If you’re selling on Amazon, it’s time to introduce yourself to Rufus, Amazon’s Generative AI Shopping Assistant. Rufus first rolled out in September 2024 with little fanfare, but some useful features like the ability to display historical prices of an item. Now, Rufus is off the leash. You can see it in a permanent position on the navigation bar, as well as in multiple and variable places on a listing including under the listing images and following the A+ content.
Throughout your listing, Amazon suggests questions that shoppers might have about your product. You may have also noticed that the search bar on mobile is now labeled “Search or ask a question.” Amazon suggests AI-enabled questions in the search bar and offers shoppers the ability to search for products using natural language, like “What are the warmest duvets available?”
What does Rufus mean for Amazon sellers?
First, the way that Amazon is understanding your listings is totally different. Rufus is approaching listings from a point of view that’s much closer to how a human understands them, rather than simply scraping for keywords. We’ve all seen examples of listings that are stuffed full of keywords in an attempt to game the algorithm, and Amazon has recently cracked down on this by limiting repetition in the title. When Rufus goes looking for shoes for basketball, it’s not simply looking for listings that have the words “shoes” and “basketball” in the back end. Its objective is to align with shopper intent, so it’s taking questions and reviews and turning them into meaningful context. If people who search for “basketball shoes” exclusively buy high tops and multiple purchasers mention basketball in your product reviews, Rufus is going to look at your high-top sneakers and decide they're a better fit for “basketball shoes” than a low-top sneaker that has basketball keywords.
Now, the story is king. Your listing should have always broken down the benefits of your product in a way that’s clear and easy to understand, but Rufus is going to offer a real incentive to make sure this is the case. Shoppers who ask Rufus about a specific feature or benefit will be directed to products that clearly articulate that benefit in their listings, as well as products with customer reviews that mention said benefit.
Where your listing doesn’t include clear information about your product, Rufus is going to find it somewhere else. That 1-star review where an anonymous shopper told the world that your facial moisturizer didn’t work on their sharpei is now a primary source for Rufus, particularly when it’s looking for information that it doesn’t see in your own content. And this means all your content. Live copy is part of the picture but images and A+ are equally important tools in telling your story.
Currently, Rufus is not scraping images for keywords, although this may change in the future. What it is doing is understanding the story your images tell. A carousel made up of a front, back and two side views of your packaging tells the AI nothing about what your product does. Lifestyle images that show Rufus where and how your product can be used are much more valuable.
How can I make sure my listings are Rufus optimized?
1) Tell your story from A to Z
The listings that perform best for Rufus are going to be comprehensive, well thought out and offer clear product benefits. Imagine you printed out your listing and handed it to a woman in the street. Would she understand what you are selling? Would she see immediately what your product can do for her? If not, you’ve got more to say. Your listing should offer clear reasons to buy and deliver on shopper intent.
2) Know your product and consumer
You can’t tell your story if you don’t know what it is. Take a deep dive in your reviews. What are customers praising? If one shopper likes a feature that you haven’t even considered, others might too. Prioritize the benefits that consumers like, not the features you are most proud of.
3) Show AND tell
Yes, your live text is important to Rufus but consider what your images are showing. Treat your image carousel like a picture book; it should tell your product’s story from start to finish, starting with the most important benefits then going deeper. There is nothing to be gained by repetition, each image should be communicating a different use or benefit. Well-crafted lifestyle images that showcase your product in use have always been a key differentiator between quality products and cheap imitations – and now, they’re essential in delivering on shopper intent.
4) Test and learn
The best way to understand what Rufus will see in your listing is to ask another AI. Paste your PDP URL into Chat GPT and ask it what it knows about your product from the page. If it misses a key benefit, then your content is not clear enough.
5) Do it now
There’s a school of thought that shoppers aren’t fully ready to use Rufus as intended, but as AI shopping assistants become more widespread the behavior will eventually be learned. At one point social media apps were for sharing images, but consumers learned they can be buying platforms. At one point Amazon was a place to buy books, but consumers evolved to go to Amazon to as a place to buy nearly everything. Why put your product behind the 8-ball? Early adopters are already searching using Rufus and more consumers will follow as Amazon guides them.
It isn't clear how Rufus will directly impact search ranking but, as with nearly everything on Amazon, at some point it probably will. Regardless of when that happens, effectively marketing to Rufus will likely lead to faster, stronger conversion, and that does impact organic ranking right now.
6) But don’t toss the keywords… yet
For now, optimizing listings for AI is an add-on to using proven SEO methods and making high performing content that converts. Your product will rank better with relevant and up-to-date Amazon-specific keywords, but making sure Rufus understands your listing won’t take anything away from that. Worst case scenario, your extra effort has made the shopping experience clearer and more consumer-centric and there is definite upside in that.
