AI agents, GEO and data quality: key takeaways from the 2026 online Comerciante survey

Payrexx: The Online Merchant Survey 2026 is finally here. Prof. Dr. Darius Zumstein, can you summarise the three most important findings for us?

Prof. Dr. Darius Zumstein: The biggest highlight for me is clearly: AI agents are coming – and extremely fast. A year ago, this was barely a topic; back then, it was mainly about using AI for individual use cases such as text, image, or video generation. Now, we are reaching a completely new level.

Secondly, discoverability in generative AI systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or Perplexity has become key. Every SME and every comerciante or comerciante no longer only need to be found in classic search engines, but also in AI systems. Here, a completely new Marketing discipline is emerging with Generative Engine Marketing (GEM) – consisting of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and, most recently, Generative Engine Advertising (GEA).

The third focus of our study was the degree of automation: To what extent are the processes in Swiss e-commerce companies already manual, semi-automated, or fully automated, and where are they already using AI agents?

If you had to give concrete recommendations for action: What should Swiss online shops ideally implement in their operations starting tomorrow?

The first and most important thing is: comerciantes must have their data under control. Product data, availability, delivery conditions, and return information must be available on the website in a clean and structured format. Every day, crawlers and bots from AI systems and search engines visit the product detail pages. Those who have poor data quality here will not only face problems with automation and digitalisation, but are simply not 'agent-ready'.

My appeal to comerciantes is therefore: Invest in data quality and interfaces! Technical standards like UCP (Universal Commerce Protocol) or MCP are developing rapidly. It is important to keep an eye on these, regularly check how much traffic is already coming via AI systems, remain open and curious, provide internal training, and establish clear responsibilities for AI within the company.

The tech giants are continuing to develop rapidly at the same time. What trends do you see with providers like Google or OpenAI?

For example, Google introduced AI Mode in May, which has a direct impact on every Marketing department. In addition, Agentic Checkout was announced. In the US, it is already possible for consumers to place products directly into a universal shopping cart on Google and pay via Google Pay.

Payment service providers and online shops must also ask themselves: What happens when customers complete their transactions directly via AI systems or search engines in the future? Currently, most consumers use AI primarily to search, compare, and look for offers. It will take a little longer before purchasing is completely delegated to agents. However, we are already seeing this shift clearly among the younger target audience.

Over 470 comerciantes participated in the ninth edition of the Online Merchant Survey. How important is the study for the Swiss market?

It is the largest and only representative e-commerce study in Switzerland that covers such a wide range of industries – from food to Home & Living, sports, health, all the way to construction. From small hobby shops to major providers like Galaxus, Brack, or Zalando, everyone is represented.

As a researcher, it is particularly important for me to see where the shoe currently pinches for comerciantes. The challenges have changed significantly: following the pandemic years, the focus today is on a difficult market environment, global competition, Temu, price pressure, as well as the question of how to remain relevant to customers.

Do you have tips for comerciantes on the best ways to network and stay informed?

Firstly: Participate in studies, because sharing knowledge helps everyone! Secondly, the old rule applies: 'Markets are conversations.' Comerciantes should step out of their silos, attend industry events, join specialist groups, and nurture their network – for example, also in associations such as the trade association. And thirdly: Use LinkedIn! In our networked world, isolation is the death of any trade.

A look ahead: Which topics will be central to e-commerce and next year's survey?

Alongside technology, the human factor is coming strongly back into focus. The key phrase is Human in the Loop: How do humans and machines work together optimally? Which tasks are delegated, and where do humans retain leadership? It is about AI sovereignty, critical thinking, transparency, data protection, and how organisations and teams adapt sustainably.

Furthermore, the development offers enormous opportunities for SMEs. Through modern tools like code assistants, even small teams can build innovative solutions and prototypes without massive IT budgets. If small SMEs use these tools cleverly, they can compete brilliantly with the big players.