We Scanned the Top 10 E-Commerce Sites for ChatGPT Shopping Readiness. The Results Are Shocking.

As ChatGPT Shopping prepares to revolutionize how consumers discover and purchase products, we conducted an unprecedented study: scanning the top 10 e-commerce sites to measure their readiness for AI-powered commerce.

Using our proprietary ACP Readiness Scanner, we analyzed Amazon, Walmart, Target, eBay, Alibaba, Etsy, BestBuy, HomeDepot, Wayfair, and Costco across five critical dimensions:

• Crawler Access - Do they allow ChatGPT bots (OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User)?
• Schema Markup - Do they have Product, Offer, MerchantReturnPolicy, and ShippingDetails schemas?
• llms.txt File - Do they provide an AI-optimized site index?
• Server-Side Rendering - Is product data accessible to AI crawlers?
• Product Data Quality - Do they expose SKU, GTIN, and structured pricing?

The results reveal an industry-wide failure to prepare for the AI commerce era.

The Overall Scores: A Competitive Wasteland

Finding #1: 90% Actively Block ChatGPT Bots

The most surprising discovery: 9 out of 10 major e-commerce sites actively block ChatGPT's crawler bots in their robots.txt files.

ChatGPT uses two primary crawlers for shopping:

• OAI-SearchBot - OpenAI's general search crawler
• ChatGPT-User - User-initiated ChatGPT requests

These sites are blocking one or both:

Only 2 sites allow access:

• ✅ AEOfix.com - Full access with welcoming robots.txt
• ✅ Amazon.com - Allows bots, but deploys CAPTCHA that blocks content access

This means when ChatGPT Shopping launches, 90% of major retailers won't even be crawlable. They'll have zero presence in AI-powered product search.

Finding #2: 100% Missing Required ACP Schema Markup

Even more concerning: not a single major e-commerce site implements the required schema markup for Agentic Commerce Protocol.

ChatGPT Shopping requires four schema types:

1. Product - Basic product information
2. Offer - Price, availability, condition
3. MerchantReturnPolicy - Return window, method, fees
4. ShippingDetails - Shipping rates, delivery time, destinations

Without this schema markup, ChatGPT cannot:

• Accurately display product prices and availability
• Inform users about return policies
• Calculate total costs including shipping
• Facilitate autonomous purchases via ACP

Finding #3: The Amazon Paradox

Amazon presents a fascinating case study. While they allow ChatGPT bots in robots.txt (scoring 100/100 on crawler access), they immediately deploy CAPTCHA challenges that block automated access.

When we attempted to scan Amazon's product pages, we received:

<h4>Click the button below to continue shopping</h4>

To discuss automated access to Amazon data please contact
api-services-support@amazon.com.

This means Amazon is:

• ✅ Technically compliant (allows bots in robots.txt)
• ❌ Functionally hostile (blocks access with CAPTCHA)
• ❌ Missing all required schema markup
• ❌ Forcing API partnerships for data access

Finding #4: Product Data Wasteland

Beyond missing schema types, we found that major retailers aren't exposing basic product identifiers in machine-readable formats:

Walmart was the only competitor with partial product data (SKU only), scoring 33/100. Every other site scored 0/100.

Finding #5: The llms.txt Gap

The llms.txt file is becoming the standard for providing AI engines with a structured overview of your site. Think of it as a "sitemap for LLMs."

Only 3 of 10 sites (30%) have an llms.txt file:

• ✅ AEOfix.com - Comprehensive, 385-line file
• ✅ Target.com - Present
• ✅ Alibaba.com - Present

7 of 10 sites (70%) are missing this file:

• ❌ Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Etsy, HomeDepot, Wayfair, Costco

Without llms.txt, AI engines must crawl and parse your entire site to understand its structure, services, and offerings. This is inefficient and error-prone.

