Why AI assistants now matter for Ozon sellers
Traffic coming to Ozon from AI assistants grew 4x in six months, and that changes the requirements for a product card. A card used to be written for two readers: the Ozon algorithm and a live shopper. Now there is a third reader: an AI assistant that picks a product on the shopper's behalf.
Below: where the numbers come from, what they mean for descriptions, and how we adapt queries for AI assistants.
What we know about the traffic growth
According to Ozon's own data, reported by Forbes, traffic from AI assistants to the platform grew 4x in April and May compared with October and November. Across e-commerce overall, growth from January to April was 1.7x. People ask ChatGPT, DeepSeek, Perplexity or a local AI assistant for advice, get a recommendation, click through to the marketplace and buy.
What this means for a product card
An AI assistant reads a product card as text. If the card is written badly ("the set includes 1 pc., size as per photo"), the assistant will not understand it and will not recommend it. A card with a clear structure, complete specifications and a proper description will capture traffic that used to go to whoever was good at GEO optimization, meaning optimization for AI assistants.
What this gives sellers:
- AI traffic partly levels the field between small and large sellers. Your pay-per-click budget matters less than how well a machine can read your card.
- Descriptions, category structure and specifications stop being a box-ticking exercise. This is the new SEO.
- Reviews matter more: AI assistants read them and use them as an argument for a recommendation.
- Whoever adapts first takes share from those who keep writing cards "the old way".
How we work on cards for AI assistants
Search queries are always the foundation: we start from what people actually search for. For AI assistants we additionally adapt the key queries, making them a little less formal and a little more conversational, because people ask AI assistants in plain language ("which treadmill fits a small apartment") rather than in a set of keywords as they do in Ozon search.
In the sensitive parts of the card, keywords are still needed: the title, the specifications and the description. These affect both your Ozon ranking and whether an AI assistant understands what product it is looking at. Ozon switched off its dedicated "Keywords" field back in August, and it was always secondary anyway.
As a result of this rework (a full store review, SEO for the updated Ozon algorithm and for AI traffic), we brought the ad cost share (ACOS) below 1% for one partner store in auto parts.
What to check in your own cards
- The title and description are clear without the photos: the text shows what the product is, who it is for, what it is made of and what size it is.
- Specifications are filled in fully, not just formally.
- The description is written in normal language, without template phrases.
- The description answers the questions shoppers usually ask.
- Reviews are not empty and have been answered.
I am confident that in a year or two, product cards will be optimized for AI assistants as systematically as they are now optimized for the Ozon algorithm. While competitors keep writing "quality product at a great price", you have a chance to get into AI recommendations first.
If you want us to review your product cards, get in touch.
