Issue The 2026 watch point: brands stop being discovered and start being chosen by AI

Summary

Capgemini names the effect of agentic commerce on social and search-based discovery as the key development to watch in 2026. Under this model, brands are no longer mainly found by shoppers but selected by AI agents acting for them. The report calls this a fundamental shift that requires brands and retailers to move from search engine optimization to generative engine optimization. It advises optimizing brand presence for agent interactions by keeping product data high in quality and updated in real time. Structured, machine-readable information on stock, prices, and promotions, plus reviews that shape how language models describe a product, become decisive.