What This Means for ChatGPT Shopping

When ChatGPT Shopping launches (expected in 2026), here's what will happen:

Scenario 1: User asks "Find me the best noise-canceling headphones"

ChatGPT will attempt to scan:

1. Amazon → CAPTCHA blocks access → Partial/no results
2. Walmart, Target, eBay, Etsy → Blocked in robots.txt → Zero results
3. BestBuy → Bot trap detected → Zero results
4. Sites with ACP compliance → Full product catalog → Rich results ✅

Scenario 2: User asks "Buy an AEO optimization book"

ChatGPT will find:

• ❌ Amazon - CAPTCHA blocked, no schema, can't display offer
• ✅ AEOfix.com - Perfect schema, complete product data, instant purchase via ACP

Result: The only fully-indexed, ACP-compliant product gets 100% of the visibility and conversions.

Why Are Major Retailers Blocking AI Agents?

The reasons are likely a combination of:

1. Legacy anti-scraping policies - Retailers spent years fighting price-scraping bots and haven't updated policies for legitimate AI agents
2. Data control concerns - Companies like Amazon want to force API partnerships rather than allow open access
3. Ignorance of ACP - Most e-commerce teams don't yet understand Agentic Commerce Protocol or its importance
4. Short-term thinking - They're optimizing for preventing scraping today, not for AI commerce tomorrow

Whatever the reason, this creates an unprecedented opportunity for competitors who move quickly.

The Competitive Math

This isn't just a competitive edge. It's a monopoly position.

How to Achieve 100/100 ACP Readiness

Based on our study, here's the complete checklist for perfect ChatGPT Shopping compliance:

1. Crawler Access (20 points)

Add to your robots.txt:

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Allow: /

2. Schema Markup (20 points)

Implement all four required schema types using JSON-LD:

• Product schema with name, description, brand, SKU, GTIN, image
• Offer schema with price, currency, availability, condition
• MerchantReturnPolicy schema with return window, method, fees
• ShippingDetails schema with rates, delivery time, destinations

3. llms.txt File (20 points)

Create /llms.txt with:

• Site overview and mission
• Product categories and services
• Pricing information
• Key URLs and navigation structure

4. Server-Side Rendering (20 points)

Ensure product data is rendered server-side, not client-side. AI crawlers need to see product information in the initial HTML response.

5. Product Data Quality (20 points)

Expose in your schema:

• SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)
• GTIN (Global Trade Item Number - ISBN, UPC, EAN)
• Structured pricing with currency

The Window is Closing

Right now, in January 2026, you have a unique opportunity:

• ✅ ChatGPT Shopping is coming (confirmed by OpenAI)
• ✅ 90% of major competitors are actively blocking AI agents
• ✅ 100% of major competitors lack required schema markup
• ✅ The average competitor scores 17/100
• ✅ Most e-commerce businesses don't even know ACP exists

But this window won't stay open forever. Eventually:

• ❌ Major retailers will wake up and implement ACP
• ❌ Competition for ChatGPT Shopping rankings will intensify
• ❌ The first-mover advantage will disappear

The businesses that implement ACP compliance today will have a 6-12 month head start on capturing AI-powered commerce traffic.

POST https://aeofix.com/api/mcp/invoke
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "tool": "scan_acp_readiness",
  "input": {
    "url": "https://example-store.com",
    "includeRecommendations": true,
    "depth": "standard"
  }
}

{
  "tool": "scan_acp_readiness",
  "result": {
    "overallScore": 42,
    "readinessLevel": "Partially Ready",
    "dimensions": {
      "crawlerAccess": { "score": 0, "status": "Failed", "details": "..." },
      "schemaMarkup": { "score": 60, "status": "Partial", "foundTypes": [...] },
      "llmsTxt": { "score": 0, "status": "Failed", "found": false },
      "ssr": { "score": 100, "status": "Passed" },
      "productDataQuality": { "score": 50, "status": "Partial" }
    },
    "recommendations": [
      {
        "priority": "high",
        "category": "Crawler Access",
        "issue": "ChatGPT bots blocked",
        "fix": "Add OAI-SearchBot to robots.txt",
        "impact": "Critical: Cannot be indexed"
      }
    ]
  }
}