A New Paid Discovery Channel Opens for Sellers

This This is the Billiondollar Sellers podcast. Your go-to source for cutting edge strategies and success stories from the world of Amazon and e-commerce. Buckle up and get ready to take your Amazon business to new heights. Don't forget to subscribe to the Billiondoll Sellers Newsletter. Welcome your host. >> Welcome your host, Kevin King. >> Hey everyone, welcome to the Billiondollar Sellers podcast. I'm your host, Kevin King, and today is Monday, January 19th, 2026. We got a lot to cover, so let's jump right in. But first, I've got a question for you. Buyers typically ignore 83% of reviews older than how many months? Think about it, and I'll give you the answer at the end of the show. Now, let's talk about something big happening tomorrow. BDSS13 virtual kicks off tomorrow afternoon and runs through to Thursday. Over two and a half days, smart sellers will be attending live to get a competitive edge on their competition. There are two ways to join us. If you want live pass, then you can grab your ticket at the official website and there's an option to include the replays in your ticket. Or you can join the billiondollar sellers club for $9 and you'll get $497 of credit on a live ticket. I've put links to both options in the show notes. Hosted and curated by yours truly. It is the premier online event in the Amazon selling space. There is nothing else like it in format, content, or networking. And here's just a small partial list of what you'll miss if you don't attend. You'll learn how to build Amazon product images with Nano Banana Pro from start to finish, going from product analysis to a complete listing image set that includes main images, lifestyle scenes, infographics, and gift concepts. You'll even get the simple three-step prompt workflow that you can copy. You'll unlock $300 in AI Studio credits, and you'll actually use them. That means getting set up fast, making sure you don't waste credits, and leaving with a repeatable creation pipeline. You'll create your Aentic team in one session, walking away with five to seven custom GPTs and gems that operate like specialists across your ecom business, plus the blueprint to build your own. There's the 2026 launch playbook that protects profit, focusing on the few levers that matter most now, including how to raise click-through rate to lift your conversion ceiling and validate clickability before you buy inventory. You'll learn how to not waste your honeymoon phase with a pre-day one checklist and a plan to maximize ranking velocity and compounding sales momentum. There's the social flood formula that creates real traction fast. And you'll discover how to build lists without relying on Amazon. Learning how to build a branded utility app that works like a lead magnet so you can gate the results behind email capture to grow your owned audience. We've got the AI 3D ad factory showing you how to produce high-end 3D video ads with hooks engineered to convert using a proven script framework that feels natural, not salesy. You'll earn smarter video scripts that print money. The five inputs that reliably improve ad angles and messaging using your bullets, search terms, business reports, reviews, and product opportunity explore. And you'll discover how to stop bleeding margin and scale what's profitable. That means exposing the five silent profit leaks, understanding why totals lie, and making cleaner decisions on SKUs, ads, inventory, and ops with confidence. And there are more than 40 additional topics that are too long to list here. Just one of these strategies could times your investment by 100 or more. Okay, let's move on and look at some interesting stats. Morgan Stanley recently put out some data on the online use of AI shopping agents, and it's expected to increase dramatically by 2030. The numbers here tell a compelling story. In 2026, we're looking at about 24 million Agentic shoppers compared to 240 million non-aggentic shoppers. But by 2030, that 24 million is projected to grow to 126 million. That's more than a five times increase in just 4 years. If you want to see all the data laid out visually, check out the written version of today's newsletter. Speaking of AI shopping, this brings us perfectly to some major news. Chad GPT ads are here for ecom sellers. Openai dropped a bombshell Friday afternoon. Within the next few weeks, Chad GPT will start showing ads. For the first time, the world's most popular AI chatbot is opening its doors to advertisers. And this changes everything for e-commerce sellers. In the US, ChatGBT is introducing ads for people on the free tier and $8 a month tier. The ads will appear at the bottom of responses, clearly labeled as sponsored. If you're paying for plus at $20 per month or pro at 200 per month, you won't see ads. Open AAI swears ads won't influence chat GPT's answers. The company says responses will still be objectively useful and not advertiser driven. Conversation data won't be sold to advertisers, though ads will be personalized based on your chats and you can opt out of that personalization. Open AI revealed two ad formats that should make every seller pay attention. In the shopping and grocery example, a user asks Chad GPT about authentic Mexican food ideas for a dinner party. Chad GBT responds with suggestions, then shows a sponsored product carousel at the bottom with a hot sauce that's available at a nearby grocery store with 25 to 35minut delivery. Does this sound familiar? It looks almost identical to Instacart ads, which makes sense since OpenAI's new CEO used to run Instacart. So, what does this mean for sellers? First, a new discovery channel is opening. Chad GBT has massive reach and users are having product discovery conversations right now. Soon, you'll be able to show your products when those conversations happen. Open AAI specifically mentioned this will help small businesses and emerging brands trying to compete by leveling the playing field. Uh, second, there are product carousels in chats. The examples OpenAI demonstrated show horizontal scrolling product cards similar to what you're used to on Amazon or Google Shopping. This is familiar territory, but in a conversational context where users are actively seeking solutions. Third, there's conversational commerce. The ability for shoppers to ask questions directly about your ad or chat with your business through chat GPT is revolutionary. This isn't a static link. It's an interactive buying experience powered by AI. Fourth, answer engine optimization just got more important. I've been talking about AAO for a while. Now there's a direct monetization path. If Chad GBT is recommending products and organic answers and