Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping how customers discover, evaluate and purchase products, with this shift toward agent-driven commerce unfolding in stages. Today, AI supports discovery while consumers make final decisions and complete transactions. Over time, this is expected to evolve toward more integrated and near-real-time checkout experiences, with increasing levels of automation. Longer term, interactions may extend to agent-to-agent engagement across the ecosystem.
As customers increasingly rely on AI-driven platforms and large language models (LLMs) to research and shop, maintaining accurate brand representation and visibility becomes critical. Capabilities such as answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) are emerging as important components of a modern digital strategy, helping ensure brands are discoverable, accurately represented and effectively positioned within AI-powered experiences.
As this shift accelerates, it will require new capabilities from companies to fully participate. This includes investing in infrastructure that can integrate with AI platforms and large language models, selectively exposing product, offer and loyalty data to enable accurate representation within AI-driven experiences, and building more advanced decisioning to manage targeting, risk and fraud in increasingly automated, agent-driven transactions.
At Bread Financial, we are focused on meeting our partners and customers where they are by enhancing discovery and selection, developing engaging new marketing channels and streamlining the path to purchase with seamless experiences. Our efforts will help drive stronger engagement, improved conversion and more enduring customer relationships.
Progress is underway across these areas, including advancements in AI-driven discovery, evolving approaches to product visibility and positioning, continued investment in enabling technologies and talent, and exploration of new experience models aligned to emerging commerce patterns. Collectively, these efforts are designed to support adaptability and speed as this next phase of commerce evolves.
Reach out to your account team on how we might partner together to strengthen discovery of your brand, products and services and increase loyalty.
About Bread Financial®
Bread Financial® (NYSE: BFH) is a tech-forward financial services company that provides simple, personalized payment, lending and saving solutions to millions of U.S. consumers. Our payment solutions deliver growth for some of the most recognized brands in travel & entertainment, health & beauty, technology, electronics, jewelry, home and specialty apparel through our co-brand and private label credit cards and pay-over-time products providing choice and value to our shared customers. Additionally, we offer Bread Financial general purpose credit cards and saving products that empower our customers and their passions for a better life.
Bread Financial proudly marks 30 years of success in 2026. To learn more about our global associates, our performance and our sustainability progress, visit breadfinancial.com or follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn.