AASO in 2026: How to Rank in Google Business Agent, Alexa.com, and Lenovo Qira

Updated January 26, 2026 — In the last few days, agentic shopping moved from roadmap to reality: UCP “buy” buttons, Alexa.com on the web, Business Agent surfacing in Merchant Center, and competing checkouts from Copilot and Stripe. If you turned on the pipes, your next job is ranking. This guide introduces AASO — Agent App Store Optimization — the practical way to win placement inside AI agents.

What is AASO and why it matters now

AASO is SEO for AI agents. Instead of optimizing for web pages and blue links, you optimize product data, short answers, and trust signals so agents choose your offer, quote you accurately, and complete checkout without human intervention.

If you already shipped the basics — feeds, checkout connections, and answer hardening — you’re ready to compete for agent shelf space.

• Turn on agent-ready feeds fast: 48‑hour product feed playbook.
• Pick your checkout stack: UCP vs. Copilot Checkout vs. Stripe ACS.
• Harden answers and policies: 24‑hour QA checklist.

The agent ranking model (what they likely reward)

Each agent differs, but early patterns rhyme. Winning listings typically combine:

1. Structured, consistent offers — Accurate price, currency, availability, shipping, and return windows in your UCP/merchant feeds and on-page schema.
2. Compact, factual answers — 30–60 word snippets for common tasks (compatibility, sizing, assembly, warranty, returns) that agents can quote verbatim.
3. Safety + consent signals — Clear policy URLs, opt-in language, and parity between advertised and agent prices.
4. Frictionless checkout — Supported payment rails and fulfillment estimates that agents can commit to reliably.
5. Experience data — Reviews, return rates, stock freshness, and on-time delivery performance.

Your 7‑day AASO plan

Day 1: Calibrate the goal and scope

• Pick 10–20 SKUs you want agents to win first (high margin, high availability, low return rate).
• Define 5 buyer intents to own: “best under $X,” “works with Y,” “gift for Z,” “refill/consumable,” “replacement part.”

Day 2: Make your feed the source of truth

• Ensure price, condition, GTIN/MPN, shipping bands, and return windows match your live PDPs and cart. Fix any mismatches within 24 hours to avoid demotions.
• Follow this setup: agent‑ready feed in 48 hours.

Day 3: Write answer packs (AASO snippets)

Create compact, quotable answers for each SKU/intent pair. Store them in your CMS or feed extension so agents can retrieve the same facts everywhere.

Day 4: Schema + UCP quick wins

Align your on‑page schema with your UCP/merchant feed. For AASO, precision beats prose.

{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Product",
"name": "Acme TrailLite 2 Tent",
"sku": "TL2-2026",
"gtin13": "0123456789012",
"brand": {"@type":"Brand","name":"Acme"},
"offers": {
  "@type": "Offer",
  "priceCurrency": "USD",
  "price": "229.00",
  "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock",
  "shippingDetails": {"@type":"OfferShippingDetails","shippingRate":"Free","deliveryTime": {"@type":"ShippingDeliveryTime","handlingTime": "1 day","transitTime": "2-4 days"}},
  "returnPolicy": {"@type":"MerchantReturnPolicy","returnPolicyCategory":"https://schema.org/MerchantReturnFiniteReturnWindow","merchantReturnDays":30}
},
"additionalProperty": [{"@type":"PropertyValue","name":"AASO-answer-compat","value":"Fits standard 20D footprints; vestibule clears 60 cm; poles are aluminum; works with Acme LightBeam headlamp clip."}]
}

Note the additionalProperty trick: it gives agents a compact, machine-readable snippet they can quote without scraping paragraphs.

Day 5: Checkout and policy parity

• Ensure the same price and promotions appear in agent quotes and your site checkout. Price drift is a top cause of agent suppression.
• Decide your rails now: UCP vs. Copilot Checkout vs. Stripe ACS.
• Run the 48‑hour safety checklist before flipping more “Buy” toggles: security & compliance.

