Jeff Oxford is my go-to interview for ecommerce SEO. The founder of Oregon-based 180 Marketing, an agency, Jeff first appeared on the podcast in 2022 when he addressed SEO’s “four buckets.” I invited him back late last year to explain AI’s impact on search traffic and how merchants can adapt.
In this our latest interview, he shared optimization tactics for ChatGPT, with a caveat: Google’s AI Mode could eventually dominate.
The entire audio of our conversation is embedded below. The transcript is edited for length and clarity.
Eric Bandholz: Welcome back. Please introduce yourself.
Jeff Oxford: I’m the founder of 180 Marketing, an agency focusing exclusively on ecommerce SEO. A big part of that lately has been helping brands navigate AI-driven search.
We work with seven- and eight-figure ecommerce companies, helping them grow organic traffic and conversions through the fundamentals — search, content, link building — and now layering in what I call “AI SEO.” Basically, optimizing so you show up in places like ChatGPT and other large language models.
I’ve worked in ecommerce SEO for about 15 years. I ran my own ecommerce sites before then, but I learned I’m better at marketing than operations. So I shifted into ecommerce SEO. Over the past year, I’ve focused heavily on ChatGPT and AI-driven SEO because it’s changing how people discover products.
There’s confusion around what to call this new discipline. Entrepreneurs often say “AI SEO.” The SEO community prefers “GEO,” which stands for Generative Engine Optimization. I’ve also heard “AEO” for Answer Engine Optimization and “LLMO” for Large Language Model Optimization. I prefer the simplicity of AI SEO. My team focuses on where traditional SEO and AI-powered optimization overlap so brands can benefit from both.
Premium ecommerce brands face an uphill battle with Google. Higher prices often lead to higher bounce rates, and Google responds by pushing those sites off page one, regardless of quality. ChatGPT, however, focuses on semantic relevance and draws from multiple sources. Some merchants are now seeing more conversions from ChatGPT than from traditional Google search.
Bandholz: Is ChatGPT the Google of AI SEO?
Oxford: Yes. We work with many ecommerce sites, giving us a broad data set. When we review analytics for AI-driven referrals, about 90% come from ChatGPT. Perplexity is usually second, followed by Claude and Gemini.
But tracking performance is much harder than with Google. Traditional SEO is simple to measure — Shopify or Google Analytics clearly shows organic search traffic and revenue. ChatGPT works differently. Users ask a question, get recommendations, and may or may not click through directly.
Often, they copy the product or brand name and search it on Google. That behavior means ChatGPT rarely appears in analytics as a referral source. Instead, its influence shows up as branded search traffic, which makes attribution tricky.
Bandholz: Are companies moving toward direct sales inside ChatGPT?
Oxford: Shopify and OpenAI announced a collaboration for direct checkout through ChatGPT, but I haven’t seen it widely implemented. Shopify merchants will eventually allow customers to purchase directly inside ChatGPT. Stripe merchants will have similar options through new tools that let developers enable in-chat transactions.
However, I’m unaware of any tracking tools — no equivalent of Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools. Unless ChatGPT introduces advertising, there’s little incentive to build detailed analytics. If ads become part of the platform, I could see them adding conversion pixels and performance tracking, but that’s speculative.
Looking ahead, I suspect Google’s AI Mode may ultimately dominate. ChatGPT accounts for roughly 90% of AI-driven search referrals, but Google is positioning AI Mode as the future. It began as a beta feature, moved into the main interface, and now appears as an “AI” tab alongside images and videos and in the Chrome search bar. If user engagement remains strong, Google could eventually make AI Mode the default over traditional search results.
Despite ChatGPT’s growth, Google search traffic hasn’t declined. Studies show that Google search volume has increased slightly. ChatGPT holds only 1–2% of the search market share — less than DuckDuckGo. Google still commands the vast majority of actual information-seeking queries.
Bandholz: How do I get Beardbrand ranking in ChatGPT?
Oxford: All AI search tools run on LLMs. Just as traditional SEO focuses on Google, we focus on ChatGPT because it holds the largest share of AI-driven discovery. Improvements made for ChatGPT usually help across the other platforms.
The process starts with prompt research, similar to keyword research. Target prompts tied to high-volume transactional keywords — such as “best beard oil” or “where to buy beard oil.” Informational prompts like “what is beard oil” are too top-of-funnel to convert. Once you identify the core prompts, optimize your site around them.
Begin with your About page. The first sentence should clearly state that Beardbrand is a leading provider of beard oil. Maintain your brand voice afterward, but clarity in the opening line helps LLMs understand your core identity.
Next, optimize category and product pages with conversational FAQs, detailed specification tables, clear unique selling points, and defined use cases or target audiences. These elements help LLMs parse and match your products to user prompts.
For blog posts, include expert quotes, statistics, citations, and simple language. Update old pieces. Recency heavily influences whether ChatGPT cites a page. However, maintain a hyper-focused site — remove outdated or off-topic content to improve your likelihood of being referenced in AI search results.
Bandholz: What else should we know?
Oxford: The biggest takeaway is that AI SEO relies heavily on brand mentions, similar to how traditional SEO relies on link building. In AI search, these mentions — often called citations — strongly correlate with whether ChatGPT recommends your products. Your first step is finding “best beard oil” articles across the web, especially those ChatGPT frequently cites. Then work to get your products included.
Send samples, offer substantial affiliate commissions, and accept break-even on those sales if it increases your presence in authoritative lists. These citations can meaningfully influence ChatGPT’s product recommendations.
Digital public relations also helps. Create data or stories journalists want to reference — for example, statistics about beard trends, grooming habits, or consumer preferences. Unique data tends to get picked up, generating high-value brand mentions.
Another helpful tool is Qwoted. It’s similar to Haro but with a paid model that filters out spam, so journalists actively use it. Reporters from Forbes, Inc., HuffPost, and even The Wall Street Journal post requests for expert quotes. Ecommerce founders can easily respond to topics such as tariffs, AI adoption, and hiring. These quotes often generate both brand mentions and backlinks, helping both AI SEO and traditional SEO. Paid plans start around $100 per month, and a single top-tier mention usually justifies the cost.
Bandholz: Where can people hire you, follow you, find you?
Oxford: Our website is 180marketing.com. I’m on LinkedIn.
