Affiliate links still count as Google moves checkout into AI Mode and Gemini
Google's Universal Commerce Protocol lets US shoppers complete a purchase inside AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app without ever visiting the retailer's site. That breaks the classic affiliate chain, where a link click sets a cookie that has to survive the whole journey for the partner to be credited with the sale.
The affiliate model survives, but the click is no longer the only thing carrying credit. Cross-device tracking, server-to-server tracking, IP hashing, vanity codes and first-click attribution all exist because cookie tracking stopped being reliable once people started researching on phones and buying on desktops. Third-party tools such as ThoughtMetrics map every touchpoint in a customer journey, and programmes that reconcile manually at month end can add sales that never tracked.
For brands and the agencies running their affiliate programmes, the practical shift is to stop depending on a single link. Platforms that keep the purchase on their own surface, such as TikTok Shop or retailer apps inside ChatGPT, cut the affiliate link out entirely, and marketplaces that host third-party sellers often pay no commission on those sales. The advice is to pick programmes that pay for the traffic you send, and to keep links on your own content as one of several routes to revenue.
There is also a demand-side argument for keeping links. Consumer trust in AI is thin, and shoppers buying higher-ticket items still look for human-written reviews and demonstrations before they commit. A disclosure that clicking a link supports the publisher rather than an AI system gives those readers a reason to use it, and the FTC requires the disclosure anyway.
Reported by Search Engine Journal ↗
Topics: AI Mode, Gemini, Measurement