, property credits, late checkout, or earned rewards when comparing hotels, rather than evaluating price, location, or amenities alone.
What Businesses May Gain
By helping customers compare options and narrow their choices, AI assistants may help connect businesses with customers whose needs are a strong fit for what they offer. Customers may also arrive closer to making a purchase, with clearer preferences and requirements.
For businesses, that could mean spending less time guiding customers through initial research and more time helping them make informed decisions, complete purchases, and build lasting relationships.
According to research by Shopify, AI-referred shoppers converted at nearly 50% higher rates than organic search traffic and AI-referred sessions also had 14% higher average order values. Shopify attributes this to higher purchase intent, noting that more than half of AI-referred sessions begin directly on product pages versus about 20% for organic search.*
As AI-assisted shopping develops, businesses may need to understand whether an AI recommendation leads to a purchase and whether that channel delivers value. "Search and discovery are what’s important right now," says Ashye Marcus, Global Head of GTM at Stripe. "Search and discovery, that’s what’s top of mind for retail execs right now. Are my products showing up? Am I where my customer is? Retailers are watching the volume from these new AI surfaces and tracking attribution. Long-term, there’s an orientation to growth and profitability. That means driving their digital P&L with this traffic and monetizing within the AI surfaces themselves."
Exactly what information businesses will receive from AI-assisted shopping experiences is still developing. For now, businesses can focus on clearly defining their value and ask providers what customer, order, or preference information may become available.
Action 4: Ask how your competitive advantages may apply to agentic commerce
Readiness question:
Do I know which providers may help preserve my brand, customer recognition, benefits, and service in AI-assisted shopping?
Amex Trendex research found that 61% of U.S. merchants surveyed are at least somewhat concerned that agentic commerce will make it more difficult to stay close to their customers.1
Businesses may rely on different providers to carry parts of the customer relationship into AI-assisted journeys. Ask your providers what is currently possible, what is still developing, and whether your business will need to make changes.
Maintaining Brand Identity & Customer Loyalty - Questions to Ask Your Providers |
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Provider Category
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Questions to ask |
| Loyalty, customer relationship management, or marketing provider |
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Payment provider or network
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| E-commerce platform or marketplace |
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How American Express can help
Being chosen depends on much more than price or availability. Customers may also consider confidence in the transaction, relevant benefits and offers, and an existing relationship with a business they know.
American Express supports Merchants in strengthening drivers of preference through its payments network, Card Member relationships, and a range of merchant tools, insights, and programs – including Membership value and Amex Offers™. American Express’s closed-loop network gives the company direct relationships with Card Members and Merchants, along with visibility across the payment journey.
As AI-assisted shopping develops, Amex is exploring how Cards and Membership value may remain part of new commerce experiences.
"American Express has relationships with Card Members and Merchants – all the pieces of the ecosystem," says Stefan Olofsson, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Amex Global Network & Products. "We are in a differentiated position to enable secure and trusted commerce transactions."
What businesses can do now: Review which American Express benefits, Amex Offers, insights, and programs are available to your business today. Focus on those that can help you strengthen customer value and loyalty. As AI-assisted shopping develops, connecting customers to eligible Membership benefits and Offers could help ensure that the full value of choosing your business is considered, beyond just price or availability.
The bottom line
Businesses can strengthen customer preference today by clearly defining what makes them different, delivering consistently on that promise, and giving customers meaningful reasons to return.
How brand identity, customer recognition, loyalty benefits, offers, rewards, and service will carry into AI-assisted shopping is still developing. While these capabilities develop, businesses strengthen the relationships they control today and ask providers what may be supported as the ecosystem evolves.
“Trust in a brand is the one thing that can't be replicated by technology overnight,” says Klyszeiko.
Frequently asked questions
AI assistants may increasingly help customers research products, compare options, summarize information, and complete purchases. This may narrow the businesses they consider. The specific experience and level of automation will vary by platform and over time.
Visibility is about whether AI can find, understand, and accurately describe a business. Preference is about why that business may be a better fit once considered.
How identity, loyalty status, offers, rewards, and benefits will be recognized is still developing. Continue strengthening loyalty through the channels you control today, and ask relevant providers what is currently supported.
Not necessarily. While AI may automate product discovery, a strong brand can remain an important signal of trust, quality, and consistency. Emotional connection and reputation are difficult to commoditize and may become increasingly valuable as AI narrows customer choices.
Businesses can strengthen the fundamentals that influence long-term customer preference by investing in brand consistency, customer service, reviews, loyalty programs, trusted transactions, fulfillment reliability, and post-purchase support.
Define why customers choose your business, review whether the customer experience supports that promise, strengthen existing customer relationships, and ask relevant providers how brand, loyalty, offers, rewards, and customer service may work in AI-assisted shopping.
Additional Chapters
Source:
*Shopify, “AI-referred shoppers convert better and spend more: What Shopify’s early data shows,” May 11, 2026.
Research Methodology:
1 The Amex Trendex: Agentic Commerce Edition merchant survey was conducted among a sample of 502 business leaders in the U.S. who have responsibility for making decisions regarding customer payment options or online sales/digital strategy and planning. Respondent companies accept online or mobile payments and are not franchisees. The sample for the study came from an online panel. The anonymous survey was conducted online August 10-18, 2026.
2 The Amex Trendex: Agentic Commerce Edition consumer survey is based on a sample of 2,005 U.S. adults age 18+ who have made an online purchase three or more times in the past 6 months based on self-report. The sample for the study came from an online panel. The anonymous survey was conducted online August 10-14, 2026.