Category
Marketing / EC
How AI Search Rewired the Buying Journey — and Why Brands Now Compete to Be Cited
AI chat is the new buying front door—ChatGPT 53.1%, Claude 21.1% in the U.S. (June 2026). As 94% of B2B buyers use gen-AI, visibility shifts from ranking to citation. We break down what brands should change now.
June 25, 2026
When AI Does the Shopping: Agentic Commerce and the Redesign of Marketing
In 2026 the entry to shopping is shifting from "search it yourself" to "let AI handle it." Over 70% of shoppers have folded LLMs into buying, retailers' own AIs are the new discovery surface, AI citations have decoupled from search rank, and product data needs rebuilding. We map what marketers must prepare.
June 24, 2026
The Age of AI That Buys for You: Visa and Mastercard Moved on the Same Day
On June 10, 2026, Visa partnered with OpenAI while Mastercard unveiled machine payments the same day. Agentic commerce — AI agents completing purchases on a shopper's behalf — has arrived. We map the market size, the mechanics, and what sellers must do, drawing on primary announcements and Morgan Stanley's forecast.
June 22, 2026
From Ranking to Being Cited: How GEO Rewrites Marketing in the AI Search Era
As ChatGPT and AI Overviews answer queries directly, ranking first is no longer enough. What is GEO — the craft of being cited by AI? We read the primary data, the practical principles, and how it differs from SEO.
June 22, 2026
Shopify Puts AI on Every Screen: Running a Store in the Agent Era
Shopify's Spring 2026 "Everywhere Edition" shipped 150+ updates: its Sidekick assistant now lives on every screen, a new dashboard tracks sales coming through ChatGPT and Gemini, and Campaign Autopilot runs ads on its own. As agent-driven shopping quietly grows, we read what it means for store operators in practical terms.
June 20, 2026
The Year AI Video Got Production-Ready: Veo and Where It Fits
Google's Veo generates video and audio together, pushing AI video from novelty clips to production-grade footage. We cover what it does, how it differs from Runway and Kling, how to use it in marketing, and the pitfalls—sticking to verifiable facts.
June 20, 2026
How TikTok Shop Changes Selling: ~70% of Sales Come From Video and LIVE—Playbook for Discovery Commerce
TikTok Shop, which launched in Japan in June 2025, grew to 50,000+ sellers and 200,000+ creators in six months. About 70% of its GMV comes from video and LIVE streams—"discovery commerce." On this storefront, whose premise differs from search-led EC, we lay out concretely how brands and individuals should compete.
June 19, 2026
Retail Media, the Third Force in Advertising: $165B Worldwide in 2026 and the New Rules of Budget Allocation
Retail media—advertising powered by retailers' purchase data—has grown into the third force after search and social. Global spend rises from about $122B in 2025 to roughly $165B in 2026; the US alone is about $71B, with two giants taking 89% of the growth. We unpack why it's surging and how brands should rethink budget allocation.
June 19, 2026
The Era of AI Buying for You: 57% Would Switch Brands for a Better Deal—How EC Should Prepare
"Agentic commerce," where AI agents search, compare and even pay on your behalf, is moving from pilot to practice. 33% of consumers expect 10%+ of purchases to go through AI within a year, and 57% would switch brands for a better deal. We map this market of rising demand and lingering distrust—and what merchants should do now.
June 19, 2026
From Clicks to Citations: Practical GEO and AEO for the AI Search Era
As Google's AI Overviews and ChatGPT answer questions directly, the goal of content has shifted from earning clicks to being cited by AI. We break down how GEO and AEO differ from SEO, what makes content quotable, and where to start—backed by 2026 data.
June 19, 2026
Japan Post Insurance Rolls Out AI Role-Play to Sharpen Sales Skills
Japan Post Insurance deployed AI role-play across its corporate sales branches, letting staff practice realistic pitches solo, anytime. Here is how it turns individual know-how into an organizational standard through sheer repetition.
June 17, 2026