Can AI agents reach checkout on my store?
Sometimes. It depends on whether an agent can reach your site, read your products and get to checkout. ARC checks this for free: paste your store's address at arcreport.ai/agent-checkout to see if agents get a checkout link, whether a browser agent can add to cart, and whether bots are blocked.
The short answer
An agent has to reach the site, read a product, and get as far as checkout. ARC checks those separately. A checkout link is not an order. A missing score is not a zero.
What ARC doesn't test: ChatGPT, Gemini and Muse. ARC tests the store, the same way for every agent. Each assistant's own rules decide where it shops.
The three things an agent has to do
Reach. A store can turn away ARC's automated HTTP check before a product page loads. This is a response to ARC's checker, not a finding against the store. A robots rule is a separate measurement.
Read. The agent needs a product it can identify, with a price and stock it can read. ARC's product-data check uses the page's structured data. Presence is not proof the text is accurate.
Reach checkout. One lane is HTTP: the store's agent catalog returns a checkout link. The other lane is a browser: five ARC browser shoppers try to add one product to the cart and stop before payment. They are ARC's own shoppers, not a named assistant's app.
How to check your store in one minute
Paste the store address at /agent-checkout. No login. The result says whether a catalog tool answered, whether a checkout link came back, and whether the check was blocked. The store page at /store keeps that result.
What your result means
ARC open dataset snapshot 2026-10-12.r3 (2026-10-12). Index browser tests stop at add-to-cart. ARC does not place an order.
Measured scored stores: 77MeasuredA published score whose dataset row is evidence=measured. Rates below use only these stores.Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
Inferred scores: 6InferredKept out of the rates. An inferred score is not treated as a failure or a success.Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
No published score: 6Not measuredRetest pending or not finished. A missing score is not a zero, and it is not a mark against the store.Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
5 of 5 shoppers added to cart: 32 of 77MeasuredSnapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
0 of 5 shoppers added to cart: 18 of 77MeasuredSnapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
0 of 5, but a checkout link still came back: 13 of 18MeasuredMeasured scores only. Inferred scores and stores with no published score are outside this count. The protocol check said yes. The browser test did not get the product into the cart.Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
Median score: 83MeasuredSnapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
Highest score in this snapshot: 86 of 100MeasuredIndex tests stop at add-to-cart, so a clean cart pass does not score 100. The formula is on the methodology page.Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
Published stop reason where at least one shopper missed add-to-cart (45 of 77 Measured stores):
Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
| Stop reason | Stores |
|---|---|
| Couldn't add it to the cart | 32 |
| Blocked at the size picker | 8 |
| Stopped by a human-check | 3 |
| Turned away ARC's automated check | 2 |
Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
| Shoppers that added to cart | Measured stores |
|---|---|
| 0 of 5 | 18 |
| 1 of 5 | 6 |
| 2 of 5 | 1 |
| 3 of 5 | 2 |
| 4 of 5 | 18 |
| 5 of 5 | 32 |
UCP transacts, from ARC open dataset snapshot 2026-10-12.r3 (2026-10-12):
UCP Transacts: 1,311 of 3,318 (39.5%)MeasuredA checkout link came back. Not a completed order.Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
What to fix first
Start with the stop ARC actually recorded. The Measured stops, most common first, are Couldn't add it to the cart (32), then Blocked at the size picker (8), then Stopped by a human-check (3), then Turned away ARC's automated check (2). Retest after the change. The steps are on how to make a store agent-ready.
Frequently asked questions
- Can AI agents reach checkout on my store?
- Sometimes. It depends on whether an agent can reach your site, read your products and get to checkout. ARC checks this for free: paste your store's address at arcreport.ai/agent-checkout to see if agents get a checkout link, whether a browser agent can add to cart, and whether bots are blocked.
- Can an AI agent reach checkout for a shopper?
- Sometimes, at stores that return a checkout link, and usually only after the shopper approves. Named assistants are not measured. The dated counts are at /answers/can-ai-agents-buy-things-for-you.
- Is the ARC check free?
- Yes. No login and no payment. Paste a store address and ARC runs an HTTP check.
- Does ARC place an order?
- No. ARC's tests stop before payment and never place an order.
- What if my store has no score?
- A missing score is not a zero. It means ARC has not finished a test yet, and the page says retest pending.
- Does a good result mean every AI assistant can reach checkout at my store?
- No. ARC shows what it measured. Each assistant has its own rules, so treat the result as evidence, not a promise.
On ARC
- Free agent checkout check →
- Example store page →
- What is agent checkout readiness? →
- Methodology →
- Add a store →
- Can AI agents reach checkout for you? →
Cite this: ARC, arcreport.ai, snapshot 2026-10-12.r3 (2026-10-12), CC-BY-4.0. Protocol figures: Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026. Index browser figures: Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026. Platform figures: Snapshot 2026-10-12.r3, 12 October 2026.
Every figure is labelled Measured, Inferred or Not measured. Not measured is not zero. A missing result is not a mark against a store. ARC stops before payment.