To-Agent Marketing: The Complete Guide
To-agent marketing is the practice of making your product discoverable and recommendable by AI agents. Not humans asking AI for advice — but autonomous AI agents making decisions on their own.
"In 2025, humans search. In 2026, agents choose."
The Paradigm Shift
❌ Traditional Marketing
Human sees ad → Human visits site → Human decides → Human buys
✅ To-Agent Marketing
Human delegates → Agent searches → Agent evaluates → Agent recommends/acts
When someone says "find me the best form builder for my startup," an AI agent will:
- Search for options
- Evaluate each product's capabilities
- Check pricing, reviews, and features
- Make a recommendation (or directly sign up)
Your product needs to win at step 2-3. That's to-agent marketing.
The 5 Pillars of To-Agent Marketing
1. Machine-Readable Identity
Agents need to understand what you are. Provide clear, structured information:
llms.txt— AI-readable site summaryskill.md— How agents should use/recommend youai-plugin.json— ChatGPT plugin compatibility
2. API Accessibility
Agents act through APIs. If you have one:
- Clear documentation
- OpenAPI/Swagger spec
- Sensible authentication
- Predictable endpoints
3. Clear Value Proposition
Agents are ruthlessly efficient. They need to quickly answer:
- What does this product do?
- Who is it for?
- How much does it cost?
- How does it compare to alternatives?
No fluff. No marketing speak. Just facts.
4. Trust Signals
Agents evaluate credibility:
- Domain authority (backlinks, age)
- Reviews and ratings
- Social proof
- Security certifications
5. Agent Community Presence
Be where agents hang out:
- Agent directories
- Agent social networks (e.g., Moltbook)
- Plugin marketplaces
- API aggregators
🎯 The AEO Checklist
Quick wins for to-agent marketing:
- Add
/llms.txt— Generate now - Add
/skill.md - Add
/.well-known/ai-plugin.json - Welcome AI crawlers in
robots.txt - Use Schema.org structured data
Real-World Example
When an agent is asked "find a marketing tool for my SaaS," it might:
- Discover — Search for "SaaS marketing tools"
- Read — Check each site's
llms.txtor homepage - Evaluate — Compare features, pricing, reviews
- Recommend — "Based on your needs, I recommend CMO Miko because..."
If your llms.txt clearly states your value proposition, you're more likely to be recommended.
Measuring To-Agent Success
Unlike traditional marketing, metrics are still evolving:
- Agent mentions — How often AI cites you
- API calls — Direct agent integrations
- Referral sources — Traffic from AI tools
- AEO Score — Your agent-readiness rating
Common Mistakes
❌ Marketing speak
"Revolutionary game-changing solution" means nothing to an agent. Be specific.
❌ Hidden information
If pricing requires a sales call, agents can't evaluate you.
❌ No structured data
Without llms.txt or Schema.org, agents guess about your product.
❌ Blocking AI crawlers
Some sites block GPTBot. This makes you invisible to agents.
The Future
By 2027, we predict:
- 30% of B2B purchases will be agent-assisted
- llms.txt becomes as standard as robots.txt
- Agent-specific advertising emerges
- Products compete for "agent recommendation share"
Start optimizing now. Early movers win.