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AI Agents Will Soon Shop For Your Customers
Payment giants racing to build AI that buys on behalf of consumers. Here's what it means for your marketing.
Aleric Heck
December 30, 2025
In partnership with
The AI marketing landscape is entering a new era, and today's developments make it crystal clear: we're witnessing the birth of autonomous commerce. The past 24 hours have brought some genuinely exciting news that I can't wait to unpack for you.
Here's what's happening: Visa and Mastercard are racing to build systems where AI agents will shop, compare prices, and complete purchases entirely on your behalf—no clicks, no browsing, just results. Meanwhile, Google's generative AI tools are pulling ahead of the competition, and the autonomous marketing AI market is projected to explode from $7.5 billion to nearly $200 billion by 2034.
📍 In Today's Newsletter:
Why payment giants are betting big on AI agents that shop for you
The tools that are beating Midjourney and Sora at their own game
A brutally honest video hook analyzer that doesn't sugarcoat your scores
How one platform helped a company boost ARR by 50% in 90 days
Let's dive in.
📈 Today's Top AI Marketing Story
Agentic Commerce Goes Mainstream: Your Customers' AI Will Soon Do Their Shopping
This is the big one. Visa and Mastercard are accelerating development of systems that allow AI agents to autonomously search for products, compare prices, and execute purchases—all within a chat interface.
Picture this: a customer tells their AI assistant, "Find the least expensive flight from Singapore to Bangkok under $500 with no layovers." The agent scans options, books the ticket, and processes payment using stored credentials. No website visits. No app switching. Done.
The numbers backing this shift are staggering. A recent Visa survey found nearly 50% of U.S. consumers already use AI tools for shopping research. Salesforce data shows 20% of global Cyber Week orders were influenced by AI agents. And Adobe measured a 4,700% year-over-year increase in AI-driven traffic to retail websites.
OpenAI's "Buy it in ChatGPT" feature (launched in September) and Perplexity's partnership with PayPal are already making this real. Amazon piloted "Buy For Me" earlier this year while simultaneously trying to block external AI agents from accessing its site—a defensive posture that signals just how seriously retailers are taking this threat.
🎯 KEY TAKEAWAY
The customer journey is being compressed into conversations. Discovery, comparison, and purchase are merging into single AI-mediated interactions.
⚡ QUICK ACTION TIP
Start thinking about how your products and services get described to AI agents. Structured data, clear value propositions, and competitive pricing will matter more than ever when an AI—not a human—is making the recommendation.
🚀 AI Marketing Quick Hits
Google's Tools Are Winning the Generative AI Race
The Digiday 2025 agency report card is out, and Google swept the top spots. Nano Banana (Google's image generation tool) earned a Grade A for its hyperrealistic output and dramatic reduction in that telltale "AI sheen." VEO (Google's text-to-video model) matched that grade, with marketers noting it has "surpassed Sora" in voice, audio, and lip-sync capabilities.
Why This Matters: Google's advantage isn't just quality—it's integration. These tools live inside Google Ads, Gemini, and Google Workspace, enabling seamless deployment without manual file transfers.
✅ Action Item: If you're still defaulting to Midjourney for client work, it might be time to explore Google's ecosystem. The seamless ad platform integration alone could save hours per campaign.
Meta Now Uses Your AI Conversations for Ad Targeting
As of December 16, Meta analyzes what you discuss with Meta AI to inform ad targeting. Topics you explore, questions you ask, and product inquiries you make now feed into your advertising profile across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
Why This Matters: Higher targeting accuracy is possible, but so is complexity. Advertisers must navigate updated privacy policies while deciding which AI-powered optimization features to enable.
✅ Action Item: Review your Meta ad account settings and familiarize yourself with the new AI-assisted targeting toggles. Test them against your existing audiences to measure impact.
The $199 Billion Opportunity in Autonomous Marketing AI
The autonomous marketing AI market is projected to grow from $7.55 billion in 2025 to $199 billion by 2034—a 43.8% compound annual growth rate. This reflects the shift from rule-based automation (if-then logic) to agentic AI that adjusts based on outcomes and continuously optimizes without human intervention.
Why This Matters: The companies investing in autonomous marketing infrastructure now will have compounding advantages over the next decade.
"AI Slop" Is Officially 2025's Word of the Year
Merriam-Webster selected "AI slop"—mediocre AI-generated content flooding the internet—as its 2025 word of the year. The market is growing frustrated with low-quality, inconsistent AI output.
Why This Matters: Quality differentiation is becoming a competitive advantage. Brands that produce thoughtful, controlled AI content will stand out against the noise.
🔍 Featured AI Tool Spotlight
Marketeze AI: The Video Hook Analyzer That Tells You the Truth
What It Does: Marketeze scores your video hooks on a 1-100 scale and generates 10 higher-scoring alternatives using different viral strategies. But here's what makes it different: it doesn't flatter you.
