The Complexity of the Universal Commerce Protocol

I spent a lot of time understanding all the subtleties of the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and it is very complex. It’s not simply: we hope it works on its own and AI takes care of everything; it is a fundamental overhaul of how product information is structured and exchanged between merchants and the new AI agents.

The Era of Google AI Mode

On Google now, you have AI mode. More and more people are reading the description and recommendations offered directly by Google instead of clicking links to go further. The shopping journey often starts and ends on the results page.

In fact, Google is betting on you implementing UCP correctly.

Why? Because for Google’s AI to recommend your products accurately, display your real-time prices, and even facilitate the transaction, it needs structured, reliable, and standardized data. This is where UCP comes in.

Google was losing market share to OpenAI so they were forced to follow the market and create their own conversational AI interface. My prediction is that they will recreate the same current models, but with this interface. Ads and Shopping will follow.

What is UCP Exactly?

The Universal Commerce Protocol is an open-source standard, co-developed by Google and Shopify, that aims to create a universal language for commerce. Unlike traditional scraping methods or static product feeds, UCP allows for dynamic interaction.

It allows AI agents (like Google’s) to:

1. Discover your products.
2. Understand complex attributes (size, color, compatibility).
3. Secure facilitate purchase securely following OAuth, PCI-DSS standards.
4. Complex Query for requests like, buy me a blue t-shirt with cat images for under $20.

Why You Can’t Ignore It

If you are a merchant, ignoring UCP is like ignoring SEO 15 years ago. As consumers turn to AI assistants to shop, your visibility will depend on the ability of these agents to “read” your store.

Google is betting that merchants will adopt this protocol to stay visible. If your competitor implements UCP and their products are perfectly integrated into Google AI recommendations, and yours are not, you become invisible.

For people on Shopify, create product catalogs

Creating a product catalog can greatly help your visibility on generative AI platforms. This is how Google understands limits and available prices in certain markets for example. Here are two useful resources:

https://shopify.engineering/ucp

https://shopify.dev/docs/agents/catalog

Conclusion

UCP is complex, yes. But it is a necessary complexity to survive in the new ecosystem of agentic commerce. It is no longer just about optimizing for keywords, but optimizing for intelligent agents.

Need a Shopify Developer to implement UCP?

Navigating the technical requirements of the Universal Commerce Protocol can be challenging. As a Shopify Developer specializing in Technical SEO and Agentic Commerce, I can help you structure your data to ensure your products are visible to Google’s AI agents.

Don’t let your store become invisible in the new AI-driven market. Contact me today to audit your current setup and prepare your Shopify store for the future of commerce.