The AI Pivot: How Ecommerce Brands Can Dominate in the Age of LLMs

In the current digital landscape, the traditional playbook for ecommerce growth is being rewritten by the rapid ascent of generative AI. As search engines evolve into answer engines and Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini become primary shopping assistants, many merchants are finding their old SEO strategies hitting a wall.

To navigate this "AI tumult," businesses must pivot from keyword-stuffing to structural clarity. Recently, I sat down with Kenny Trusnik, founder of the Cleveland-based marketing agency Forest City Digital, to discuss how ecommerce startups can maintain visibility—and profitability—in a world where the consumer’s first touchpoint is increasingly a chatbot rather than a SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

The Strategic Shift: Data as the New Currency

For Trusnik, the solution to the modern ecommerce dilemma is not more AI-generated content, but better data infrastructure. "Focus on getting the product data as deep and clean as possible in a structured environment," he advises.

Trusnik’s agency, founded in 2020, grew out of his experience working with major corporate entities like Toyota and Sherwin-Williams, combined with his work helping content creators monetize their audiences. His core philosophy is simple: align marketing efforts with tangible business outcomes. Today, that alignment requires an obsessive focus on how machines—not just humans—perceive a brand’s catalog.

Chronology: From Corporate Roots to AI Agency

Early Career: Trusnik gained foundational experience in corporate marketing at Toyota and Sherwin-Williams, where he learned the value of data-driven goal setting.
Transition to Ecom: He moved into the startup world, focusing on helping content creators turn viewership into revenue through ecommerce.
2020: Forest City Digital is launched to bring a corporate level of discipline and goal-oriented strategy to the growing ecommerce market.
2024: The agency leans heavily into "AI visibility," helping clients integrate with new tools like Shopify’s Agentic Storefronts to capture traffic from LLM queries.

The Mechanics of AI Visibility: Agentic Storefronts

One of the most significant shifts in the ecommerce ecosystem this year has been the rollout of Shopify’s "Agentic Storefronts." According to Trusnik, this technology is the modern equivalent of syncing products to a Google Merchant Center or a Meta Commerce account, but with a much higher stake in the game.

"Agentic Storefronts makes a merchant’s data accessible and crawlable by prominent LLMs," Trusnik explains. By surfacing granular details—categories, colors, materials, and specific features—the platform allows AI to "understand" a product’s utility. When a shopper asks an AI, "What are the best hemp-based beverages for a non-alcoholic social event?" the LLM can pull directly from the merchant’s structured data to make a recommendation.

The Technical Checklist for Merchants

To remain competitive, Trusnik suggests a few "must-dos" for any ecommerce founder:

Check your robots.txt: Ensure your site is not inadvertently blocking crawlers from top generative AI platforms.
Schema.org Markup: Implement structured data to help algorithms understand the site’s purpose, product specs, and brand identity.
Metadata Optimization: Treat backend metadata as a priority. If the AI doesn’t know what your product is made of, it cannot recommend it.

Implications for 2026: A Blueprint for Startups

When asked how he would launch a new ecommerce brand in 2026, Trusnik proposed a strategy that minimizes "fluff" and maximizes high-intent visibility.

1. The "Listicle" Strategy

Beyond internal data, LLMs rely heavily on third-party validation. Trusnik believes that securing links in high-authority "best-of" articles and listicles is a crucial signal for AI. If a reputable industry publication identifies a product as a top contender, the LLM is significantly more likely to prioritize that product in its responses.

2. The "Blue Ocean" of Novelty

Trusnik cautions against trying to be "too novel." Drawing on the success of brands like Grüns (which transformed the standard gummy vitamin into a "superfood" product), he notes that the most successful companies are those that take an existing category and apply a unique, problem-solving pivot.

"We work with hemp beverage companies," Trusnik notes. "The product is still hemp, but the novelty is its positioning as a functional replacement for alcohol in social settings." This "iterative novelty" is safer and more effective than creating an entirely new category that requires massive consumer education.

3. The Content Paradox

While many businesses are rushing to use AI to generate blog posts, Trusnik warns that generic content will soon be worthless. "Content only helps if it contains original information unavailable elsewhere," he says. Since AI is, by definition, a tool for synthesis and repurposing, original human-led research, video, and social insights remain the only true moat for a brand.

Supporting Data: Balancing Channels

Forest City Digital focuses on a tripartite approach: Search, Social, and Retention.

Search (Organic & AI): By optimizing for AI visibility, Trusnik’s clients are seeing significant traction, with some reporting that up to 10% of their online revenue is now attributed to LLM-driven discovery.
Social: The agency manages influencer programs and paid media, focusing on building top-of-funnel awareness. Trusnik notes that if a brand has the capital, Meta ads remain the gold standard for immediate awareness and scale.
Retention: Platforms like Klaviyo and Brevo are used not just for newsletters, but to "plug holes" in the sales funnel—re-engaging customers who might have fallen out of the buying process.

Expert Insights: The Human Element in a Bot-Driven World

The overarching theme of Trusnik’s strategy is that AI is not a replacement for good business, but a magnifying glass for it. If your product data is sloppy, your AI visibility will be non-existent. If your value proposition is unclear, no amount of technical optimization will fix your conversion rates.

"How do we tie marketing to what our clients are trying to accomplish?" remains the core question at Forest City Digital. Whether it is through fractional ecommerce consulting or deep-dive metadata work, the goal remains the same: ensuring that when a consumer—or a bot—goes looking for a solution, your product is the one that meets their needs.

For founders feeling the pressure of the "AI tumult," Trusnik’s message is one of calm, structural precision. Stop trying to outsmart the AI with volume; start outperforming it with structure. By keeping the product catalog clean, the technical foundations open, and the brand identity focused on a tangible "blue ocean" pain point, ecommerce brands can find growth even in a rapidly shifting digital environment.

For more information on Forest City Digital’s services or to follow their work, you can visit their website at ForestCityDigital.com or connect with Kenny Trusnik on LinkedIn.