The Honest Assessment Approach: Unlike tools that provide generic praise, Marketeze delivers objective scores reflecting actual performance chances. The platform breaks down exactly why your hook scored the way it did across five evaluation criteria, then shows you specifically how to improve.
What You Can Do With It:
Get scroll-stopping power scores in seconds
Receive 10 alternative hooks using proven viral strategies
See detailed breakdowns across five performance criteria
Get platform-specific recommendations for TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts
Track your improvement over time with full analysis history
The Results: Users report an average score improvement of +47 points after applying AI-generated suggestions.
Pricing:
First analysis: Free (no card required)
Pro Monthly: 7-day trial, then subscription
Pro Yearly: Annual billing with savings
Lifetime: One-time payment with all future updates
Who It's For: Content creators, performance marketers, growth teams, and anyone serious about short-form video optimization.
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🛠️ More AI Tools Worth Exploring
Virlo - Short-Form Content Intelligence
The "Bloomberg for short-form content" aggregates trend data from TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.
Viral Outlier Detection: Surfaces unexpected high-performing content before trends saturate
Geographic Intelligence: Shows which countries drive views for any niche
Content Canvas: Design workflows from ideation through finished video
2x Daily Refresh: Real-time monitoring with automated email alerts
Potential Use Case: Identify emerging content opportunities in your niche before competitors catch on.
Google Nano Banana - Hyperrealistic Image Generation (Grade A)
Google's image generation tool built on Gemini LLM has become the gold standard among agency marketers.
Reduced AI Sheen: Dramatic reduction in that "too-perfect" quality that reveals AI generation
Hyperrealistic Output: Images difficult to distinguish from photographic originals
Native Integration: Embedded within Google Ads, Gemini, and Google Workspace
Potential Use Case: Generate campaign-ready visuals that deploy directly to your ad accounts without manual file transfers.
🔗 Available through Google's AI ecosystem
OpenAI Sora - Cinematic Video Generation (Grade B)
Text-to-video model known for cinematic lighting quality, though facing stiff competition from VEO.
Disney Partnership: Users can create content with Star Wars, Pixar, and Marvel characters
Realistic Sound Effects: Version 2 launched with enhanced audio capabilities
Cinematic Lighting: Praised for professional-quality visual aesthetics
Note: Some marketers cite "uncanny valley" effects on skin textures and lingering IP usage concerns.
Midjourney - Creative Image Generation (Grade B)
The OG in generative AI since 2022, though competitors have leapfrogged it in hyperrealism and integration.
Creative Variety: Known for producing diverse, artistic interpretations
Established Community: Large user base with extensive prompt libraries
Continuous Updates: Regular model improvements
Caution: Agency practitioners describe it as more of a "Wild West slot machine" lacking the predictability required for client work. Some agencies avoid it for commercial projects due to training data concerns and ongoing lawsuits.
Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays
Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.
Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.
💡 Pro Tip of the Day
Prepare Your Business for Agentic Commerce
With AI agents soon handling product discovery and purchases, your marketing needs to speak their language.
Step 1: Audit your product descriptions for clarity and specificity. AI agents need structured information to make accurate comparisons.
Step 2: Ensure your pricing is competitive and clearly stated. When an AI is comparison shopping, hidden fees or confusing pricing structures will get you filtered out.
Step 3: Implement structured data (schema markup) on your product pages. This helps AI systems understand exactly what you're selling.
Step 4: Consider how your value proposition translates to a single sentence. That's all the space you might get in an AI-generated recommendation.
📊 Success Metric: Track what percentage of your traffic comes from AI-referred sources (look for referrals from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and similar platforms) and optimize for growth in this channel.
⚡ KeywordSearch.com Feature Spotlight
Speaking of AI agents making decisions on behalf of customers—your ad targeting needs to be precise enough to reach them before they hand the shopping over to their AI assistant.
That's where KeywordSearch.com's AI Audience Builder comes in. Instead of spending hours manually researching audience segments, our AI generates laser-focused targeting in minutes. One click syncs your audiences directly to Google and YouTube Ads.
With agentic commerce on the horizon, the window for influencing purchase decisions is narrowing. The brands that capture attention early—before the AI shopping agent takes over—will win.
What You Get:
AI-powered audience generation in under 3 minutes
One-click sync to Google & YouTube Ads
Access to 100k+ competitor ad examples
Built for agencies and businesses scaling their ad operations
📊 By the Numbers This Week
75% of marketers currently using AI in their strategies
50% of U.S. consumers use AI for shopping research
4,700% increase in AI-driven retail traffic year-over-year
43.8% projected CAGR for autonomous marketing AI through 2034
+47 points average hook score improvement with Marketeze AI
That's all for today's edition. These are exciting times to be in marketing—the tools are getting smarter, the opportunities are expanding, and the businesses that move decisively will have compounding advantages.
Here's to staying ahead of the curve.
Aleric & Greg KeywordSearch.com
P.S. Ready for better ad targeting results? Put our AI to work with an unlimited 5-day free trial of KeywordSearch and see the difference yourself. Start here →
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