The rise of the AI shelf
This week's episode of the Modern Retail Podcast digs into how AI product recommendations are reshaping retail shelves. Increasingly, brands are strategizing around how to get their products surfaced in ChatGPT and Gemini results.
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AI Strategies // September 26, 2026 The rise of the AI shelf By Gabriela Barkho Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify Increasingly, people are asking ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for product recommendations, and it’s changing how brands position themselves online. Brands are used to optimizing their products for physical shelves and digital storefronts.
But now, they also increasingly have to think about the AI shelf, a concept recently outlined by tech writer Deana Burke in the newsletter Boys Club. Burke decided to test AI bots by creating a completely fictional natural deodorant brand to see if she could get it recommended on the AI shelf. And the experiment actually worked.
As product discovery evolves from the physical shelf to the digital shelf, and now to the AI shelf, there are a few question marks. How do these algorithms decide which products to surface? And if you’re an emerging brand, how do you ensure your products take space on that AI shelf?
Joining the Modern Retail Podcast this week to unpack the AI shelf revolution is Jessica Wright, senior vp of product at Spins Foundry. This week’s podcast episode digs into: How personalized AI shelves are shaping CPG trends. How brands can get their products machine-readable for AI agents. Why this data is fundamentally changing organic and paid marketing.
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This briefing is based on reporting from Modern Retail. Use the original post for full primary-source context.
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