AI SEO
Google AI Mode Shopping: UCP, Merchant Centre & Native Checkout
Google is testing and expanding the Buy Now experience directly within AI Mode itself — meaning the user may no longer need to visit the merchant website to complete the purchase.
Written & Reviewed by Vijayraj Nadar
Sep 24, 2026 • 5 min read
Key Takeaways
- Google is testing native checkout inside AI Mode through Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), while merchants remain the Merchant of Record.
- Fewer website visits before purchase doesn't necessarily mean fewer transactions — the discovery-to-purchase journey is shifting, not shrinking.
- Ecommerce teams should start aligning Merchant Centre, product feeds, development and analytics now to prepare for agentic commerce.
Everything Could Happen Inside AI Mode
- Everything from product discovery and comparison to checkout could increasingly happen within Google's AI experience itself
- While organic product listings still remain, this is an important shift that is slowly taking shape in the US
- Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) allows e-commerce experiences such as native checkout directly across Google surfaces like AI Mode and Gemini
- The retailer remains the Merchant of Record throughout the transaction
What Should Businesses and Agencies Do?
- Don't look at this only as another Google Search feature
- Start looking at your Merchant Centre + Product Feed + Development + Analytics ecosystem together
- Google's UCP documentation points towards requirements around feed optimization, checkout integration, and transaction tracking
- Begin aligning teams now to prepare for this shift
What Can We Expect?
- Potentially fewer clicks to product detail pages and less traffic reaching the ecommerce website before purchase
- However, that does not necessarily mean fewer transactions
- It means the journey between discovery and transaction is changing
- The buying journey is shifting, not shrinking
Why Attribution Modelling Matters More Than Ever
- If discovery happens in AI Mode, product comparison happens in AI Mode and checkout also happens there, measuring performance purely through website sessions becomes incomplete
- Advanced analytics and custom tracking will become increasingly important
- Google Merchant Centre is moving in this direction, with UCP integration tools providing visibility into the agentic checkout funnel
Bringing Teams Together
- If you are an ecommerce business owner — small, medium or enterprise — this is the right time to bring SEO, Ecommerce, Merchant Centre, Development and Analytics teams together
- Not because every merchant needs to implement this tomorrow
- But because the technical foundation for agentic commerce is already being built
- Your ecommerce website may increasingly become the commerce infrastructure behind the transaction, even when the customer journey itself happens somewhere else
India vs. USA: The Experience Today
- The UCP Merchant Centre onboarding is currently gradually rolling out in the US, with Australia and Canada expected later
- Google's documentation says the current program scope applies to US-sold products
- In India, the experience is still in early stages, while the US is already seeing buying journeys move inside AI Mode
Closing Thought
- The buying journey may be changing, but the opportunity for businesses remains the same — be present wherever the customer chooses to buy
- For now, this is an early shift worth watching, understanding and preparing for
