By skyforbes 
This post originally appeared on LinkedIn.
AI agents aren’t just changing how we search. They’re beginning to change how we shop. As platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity evolve from information tools into transaction engines, a fundamental question is emerging: who really owns the customer relationship?
For decades, retailers and brands have invested heavily in loyalty programs to strengthen that bond. Think Amazon Prime or Sephora’s Beauty Insider. But as agentic platforms start facilitating purchases directly, the balance of power may shift. If ChatGPT or Perplexity launch their own loyalty programs, they could become the primary relationship owner. Rewiring customer behavior and threatening one of retailers’ most valuable assets.
What follows is a look at why this moment matters, how “loyalty wars” between merchants and AI agents could unfold, and what’s at stake in the next phase of Agentic Commerce.
Agentic Commerce: Early Days
Agentic Commerce is still in its infancy, with most activity limited to product search and research. While announcements from Perplexity, ChatGPT, Shopify, and others signal big ambitions, actual transaction volumes through these platforms remain limited for now. Startups are actively exploring opportunities, but the market is just beginning to unfold.
Shifting Customer Ownership
As transactions move onto AI platforms, a new battleground emerges: Who owns the customer? Traditionally, retailers and brands have viewed the end customer as their asset. This is reflected in their focus on rewards-based membership programs. These programs are engineered to drive repeat business and increase wallet share — and merchants are fiercely protective of them.
The Looming Loyalty Program Wars — “Chat GPT Prime”
As ChatGPT, Perplexity, or similar agentic platforms begin facilitating transactions, it seems almost inevitable that they will introduce their own loyalty programs to drive repeat engagement and aggregate more data. Historically, nearly every scaled retail platform rolls out such initiatives:
• Amazon — Prime
• Walmart — Walmart+
• Mariott — Bonvoy
• Sephora — Beauty Insider
• Starbucks — Starbucks Rewards
Given that fact pattern, it is easy to imagine ChatGPT launching “ChatGPT Prime” or Perplexity offering “Perplexity Insiders.” This would position the AI agent as the primary relationship owner, giving it leverage to reward customers directly — possibly even introducing proprietary credit cards, a move Amazon and other platforms have executed with huge success.
In some cases, the economics might work for dual rewards programs. However, in many cases, it won’t work. For example — if you book a Marriott hotel using Hotels.com, you only get the Hotels.com points, and forgo the Bonvoy benefits.
Brand Pushback and Strategic Data Control
Retailers will almost certainly push back, demanding their loyalty programs be visible in AI search results — especially for their members. They’ll argue for more customer data sharing and will likely resist any system that undermines their loyalty program footprint or dilutes their brand identity. This will lead to complex negotiations over data, program visibility, and who gets to reward the customer.
The Strategic Stakes
The fight for customer loyalty is about much more than points — it’s about long-term ownership, data, and influence over purchase decisions. The more transactions flow through agentic platforms, the more powerful these AI intermediaries become, creating tension with brands and merchants determined to keep customers within their own ecosystems.
This impending clash will define the next phase of Agentic Commerce: a world where the AI agent is not just a search tool, but a full-fledged competitor for customer loyalty and wallet share, reshaping how retailers and platforms engage with end consumers.