Day 6: Conversation QA in agents

• Test top intents with neutral phrasing: “What’s a durable 2‑person tent under $250?” “Does it fit a 6’2” sleeper?” “Can I get it by Friday?”
• Where the agent hedges or hallucinates, add/clarify the answer pack and feed attributes, not just website copy.
• Follow our 24‑hour QA flow to lock responses.

Day 7: Measure and iterate

• Track impressions, quote rate, add‑to‑cart, and agent‑completed orders per SKU/intent.
• Add a weekly “AASO diff” report: what changed in feeds, prices, availability, and snippets before a ranking moved.
• Use the Agentic Commerce Metrics Playbook as your template.

Agent‑specific tips

Google Business Agent

• Merchant Center hygiene matters: disapprovals and policy warnings cascade into agent visibility.
• Enrich shippingDetails and returnPolicy in both feeds and on‑page schema; BA is strict on deliverability guarantees.
• Provide exact compatibility claims in 1–2 sentences; avoid superlatives and marketing fluff that the model will strip anyway.

Alexa.com (web) + Alexa+

• Favor short, directive language in answer packs: “Yes — fits X. Ships free in 2–4 days. 30‑day returns.”
• Map common follow‑ups (“what else do I need?”, “is there a bundle?”) to pre‑built bundles and accessories in your feed.

Lenovo Qira

• Lean into specs and workplace policies (warranty, security, energy ratings) for B2B‑leaning catalogs.
• Expose multi‑SKU kits with inventory‑safe substitutions so Qira can assemble a cart without stockouts.

Example: turning an intent into a win

Intent: “Best backpacking tent under $250, 2‑person, fits tall sleepers.”

AASO answer snippet (45 words): “Acme TrailLite 2 fits users up to 6’3” with 92 in length and 42 in peak height. 20D fly, aluminum poles. 4 lb 1 oz packed. Free 2–4 day shipping; 30‑day returns. Includes rainfly, stakes, guy lines, repair patch.”

Why it wins: It settles the top concerns — size, weight, materials, delivery, returns — in one quotable block the agent can trust.

AASO pitfalls to avoid

• Price drift between feed and checkout (agents will downrank or suppress).
• Missing GTIN/MPN (agents can’t normalize or cross‑check reviews/specs).
• Verbose marketing copy instead of precise facts.
• Unclear returns (no window, fees, or restock info).
• Unbounded agent actions — fix with the security checklist.

Turn AASO into a weekly operating rhythm

1. Every Monday: refresh availability, shipping windows, and price parity across feeds and PDPs.
2. Every Tuesday: add/refresh 10 answer packs for top intents (new questions from agent logs).
3. Every Wednesday: conversation QA in Google BA, Alexa.com, and Qira using neutral prompts.
4. Every Thursday: ship schema/feed diffs and re‑crawl requests.
5. Every Friday: review agent metrics and rollback anything that caused trust/policy flags.

What to do next

Most teams can implement this in a week by focusing on the 20 SKUs that matter. If you need hands‑on help, HireNinja ships the feeds, snippets, and QA workflows for you — and integrates with your current checkout rails.

Talk to HireNinja about an AASO sprint, or start with our step‑by‑step guides:

• 5‑day founder plan for Alexa.com + UCP
• 72‑hour plan to turn on AI checkout

FAQ

How is AASO different from SEO?
SEO optimizes pages for search engines. AASO optimizes facts, offers, and short answers for AI agents that complete tasks. You still need SEO for discovery; AASO gets you selected and purchased within agent flows.

Do I need new content for every SKU?
Start with the top 20 SKUs. Write reusable intent snippets (compatibility, sizing, delivery). Roll out to long‑tail SKUs after you confirm uplift.

What if my brand can’t match fast shipping?
Be precise. Agents prefer reliable 4–6 day promises over aspirational 2‑day claims that slip. Accuracy protects rankings and refunds.

Ready to rank where agents decide? Book an AASO sprint with HireNinja.