Why Amazon Scores Lower Than a Small Pet Food Brand in AI Citations

Amazon is the largest retailer on the planet. Over 300 million active customers. Nearly 40% of all U.S. e-commerce sales. A brand so dominant that "just Amazon it" has practically replaced "just Google it" for product searches.

So when we ran our validation study analyzing which retailers AI assistants actually recommend, we expected Amazon to dominate.

It didn't.

In fact, Amazon scored a 38 out of 100 on our AI citation readiness analysis. That's an F. And when we submitted real shopping queries to AI assistants — the same kind of questions your customers are asking every day — Amazon was cited in zero out of five queries for its own product categories.

Meanwhile, Open Farm — a small direct-to-consumer pet food brand most people have never heard of — scored a 75 and was cited in 80% of its queries.

A small pet food company is beating the world's largest retailer at AI visibility. And once you understand why, it changes how you think about your own product pages.

What We Tested

Our validation study analyzed 30 real retail product pages across the full spectrum of e-commerce: mass market, electronics, fashion, outdoor, home, beauty, and DTC brands both large and small.

For each site, we submitted five natural shopping queries to leading AI search engines — the same kind of questions real consumers ask:

- "What's the best organic dog food?"

- "Where should I buy premium pet food online?"

- "Is Open Farm dog food worth the price?"

Then we tracked exactly which sites AI cited in its responses and compared those results against each site's Cited score.

The correlation was clear: higher-scoring sites got cited more. But the Amazon vs. Open Farm gap was the most dramatic example of a pattern we saw throughout the data.

Amazon's Problem: Built for Humans, Not AI

Amazon product pages are designed to convert human shoppers. And they're incredibly effective at that. But AI assistants don't shop the way humans do.

When a consumer browses Amazon, they see product images, read reviews, compare prices, and use filters. The page is a visual, interactive experience designed to drive a purchase decision.

But when an AI assistant evaluates whether to recommend a product, it's reading the underlying structure of the page. And that's where Amazon falls short.

A modern e-commerce website with personalized product recommendations.

The Marketplace Problem

Amazon isn't really a retailer in the traditional sense — it's a marketplace. Product listings are created by thousands of different sellers with wildly inconsistent data quality. Some listings have detailed descriptions. Others have almost nothing. The information AI needs to make a confident recommendation is scattered, inconsistent, and often incomplete.

Missing Structured Data

Structured data — the machine-readable markup that tells AI exactly what a product is, what it costs, what its specifications are — is critical for AI visibility. Our analysis found significant gaps in Amazon's structured data implementation across its product pages. When AI can't parse your product information cleanly, it looks elsewhere.

Trust Signal Fragmentation

Amazon has trust at the brand level — everyone knows Amazon. But at the individual product listing level, the trust signals are fragmented. Returns are handled differently by different sellers. Reviews are a mix of verified and unverified. Pricing includes third-party sellers with varying reputations. For an AI assistant trying to make a confident, specific product recommendation, this ambiguity is a problem.

Open Farm's Advantage: Built for Clarity

Open Farm takes a completely different approach. As a DTC brand selling directly through its own site, Open Farm controls every aspect of the product experience. And that control translates directly into AI visibility.

Rich, Structured Product Data

Open Farm's product pages include detailed nutritional information, ingredient sourcing, feeding guidelines, and product specifications — all in structured, organized formats. This is exactly the kind of data AI can parse, understand, and confidently cite.

Clear Trust Signals

Return policy? Easy to find. Customer reviews? Prominently displayed. Pricing? Transparent. Sourcing information? Detailed down to where each ingredient comes from. Every piece of information that makes an AI assistant comfortable recommending a product is present and clearly organized.

Content That Answers Questions

Open Farm's pages aren't just product listings. They include content that addresses the exact questions consumers ask AI: What's in this food? Where do the ingredients come from? Is it worth the premium price? When AI encounters a page that directly answers the questions it's being asked, that page becomes a natural source to cite.

The Scores Tell the Story

Here's how the two sites compared across our five scoring categories:

Amazon (Score: 38/F)

- Product pages have inconsistent data quality across millions of seller-created listings

- Structured markup implementation has significant gaps

- Trust signals are fragmented across the marketplace model

- Content is transactional, not informational

Open Farm (Score: 75/C)

- Rich, detailed product data with clear organization

- Strong structured data implementation

- Clear, consistent trust signals throughout the site

- Content that directly addresses consumer questions

The gap isn't about brand recognition. It isn't about traffic. It isn't about ad spend. It's about how well the product page serves an AI assistant trying to make a recommendation.

This Pattern Repeats Across the Data

Amazon vs. Open Farm was the most dramatic example, but the pattern held across our entire 30-site study:

- Nike (63/D) was cited in 100% of its own product queries

- Carhartt (65/D) was cited in 100% of its own product queries

- REI (72/C) was cited in 80% of its own product queries

- Costco (63/D) was cited in 0% despite a decent score — marketplace model, same problem as Amazon

- Zara (52/F) was cited in 0% — thin product data, minimal trust signals

The sites that scored well and got cited consistently shared common traits: structured data, clear product information, strong trust signals, and content that answers real consumer questions.

The sites that didn't — regardless of brand size — shared a different set of traits: incomplete data, thin descriptions, and ambiguous trust signals.

What This Means for Your Brand

If you're a small or mid-size e-commerce brand, this data should be encouraging. You don't need Amazon's traffic, Amazon's budget, or Amazon's brand recognition to get recommended by AI. You need product pages that give AI what it's looking for.

Here's the actionable takeaway:

1. Own Your Product Data

If you sell through your own site, you have complete control over your product information. Use it. Implement proper schema markup. Write detailed, structured product descriptions. Include specifications, ingredients, dimensions, materials — whatever is relevant to your product category.

2. Make Trust Obvious

Don't bury your return policy in the footer. Don't hide your reviews behind a click. Don't make customers hunt for your contact information. Every trust signal should be visible, clear, and easy for both humans and AI to find.

3. Answer the Questions Customers Ask AI

Think about what your customers are asking ChatGPT and Perplexity about your product category. Then make sure your product pages answer those questions directly. FAQ sections, detailed buying guides, comparison content, and thorough product descriptions all give AI the material it needs to cite you.

4. Don't Rely on Marketplace Presence Alone

If you sell on Amazon, that's fine — it's a revenue channel. But don't assume your Amazon listings are making you visible to AI. Build and optimize your own product pages on your own domain. That's where AI citation readiness matters most.

Check Your Score

Curious where your product pages stand compared to Amazon and Open Farm? The Cited Chrome extension scores any product page 0-100 on AI citation readiness in seconds. Free, instant, and no account required.

[Install Cited — Free on Chrome Web Store](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/cited-ai-optimization-sco/lkoocmdelhakbkefbeenbiogebdghhgl)**