Profound Launches Shopping Analysis as AI Assistants Become the New Front Door to Retail

New feature gives retailers visibility into the invisible commerce layer reshaping how consumers discover and buy products

NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Profound, the marketing platform that helps businesses control how they appear in AI responses and create optimized content that increases product awareness, today announced the launch of Shopping Analysis, a breakthrough solution that addresses a critical blind spot in modern retail: how products are discovered, described, and recommended within AI Answer Engines.

With the launch of the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), retail is accelerating at a pace we've never seen. Yet retailers have zero visibility into how and why their products are being recommended by Answer Engines or being compared to competitors.

"AI is the new front door to every business. It may not seem like it, but Answer Engines are commerce engines," said James Cadwallader, Co-founder and CEO of Profound. "Now, when you ask a question, a machine steps through the door for you. It explores, reads, interprets, and returns with a product recommendation. The internet is no longer a place you visit. It's a shopping assistant that knows you personally and recommends products. This is what we call the invisible commerce layer, and until now, it's been completely invisible to retailers."

The New Reality of Retail Discovery

According to a recent Profound study, more than 60 percent of consumers now start product research with AI assistants, not traditional search engines. Every conversation has the potential to turn into a purchase funnel, but retailers have no insight into when, where, or how their products surface in these AI-powered shopping experiences, or how Answer Engines are speaking on their behalf.

Profound research analyzing 10,000 ChatGPT conversations found that when users were talking to AI about their problems, more than one-third of conversations contained completely unprompted product recommendations directly to the user. Answer Engines provided unprompted recommendations across conversations, including sleep problems (41%), productivity issues (42%), health concerns (47%), and relationship challenges (23%). Answer Engines suggested a purchase solution to address the users' problem, despite not being prompted to provide product recommendations.

Shopping Analysis makes the invisible visible. The platform enables retailers to track which products appear in AI shopping conversations, monitor their visibility rates and positioning against competitors, and understand the specific attributes Answer Engines assign to their products, whether it's "best budget shoes" or "premium performance trainers."

Built for the AI-First Shopping Experience

Unlike traditional Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) tools that only analyze text-based responses, Shopping Analysis captures actual product images, their placement within conversations, and comprehensive response details, giving retailers a complete picture of their AI commerce presence. The platform also enables teams to evaluate merchant and channel performance, helping prioritize relationships and optimizations that drive the most visibility and conversions.

"Profound's new shopping features are game-changing for us. Until now, we've used Profound mainly for brand awareness and content visibility. This update moves it directly into the growth and performance space," said Stephen Racano, Senior Director of Growth at Coterie. "The ability to tie shopping and non-shopping results together will give us a clearer view of how content drives conversions. It will help us understand where demand is coming from and how to optimize product visibility."

Shopping Analysis is available now for retailers, ecommerce leaders, merchandisers, and marketing teams looking to capitalize on the shift to AI-powered commerce.

About Profound

AI is the new front door to every business. People no longer search, they ask AI. Profound is a new-age marketing platform relied on by thousands of leaders globally to understand and control what AI says about their brand, and empower their teams to create AI-optimized content that increases brand awareness. Trusted by industry titans like Figma, Ramp, MongoDB, Chime, and U.S. Bank, Profound arms marketers with the tools to win in a future where AI agents, not blue links, define discovery. Win the zero-click internet with Profound.

Learn more at www.tryprofound.com

SOURCE Profound