The truth about Google AI Max CPAs, the rise of "Citation Gravity," and the Agentic Commerce War.

Welcome to Friday. As AI search becomes the default, the playbook is completely changing. Here is what you need to know heading into the weekend:

1. "Citation Gravity" is the new SEO

Forbes introduced a new framework for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) called "Citation Gravity." Because AI is replacing the click, your goal is to have such undeniable weight in your structured data and brand mentions that LLMs are essentially forced to cite you as the source of truth. (Note: Search Engine Land warns to use rigorous QA for AI content so you don't lose your actual brand voice).

2. The Hard Data on Google AI Max

For the media buyers: A massive new study covered by Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal (via SMEC) revealed the reality of Google AI Max. It drives higher overall revenue, but at a strictly higher CPA. It is a volume play that sacrifices efficiency. Watch your profit margins closely if you are scaling this.

3. Amazon vs. Walmart

The "Agentic Commerce" war is heating up. Both giants are building infrastructure to let AI bots negotiate and purchase on behalf of users. To keep sellers loyal during this shift, Amazon just heavily upgraded its backend with "Seller Central AI" to give merchants enterprise-grade predictive modeling.

4. Quick Hits

• Meta holds back: Despite the industry hype, Meta is keeping LLMs out of its core ads business for now, relying on its proven ML models for targeting.
• Google Merchant Center: Just added a new "Build to Order" attribute—a massive win for custom product sellers.

Are you seeing the same CPA spikes with Google AI Max? Is the volume worth the margin hit for your e-commerce clients right now?