In my first article, "An Agentic Shopping Future is Coming," we explored how AI summaries and LLM "answer engines" are causing search clicks to plummet despite rising impressions. I also provided actionable recommendations for improving your chances of being featured in AI-generated summaries, product cards, and chat sessions.

In this Part II, we're diving into the next seismic shift you need to prepare for: MCP servers and LLM agents that will bypass your website entirely.

The Uncomfortable Truth: Agents Don't Want Your Website

Here's the reality that might make your marketing team uncomfortable: By 2027, over half of your site traffic will come from agents, and those agents won't use your website to discover products for customers.

I understand this sounds radical, especially considering the millions your company has likely invested in your current web presence. But for direct-to-consumer brands in apparel, beauty, electronics, and related verticals, this future is approaching faster than most realize.

The New Discovery Model: Agent-to-Agent Commerce

So if not websites, then what? The emerging model combines:

Product data feeds: Agentic platforms (Google, Perplexity, etc.) for initial discovery

Real-time MCP interactions: Agent-to-agent conversations for deeper discovery, availability, pricing, and reviews

Note: While Google's A2A protocol exists as an alternative, MCP appears to be winning the commerce battle for now—think VHS vs. Betamax.

What is MCP?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is Anthropic's standard for agent-to-agent communication. Think of it as giving LLMs "superpowers", or tools they can use to gather information and take actions in external systems.

In practice, this means: An MCP server can help agents discover products, add them to carts, and complete checkout, all without customers ever leaving their chat interface.

The Current State: Not Quite There Yet

Before you panic, MCP isn't ubiquitous today. Connecting MCP servers requires technical setup, and LLMs don't yet use MCP as their primary interface, but rely on your storefront instead. The standards for LLM discovery of available MCP servers are still being finalized.

For the technically curious, key standards in development:

• Agent Cards
• Well Known URI specifications

The Acceleration is Real

While MCP isn't mainstream yet, adoption is accelerating rapidly. Major platforms are already deploying MCP servers:

• Shopify - Built-in MCP capabilities
• commercetools - Native MCP integration
• Aggressive startups like Cimulate.ai - Specialized MCP servers for discovery

The Opportunity (And the Risk)

This transition will create clear winners and losers. We're already seeing massive disruption in SEO as it evolves into AEO/AIO/LLMO (Agentic Experience Optimization, AI Optimization, Large Language Model Optimization—pick your preferred acronym).

The risk: Sellers caught unprepared will lose market share, regardless of their current dominance.

The opportunity: Early adopters can capture significant market share before this inevitably becomes pay-to-play (think Amazon Ads 2.0).

Your Action Plan: Prepare Now, Win Tomorrow

While this isn't today's crisis, tomorrow's winners are preparing today. Here's your roadmap:

1. Perfect Your Data Foundation

Review my first article and ensure your product data is optimized for both LLM platforms and MCP server access. Clean, structured data will be your competitive advantage.

2. Test Early and Often

If you're using Shopify, commercetools, or similar platforms with existing MCP capabilities, start testing now. Understand how your products appear in agent interactions.

3. Optimize Continuously

Fine-tune the content your MCP server returns. This preparation will improve both your future MCP performance and your current agentic search results.

The Bottom Line

The shift from website-centric to agent-centric commerce isn't a distant possibility—it's an approaching reality. The question isn't whether this will happen, but whether you'll be ready when it does.

Start preparing now, while you still have time to shape your position in this new landscape.