Picture this: It’s 2028, and you’re no longer sifting through a jungle of websites, advertisement-saturated search results, pop-up ads, and SEO-optimised pages to find what you need. Instead, your personal AI agent—intelligent, intuitive, and annoyingly efficient—handles everything for you. You tell it to find the best barbecue available within your price range, and in seconds, it scours the market, negotiates with vendors, books the fastest delivery, and tracks the shipment. You didn’t even need to open a web browser.
This isn’t a sci-fi fantasy. It’s where we’re heading, and it’s coming faster than we might think. As OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, recently explained, humans struggle to understand exponential change, and from any point on the curve, the past looks flat, and the future looks vertical.
The entire way we interact with the digital world, particularly in relation to commerce, as well as how we search for information, is about to be upended. Gone will be the days of Google searches, SEO gaming, banners, pop-ups, and click-through ads.
In their place? A future driven by AI agents, on both sides of the transaction, that can think, negotiate, and transact on our behalf.
Today’s Internet Is a Mess of SEO-Optimised Content and Ad-Driven Results
Today, the internet is a vast ecosystem of information and commerce sites. Google acts as the gatekeeper, filtering content through SEO tricks, paid advertisements, and ranking algorithms. But even then, we, the users, are stuck playing detective, sorting through results and advertisements, comparing prices, reading reviews, and figuring out which website or vendor is actually trustworthy.
For businesses, the game is just as complicated. You either pay Google to be listed at the top or pour resources into optimising your content so you can be found. Or, both. SEO consultants, digital marketers, and advertising gurus are all in high demand, helping businesses climb the rankings and convert clicks into cash. It’s a messy, cluttered system where finding the right product at the right price feels like more work than it should be. The winners are those with the budget or mindset to endlessly optimise copy, content, and placement.
Enter AI Agents: The End of SEO, Websites, and Digital Ads?
Now, let’s imagine a very different world—one where AI agents take over this entire process. Instead of typing “buy BBQ” into Google and trawling through thousands of results, you tell your personal AI agent exactly what you need. Your agent knows your preferences, budget, and even your mood, diet preferences, and biometric data. You’ve got a weekend barbecue coming up, and you’re willing to pay £300 for a new grill or £150 for a used one—but it needs to arrive by Saturday.
Your agent connects directly with AI agents representing retailers, manufacturers, and even individuals selling used BBQs. It doesn’t search websites or scroll through results. Instead, it talks directly to the other agents, negotiating in real time. The seller's AI agent knows every detail about its products—stock levels, shipping options, features, and even the condition of used items. Both agents can view and understand the content of photos and videos. Together, these agents hash out the best possible deal.
Autonomous shopping
Within seconds, your AI agent sends you a message: “I’ve found a used BBQ in good condition and got it down to £130, and it can be delivered on Saturday. Do you want to confirm the purchase?” You say yes, and the deal is done. Your AI agent tracks the shipment and keeps you informed of any delivery delay.
No websites. No SEO. No ads.
What Does This Mean for Retailers, Wholesalers, and Intermediaries?
This AI-driven world turns the current model of commerce on its head. Retailers, as we know them, could become redundant if manufacturers are able to ship directly to consumers. Why involve a middleman when the buyer’s and seller’s AI agents can negotiate everything? Wholesalers, too, face extinction in a system where direct negotiations between producers and buyers become the norm.
For businesses, it will no longer be about having the best website or the highest Google ranking. Instead, it’s about having the best AI agent with the right data—a smart, well-trained representative that can not only communicate efficiently with consumer agents but also offer the right deals. Product knowledge, pricing flexibility, and delivery options will become the key differentiators. With perfect information on both sides, profit margins will shrink, and only those who offer genuine value will thrive.
The Demise of SEO and Digital Advertising?
SEO’s entire premise is built on manipulating search engine algorithms to increase visibility. But when consumers no longer “search” in the traditional sense, SEO becomes irrelevant. Your AI agent won’t be impressed by keyword stuffing or meta tags; it will only care about what’s actually on offer, its pricing, delivery options, and how well it fits your needs. Similarly, the traditional model of digital advertising—plastering websites with ads and hoping users click—will also disappear.
Take Google, for example, what happens when nobody’s clicking on ads anymore because their AI agents are doing the searching for them? Google’s dominance is built on its control of the search ecosystem, but AI agents will bypass the need for search altogether. Platforms like Perplexity, which already uses AI to provide real-time answers to queries without relying on the traditional search-and-click model, are gaining traction. Perplexity, like OpenAI’s new SearchGPT, is already challenging Google’s monopoly by offering a different, more intelligent way to interact with information.
Search is inefficient
Companies like Perplexity use a cost-per-mille (CPM) advertising model, which charges based on impressions rather than clicks. Why? Because in a world of AI-driven commerce, clicks become a rare commodity. Instead of ads pushing users to a website, companies will have to pay for visibility directly within AI-generated responses. Even Perplexity’s revenue-sharing model with publishers is a sign of what’s to come—revenue will be driven by AI-mediated visibility, not traditional traffic generation.
Perfect Information and Margin Compression
Any student of economics will understand the power of perfect information in any market. In this new AI-powered economy, information availability and AI agent processing power may result in markets with near-perfect information. Your AI agent will know every available option, from every vendor, along with prices, reviews, delivery times, and warranties. Sellers, too, will have perfect knowledge of their competitors’ offerings. The result? Pricing and product quality become the key battlegrounds. With AI agents negotiating on behalf of both buyers and sellers, the margin for error shrinks. Companies will be forced to offer the best possible deal, or risk losing out to a competitor who can shave off a few pounds or deliver a day faster.
In such a market, businesses will need to find tiny competitive advantages to win sales. Perhaps it’s a slightly better warranty, a more eco-friendly product, or a faster delivery time. Whatever the edge, it will need to be real, because there’s no tricking an AI agent. Online commerce will start to look similar to automated hedge fund algorithmic trading, where the winners are those with servers closest to the stock exchange, as the milliseconds saved to transmit trades at the speed of light impacts margins.
When Will This Future Arrive?
This future is already here, but we're in the foothills of an exponential growth curve. Companies like Perplexity and OpenAI’s SearchGPT are already providing glimpses of what’s possible. While Google still reigns supreme for now, its business model is under threat. As AI agents become more capable and more widespread, the traditional internet will start to fade.
The big question is how fast this transformation will unfold. AI technology is evolving at a rapid pace, and consumer adoption of personal AI agents could happen within the next five to ten years. For businesses, the time to adapt is now. Those who embrace AI and prepare for this agent-centric future will thrive, while those who cling to outdated models will be left behind.
We are on the verge of a new era in digital commerce—one where AI agents will reshape how we buy, sell, and interact online. This isn’t just a small tweak to the existing system; it’s a complete overhaul.
The future will be fast, intelligent, efficient, and agent-driven.
Thanks for reading.
