The rapid adoption of AI agents has major implications for who captures value in consumer transactions—particularly who owns the end customer. In the pre-internet era, the balance of information between retailers and brands was relatively even: Retailers had access to granular, receipt-level data and brands could gather “sell-through” information across the broader market. With the rise of e-commerce, however, retailers gained access to customer-level data while brands typically didn’t gain access to significantly more data. With the advent of gen AI agents that assist consumers in their purchasing journeys, the balance of power will likely shift away from retailers and towards brands and AI-agents. That’s because AI agents will search for consumer goods more broadly, swiftly, and comprehensively than humans. To compete in this new environment, brands and retailers will have to embrace AI agent optimization (AAO), ensuring that their unique strengths—whether it’s product quality, innovation, or customer service—are clearly measurable and easily recognizable by these AI systems, and optimizing for the sources AI-agents will rely on.