Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP): A Unified Standard for AI-Driven Checkout

In early January 2026, Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). It’s intended to be an open standard that enables AI assistants and other AI interfaces to discover products, create purchase flows, and complete the purchase on behalf of the user. The idea is to make things easier for everyone, so that each platform doesn’t need to build a unique integration with every e-commerce merchant.

For Swedish e-commerce businesses, this isn’t just another Google announcement. UCP points toward a shift where LLMs (e.g., Google AI Mode and Gemini) become a more direct sales channel, where the user doesn’t need to visit your site to shop.

Whether this is positive or negative for merchants is, however, something to think about!

What you can find in this article:

What is UCP in practice?

UCP is designed as a shared language between four types of players:

• Platforms/AI agents: e.g., Gemini, other assistants
• Merchants/business systems: your store, order/checkout logic
• Payment providers (PSPs) and
• Authentication providers: e.g., wallets/BankID

The major advantage is that everyone can use the same standard. As an e-commerce merchant, you don’t need to build/buy four different systems to be visible in four different places. And LLMs and other AI solutions don’t need to build a huge number of connections for hundreds of different CMS platforms and payment systems.

That said, major competitors like ChatGPT or Perplexity have not promised that they will implement UCP (yet). But the risk is probably high that it becomes effectively mandatory in order to keep up with the market.

Google’s UCP implementation: what Google is actually launching

It’s important to distinguish between:

• UCP as an open standard: specs are available on ucp.dev and GitHub
• Google’s implementation: i.e., how you as a merchant connect in order to appear and sell in Google’s AI surfaces

In Google’s implementation, the key is that you use Google Merchant Center as the foundation for product data and permissions, and then you build a UCP integration that must be approved by Google before it can go live on Google AI Mode and Gemini.

Google also emphasizes an important principle: you remain the Merchant of Record (the merchant is responsible for the purchase), and Google says you keep the customer relationship and customer data. In other words, all data related to the purchase belongs to your e-commerce business, and Google acts only as an intermediary for the purchase.

As I interpret it, you would therefore see all statistics in GA4 as usual, except possibly that a new attribution source may be added (e.g., “Purchase via Google/UCP”).

Why UCP matters for conversion and visibility

UCP is built to reduce friction between “I want it” and “I bought it.” Google describes it as direct purchasing within AI surfaces, which in theory can reduce drop-off that otherwise happens between product discovery and checkout.

The implications for you as an e-commerce merchant:

• Fewer abandoned carts: Google argues that when the process is just 1-2 clicks, it’s easier to complete the purchase and fewer people will abandon their cart.
• Standardized checkout experiences: when shopping from a UCP store, the flow is the same and feels familiar.
• Harder to build your brand: if the purchase doesn’t happen on your site, it may become harder to build brand equity. To the user, it can look almost like the purchase is made with Google rather than with you. New brands may also struggle to build a customer base, since users are often hesitant to buy online from unfamiliar brands.

What does this mean for Swedish e-commerce merchants right now?

Google says that for now, the first test market is the USA. That means only American merchants can currently join the waitlist for the new system. But the EU and Sweden likely won’t be far behind. If this is something that interests you, you can start preparing and do some UCP “prepping” already!

Checklist: how you can prepare right now

• You must be able to offer purchases via Google Pay (PayPal will come later).
• Clean up your Merchant Center account: make sure feeds, shipping, return policy, and contact info are correct and up to date.
• Segment your assortment: identify which product categories you’re allowed to sell via UCP and which you are not, according to Google’s shopping policy.
• Plan for supplemental feeds for UCP attributes, so you can add and remove information without risking your main shopping feed.
• Think about GDPR: if purchases are initiated in AI surfaces, you need to be crystal clear about personal data flows, support, complaints/returns, and logging (especially if you sell in multiple markets). (This is a practical recommendation; exact requirements depend on your setup.)

For a slightly longer walkthrough in Merchant Center, we’ve summarized Google’s own guidance below:

Getting started: what’s required (according to Google)

1) Approved Merchant Center account

To participate in Google’s UCP implementation, you need an active Merchant Center account and products that are approved for free listings.

2) Returns and support info must be configured

Google requires you to set a return policy including cost, time window, and a link to the full policy, as well as information about your customer support in Merchant Center, since this is used in the order experience.

3) You can mark which products may be sold via UCP

In the product feed, you signal whether a product is purchasable via Google’s UCP checkout using the attribute:

native_commerce = true

If it’s missing or set to “false,” products won’t be approved. Google also recommends that these UCP-related attributes be added via a Supplemental Feed in order not to disrupt the primary product input.

4) Compliance/warnings and product ID matching

For regulated products and products that come with warnings, you should use the attribute group consumer_notice. The product’s id must also match the ID expected by your Checkout API—otherwise mapping can be done via merchant_item_id.

5) Not all products are allowed

Google lists categories that are not allowed in their UCP flow, including subscriptions/recurring payments, personalized goods, pre-orders, certain special deliveries, age-restricted products (e.g., alcohol/tobacco), and other items that violate their shopping policy.

6) Waitlist and approval

Google states that you need to join the waitlist and be approved before you can go live in their AI surfaces. Remember that for now, only American e-commerce merchants can join the waitlist.