How to choose an AI agent for ecommerce

Start from one product, not a feature list

Feature lists look alike. Every option says it creates content, automates replies and reports results. The differences show up when a specific product goes through the whole sequence. Choose something you actually sell, ideally with a launch or restock coming, and write down its page URL, price, three selling points and the questions shoppers usually ask.

Then hand that brief to each option. Note how much of the sequence it completes and how much editing each draft needs.

Questions to ask any option

These questions apply whichever product you are looking at, ours included.

• Content: can it produce a carousel, a short video and a story for one product, and does it make the images and video or only the captions?
• Links: how does a shopper who comments get the product page, and can each post carry a different link?
• Replies: which replies are drafted for review and which are sent on a rule?
• Ads: does an ad draft show the budget before launch, and who can approve it?
• Email: can it write to your customer list, and how does that list get in?
• Measurement: does it report link clicks, and how would you compare them with store orders?
• Store data: does it claim to read your catalog or orders, and if so, how exactly?

Red flags

Some warning signs are common to this category.

• Promised sales numbers. No marketing software controls what shoppers buy. Treat revenue promises as a reason to ask harder questions.
• No visible approval step. If you cannot find where a draft waits for a person, assume it does not.
• Vague integration claims. “Works with your store” should come with a named platform and a description of what is read or written.
• Clicks missing from reporting. Likes and views alone cannot tell you what social sent toward the store.
• Only a sample brand on show. Any option looks good on a prepared example. Ask for the same work on something you sell.

A one-week evaluation plan

If an option lets you work on your own accounts, a week is enough to judge it. Access varies by vendor. Linkme offers Link AI through a demo, which is the place to ask how an evaluation would run.

• Days 1 and 2: brief the product. Review the carousel, video and story drafts. Count the edits.
• Day 3: publish one approved post with a keyword and a comment-to-DM rule. Comment from a second account and read the DM.
• Day 4: review drafted replies to real questions. Note any you would not send.
• Day 5: read an ad draft and an email draft. Check the budget, the audience and the link in both.
• Days 6 and 7: read the click report next to your store's own visit and order records.

Compare the drafts, not the presentations

Write down the same three things for each option: how many drafts you could approve unchanged, how many needed a rewrite, and which steps you still had to do by hand. A polished walkthrough says little about the fourth week of use. The edit count says more, because it shows how much of your time the option will go on taking.

Where our pick lands

Our pick for an online store is Link AI by Linkme. Its published description answers the content, links, replies, ads, email and measurement questions above, from making the images and videos to reporting link clicks.

The store data question is the open one. Linkme's page does not state a store-platform connection, so ask. The criteria below are the ones behind our pick, and you can book a demo to try Link AI against them.

The criteria we use

Product content range

A store needs carousels, short videos and stories about specific products, not only captions. Ask each option for all three on one product. Linkme says Link AI makes the images and videos and creates carousel, story and Reel posts.

Link delivery

Interest fades when a shopper has to hunt for the product page. Check how the link reaches the person who asked. Link AI's published route is DM Automations, plus drafted replies that carry the right link.

Approval control

Nothing showing your prices or spending your budget should go live unseen. Ask what waits for a person and what runs on a rule. Linkme describes drafts marked “Needs review” and sums the model up as “You just approve”.

Paid and email coverage

Launches usually need an ad and an email as well as posts. Check whether the option drafts both. Link AI's published roles include launching an approved Meta ad and emailing your list with Campaigns.

Click measurement

A store can only credit social for visits it can count. Ask which numbers are reported. Linkme lists link clicks in Analytics with profile views, total interactions and engagement rate.

Connected entries

Questions & answers