# Agent Commerce Index, Q4 2026: key findings

Published by ConversionVector research. Last updated 19 October 2026. https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index/2026-q4

- In ConversionVector’s Agent Commerce Index (Q4 2026), only 7% of UK and US online stores tested (8 of 116) let a page-fetching AI agent reach checkout. (https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index/2026-q4#finding-fetching-agent-checkout)
- When the same steps ran in a real browser, 83% of those stores (96 of 116) let the AI agent reach checkout; 13 more were left out as unverified. (https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index/2026-q4#finding-browsing-agent-checkout)
- 38% of brands (84 of 224) were named at least once by ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity when a shopper asked for their kind of product without naming a brand. (https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index/2026-q4#finding-named-by-ai)
- Of the AI-named brands that could be basket-tested, 34 of 39 opened their checkout to an agent that browses like a person. (https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index/2026-q4#finding-recommended-and-buyable)
- The median Agent Checkout score across the Index was 57, across the 208 of 225 stores whose basket or checkout we could see. (https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index/2026-q4#finding-median-agent-checkout)
- 15 retailers could not be scored, mostly because they refuse automated readers outright. (https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index/2026-q4#finding-not-scored)
- The Index scores 225 UK and US online retailers across 8 sectors. (https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index/2026-q4#finding-sample)

## Methodology

**Sample.** 225 UK and US online retailers across 8 sectors (240 listed; 15 could not be scored), measured 19 October 2026.

**How stores were read.** Each store was read as a real browser and as GPTBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot and ClaudeBot, with product pages sampled from the store itself, and scored against the published Agent Conversion Score specification (v0.5).

**Basket test.** The basket test added one in-stock product to an anonymous basket as ChatGPT’s agent and opened the checkout page; nothing was ever submitted. Where the checkout turned the agent away, the same steps were repeated as an ordinary browser and, on Shopify, in a real browser: a store that let the browser through but not the agent is marked “agents refused”; a checkout that refused every automated request we could make is marked “unverified” and left out of the basket figures, because we could not tell whether an agent can pay.

**Page-fetching and browsing agents.** A page-fetching agent here is ChatGPT’s agent making plain page requests, without running a browser; a browsing agent is the same steps in a real browser, as an agent that browses like a person would. “Browser only” marks a store whose checkout opened in a real browser but not to plain requests.

**Unverified, not measured and HTTP 429.** A store that asked us to slow down (HTTP 429) is “unverified”, not a failure. Where we could see nothing of a store’s own basket or checkout (no cart or checkout page and no basket test possible), its Agent Checkout is shown as “not measured” and left out of the checkout figures; its overall score still follows the published method.

**Recommendation check.** The recommendation check asked ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, with web search on, two questions a shopper would ask for the store’s kind of product, without naming any brand; answers vary between asks, so it is reported beside the score, not inside it.

**What this edition does not report.** This edition does not report a “recommended but not buyable” figure: for most brands the basket could not be tested, and an Agent Checkout score below 40 is not proof that an agent cannot buy.

**Corrections.** Any brand listed can request a free re-scan or a correction at hello@conversionvector.com.

Specification: https://conversionvector.com/spec. Data: https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index/2026-q4/data.json and https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index/2026-q4/data.csv.

## How to cite

ConversionVector (2026). Agent Commerce Index, Q4 2026. https://conversionvector.com/agent-commerce-index. Licensed CC BY 4.0.