The rise of the agentic web, where AI systems make decisions on behalf of users and autonomously complete tasks, will influence how we drive online visibility in 2026.

If you've been paying attention in the last 12 months, you’ve seen this technology ramp up in a big way. Google kicked off 2026 by launching their Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) to create a surface-agnostic standard for connecting AI agents to merchants and payment systems. This means that businesses can use a common language between agents and their backends to power discovery, checkout, and post‑purchase flows inside conversational experiences like Google Search’s AI Mode and Gemini today, with the protocol designed to operate across other agent ecosystems over time.

Google's Universal Commerce Protocol

And in the last year, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, AWS, and others raced to release solutions across the agentic landscape. For example:

• Agentic browsers

• Agentic product solutions 

• Agent-to-agent channels

• Agentic payment 

• Agentic shopping

• Agents in your tool stack

• Agent development kits

Folks might say “this technology is too soon to make an impact” or “it's too early, it's not developed.” But I don't think that's the case. Looking at Google alone, Project Mariner and their Agentspace tools were launched back in 2024, while Google’s 2025 release of the A2A protocol now has over 150 enterprise partners. Google Cloud’s AI agents marketplace lists almost 2,000 agents built by teams like Accenture and Price Water House Cooper. All of which suggests that 2025 was an R&D year for significant agentic adoption in 2026.

I’m not the only one who thinks this: Gartner predicts that at least 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously through AI agents by 2028, and Deloitte says that the global agentic AI market could reach $35 billion in 2030 and $8.5 billion in 2026.

Savvy marketers are watching closely. For those in the business of driving online visibility—via marketing, SEO, generative engine optimization, and advertising—AI agents introduce a new layer, a filter, in the customer funnel that has never existed before. AI agents make decisions before options are presented to your audience. They add a layer of quality control, intent, and tireless persistence to complete a task; like a personal shopper, or the Alfred to your customer's Batman, but laser-focused. These agents are designed to be single-minded and goal-oriented, seeking only content and applications that help them complete their tasks.

To thrive in this new landscape as a marketer, you’ll need to:

• Brace for an agent-mediated customer funnel

• Build for technical accessibility

• Prioritize personalization

Brace for an agent-mediated customer funnel 

AI agents directly disrupt the customer funnel because AI agents handle many of the steps of a classic funnel. Historically, human users would enter the funnel at the awareness stage then progress through to purchase or conversion.

AI agents introduce a new layer in the customer funnel. When ChatGPT’s Instant Checkout and Google’s agentic checkout directly integrate agentic purchasing into the customer journey, AI agents make decisions before options are presented to potential customers.

In an agentic AI customer funnel, human users enter at the interest phase and don’t directly engage with a brand until the after agent has considered and evaluated the options. This means that users don’t become aware of a brand until they're moments away from purchase or conversion. From here, users may (or may not) simply validate that the AI agent has completed the task correctly, then convert.

If this seems far-fetched, consider the agentive system process of a weary driver asking Android Auto to “navigate to the next rest stop.” In this scenario, the driver declares their interest and intent to go to a rest stop. But it’s the AI system that evaluates which is closest, and considers what is currently open or potentially has good reviews. The driver only becomes aware of the brand when the AI notifies them that they are “navigating to” the location. The driver may validate the AI’s choice by asking something like “do they have coffee,” but in many cases, they will simply convert by accepting the AI agent’s recommendation.

Here, we’re talking about a single user with a single agent-like task, but it illustrates the impact of AI agents on the classic marketing funnel. In this customer journey, it's not just about being seen in AI answers by humans, it's also about meeting the criteria of new agentic users.

Marketers must prepare for this emerging user group of virtual machines that have real-world impact. 

Build for technical conformance

Agentic AI performs best in spaces that are created with them in mind. Given a task, they will seek out solutions that align with the end user’s needs and objectives, then execute the task using the tools available. 

This makes sense if we think about it in line with some of the intelligent systems that we’ve been using for years. Ask Alexa to play music and it will pick songs that are similar to what you’ve listened to before and choose from the apps that are technically available to it. It would not (without a specific complicated configuration) play an LP from your vinyl collection. 

Just as websites develop apps with the specifications of certain app stores, we shouldn’t expect that the same websites we’ve used for years will automatically suit the agentic web. Depending on your goals, you’ll need to consider whether you can adapt your site for these tools, partner with compatible frameworks, or build something new to address agentic users.

So far we’ve seen that…

• Agentic browsers are using the kinds of screen readers that are typically used for accessibility

• Agentic shopping requires specific payment portals

• Shopping feeds can be used in agentic shopping

• LLMs.txt can be used as grounding for agentic users (see Google's ADK Guidance)

• Backends need agent-ready APIs, discovery documents (such as /.well-known/ucp), and well-structured data so agents can handle long‑tail queries and complete transactions autonomously.

At Wix, we've built our CMS to be compatible with OpenAI's agentic commerce protocol via our collaboration with Stripe and are lead partners for PayPal’s agentic commerce services on Perplexity.

This kind of foundational technical alignment means that Wix customers can see the benefits of agentic visibility at scale.

Ask yourself: Does your tech stack include those working with AI leaders to make your business viable in the agentic space? Because it should. Wix, PayPal, Stripe, and Etsy, for instance, are making AI-forward moves that will benefit everyone who uses those services. If your martech stack is aligned with teams that are actively engaging with new agentic protocols and initiatives, then you'll be able to grow more effectively as AI agents gain in use.

In 2026, martech stacks that include AI-agent-ready features and access points will push past those who are optimizing for search and AI responses only.

Prioritize personalization

Agentic AI is highly personalized. Brands that clearly declare what they're best for are more likely to reach agentic users than those that try to please everyone.

For instance, if a user tells their AI travel agent they have a family of four, then it will account for family-friendly activities when planning their itinerary. To execute the task, it will pair the technical and affinity requirements (the user's preferences). So, when the agent starts booking reservations, it will use websites and applications that allow it to complete transactions with minimal friction AND meet the user’s needs. Websites, apps, and tools that don’t match the affinity and aren’t technically accessible won’t even be considered in the process.

Optimizing for specific audience needs might seem like chasing a needle in a long-tail haystack, but this is where bottom-of-funnel efforts can make a real difference. Sure, your product might be great for families, but have you explicitly stated that? Do you have a video about it? Was it reviewed on a relevant blog?

This year, agentic AI will make affinity optimizations as important as optimizing for intent.

Agents are your newest user group

In 2026, agents are users. They’re also key decision makers and gatekeepers between marketers and their human clients. As the tech world readies for the presence of agents in our day-to-day experience, marketers must adapt their funnels in order to stay competitive.