showing ads, you need to be thinking about both. And two years ago, Sam Alman call ads a last resort. Now with $20 billion in revenue against trillion dollar commitments, ads aren't optional, they're necessary. The sellers who figure out how to show up in AIdriven conversations both organically and through ads will have a massive advantage. The ones who ignore this will wonder where their traffic went. Next up, let's get into the BDSN software tool of the day. This is the ultimate oneshot Amazon competitive intelligence prompt. This battle tested prompt structure comes from BDSS dream 100 member Steve Simson. It combines proven methodologies from elite Amazon seller resources including seller prompts, Bellix and advanced analyt frameworks to deliver comprehensive competitive intelligence in a single AI interaction designed for chat GPT cla or gro. It leverages chain of thought reasoning to produce actionable insights across all critical competitive dimensions. This prompt walks through identifying top competitors, analyzing listings, doing keyword research, mining reviews, and much more. You can find this full prompt in the written version of today's newsletter linked in the show notes. Now, let's talk about something that can transform your listings. Features tell, but benefits sell. George Marissa at clear ads.com says, "No one cares that your product is made from 100% Turkish cotton. They care that it keeps their baby safe, soft, and close." That's the difference between a feature and a benefit. Understanding this distinction is the key to writing Amazon listings that actually convert. Most sellers's features, which is just information about the product, but shoppers buy benefits, which is what those features do for them. Here's how to make this shift. Step one is to list your products features. Write down the technical specs, materials, and attributes of your products. For example, with a baby sling, you might have 100% Turkish cotton, adjustable metal ring, machine washable, and lightweight design. Step two is to ask, so what? For each feature, ask yourself, why does this matter to my customer? What problem does it solve and what feeling does it create? Step three is to rewrite features as benefits. Translate the what into why it matters. With a benefit focused approach, you would say soft, breathable fabric that keeps your baby cool and comfortable all day or easily adjust for perfect comfort even as your baby grows. Step four is to lead with the benefit then support with the feature that structure your bullet points to put the outcome first then back it up with the detail. For example, stay comfortable all day long. Our lightweight design means no shoulder strain even during long outings. The bottom line is this. Stop describing what your product is. Start showing what it does for people. That's how you earn more clicks, build more trust, and drive more sales. Now, if you're looking to reach page one on Amazon simply by sending free products to micro influencers, check out Stack Influence. Use their platform to automate micro influencer product seating collaborations at scale, getting thousands of collabs per month and increase your Amazon ranking, generate UGC and boost up your recurring revenue like never before. Top Amazon brands like Magic Spoon, Unilver, and Neruth Organics have been able to get to number one page positioning on Amazon and increase their monthly revenue as high as 13x in as little as 2 months. You pay influencers only with products, so you can stop negotiating fees. You increase external traffic Amazon sales to get to top page rankings. You have full rights image and video UGC to build your brand with authentic content. And it's 100% automated management. So you don't lift a finger to get influencer collabs at scale. Don't believe it? Check out the results from the Blueland micro influencer campaign which generated a 13 times ROI scaling up influencers on Amazon. After successfully raising investment on Shark Tank, Blueland turned to Stack influence to boost their Amazon sales and become a top selling listing using micro influencer marketing. You can increase your Amazon listings ranking for targeted keywords and multiply your organic recurring revenue in 2026. Get 10% off by signing up this month. There's a link in the show notes. Now, let's talk about Amazon's quiet return to Google Shopping Ads. Amazon famously pulled the plug on its massive Google shopping ad span in July 2025, disappearing from one of its biggest advertising channels worldwide. While ads resumed in most international markets after 30 days, the US remained dark, fueling speculation about marketing tests, trade policy concerns, or AI strategy shifts, but Amazon never fully left. Recent auction data reveals Amazon has been quietly advertising on Google Shopping in the US since at least October, staying just below Google's 10% impression share reporting threshold. The company that once dominated with almost 70% impression share reduced itself to a trace amount. And here's what's particularly revealing. These rare Amazon shopping ads appear almost exclusively in the health and beauty category. This timing aligns perfectly with Amazon's aggressive pharmacy expansion plans. The company expected to offer sameday prescription delivery to more than half the US by the end of 2025 and his targeted ads appear designed to support that. What does this mean for other advertisers? The good news for most US sellers is that Amazon remains largely absent from Google shopping across other product categories, leaving significant opportunity. Tinuati reported 17% year-over-year US shopping click growth in Q4, benefiting from Amazon's reduced presence. The 900lb gorilla may not be coming back for most categories, but in health and beauty, Amazon's making a calculated exception to fuel its pharmacy ambitions. Before we wrap up, here are a few more hot picks for you. First, Amazon supplement sellers face a serious March deadline. Second, Amazon new seller registrations hit a decade low in 2025. And third, an article about what sellers need to know about live shopping in 2026. You can find links to all these articles in our written newsletter at billiondollarcellers.com. And here's your parting shot for today. The people you spend time with determines who you become. Love your family. Choose your peers. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them. And remember that question I asked you at the beginning? Well, the answer is that buyers ignore 83% of reviews older than 3 months. Pretty interesting, right? That's all for today, folks. I'll see you at BDSS 13 virtual this week. This is Kevin Kane signing off from the Billion Dollar Sellers podcast.