Amazon’s public guidance on optimizing product mentions for Rufus, its AI-powered shopping assistant, remains unchanged, with no new advice provided to sellers. Nonetheless, sellers are proactively adapting their strategies. As Rufus gains prominence in Amazon’s search ecosystem, brands are experimenting with tactics to enhance their listings’ visibility in the chatbot’s responses. This includes incorporating more conversational language into product descriptions, which some sellers report has driven increased traffic and sales. Historically, Amazon listings relied heavily on “keyword stuffing, ” where sellers packed listings with numerous keywords to appear in search results. However, Rufus differs by understanding context and intent rather than just exact keywords. For example, a search for “gentle shampoo for sensitive scalp” might yield fragrance-free or sulfate-free products even if “sensitive scalp” isn’t explicitly mentioned. Josh Blyskal from AI optimization startup Profound illustrates this shift: product titles have evolved from cluttered keyword strings like “gift chocolate valentines day dark milk assorted heart box candy 12 pack best gift” to clearer, conversational titles such as “Valentine’s Day milk & dark chocolate, 12-piece heart box, ” with descriptions aligning with real shopper queries like “best candy for Valentine’s Day” and “great for kids. ” AI search is also influencing product packaging decisions. IQBar, a plant-based protein startup, plans to emphasize fiber content in its product lines next year, aligning with Rufus’s ability to read text on images. CEO Will Nitze shared that IQBar is redesigning packaging to highlight “fiber” prominently and maintaining stable pricing to meet common Rufus price-based queries such as “What can I buy for under $20?” Pricing products just below key thresholds (e. g. , $19. 99) aims to enhance discoverability. Beyond conversational language, Rufus requires detailed product information to offer relevant recommendations. Scot Wingo, founder of ReFiBuy, notes that because GenAI chats average 25 words—much longer than typical three- or four-keyword searches—the system holds richer context, including customer preferences and details. Therefore, listings require significantly more content and contextualization. Ryan Walker from PMG advises brands to provide the most comprehensive catalog data possible, including dimensions, compatibility, use cases, advice, comparable products, support info, and brand narratives. The results of these optimizations are promising.

Sellers who have revamped their listings for Rufus report boosts in traffic and sales. For example, a confectionery brand client of Profound saw a 58% year-over-year sales increase in optimized products versus controls. Pattern, an e-commerce accelerator, notes AI-optimized listings can yield median revenue increases of up to 20%. Mars Wrigley reported an average 8% rise in search visibility across six brands using AI optimizations, per Tory Bradley, their retail search director. Similarly, Katya Constantine, CEO of DigishopGirl Media, observed that “slow-moving” products roughly doubled sales and saw traffic grow by up to 35% after conversational optimizations. Despite these successes, sellers and consultants indicate Amazon has not provided explicit guidance for Rufus optimization. However, Amazon offers AI-powered tools to help sellers generate product descriptions, titles, and bullet points, which reportedly improve listing quality by 40%. Amazon revealed in its latest quarterly earnings call that Rufus has attracted 250 million customers this year, with monthly users growing 140% year-over-year. Additionally, Rufus users are 60% more likely to complete purchases, and Amazon expects the tool to generate over $10 billion in incremental annualized sales. Nevertheless, traditional Amazon SEO fundamentals, such as accumulating many positive reviews, remain critical. As Blyskal emphasizes, there is no shortcut to outranking established brands, like DeWalt, in competitive categories. Additional updates include Amazon partnering with Slope, a JPMorgan Chase-backed startup, to provide financing for small online businesses, per Bloomberg. Amazon’s AI division head, Rohit Prasad, will depart at year-end, with Peter DeSantis appointed to lead a new AI-focused organization. Meanwhile, Roomba’s parent company, iRobot, has filed for bankruptcy due to debt and tariff challenges.