AI recommends your brand.
But can shoppers actually buy it?
We follow the AI answer to the publisher, the link, the retailer and the cart, and show you where the sale leaks.
I'm Bharad Ramesh, media agency vet & an industry thought-leader in research & measurement. I focus on converting AI Search demand to ecomm sales. Start with a free 15-minute conversation: you tell me about your brand, I share what the research says about brands like yours, and we decide whether a closer look is worth it.
Whether a person clicks or an AI agent checks out.
Per 100 times ChatGPT names a beauty brand, only 46 send shoppers somewhere they can buy it.
168 non-branded U.S. beauty prompts × 5 captures, 19–24 Sep 2026. Per-run average. Observed, not modelled.
Backed by ERA NYC accelerator
Bharad Ramesh
I'm the founder of Aqxle and a former head of research & investment analytics at WPP Media. I've spent my career at the intersection of media, commerce and measurement, and now study what happens when the recommender is a machine and the receipt belongs to someone else. I take on a small number of advisory engagements.
I started Aqxle in May 2024 to automate manual research and analytics workflows with AI agents. My focus today, AI search and e-commerce, grew out of that work, where we saw first-hand how AI search shapes demand, and the gap between that demand and the sale. That gap is what the AI Commerce Leakage Index measures.
“In AI commerce, the money doesn’t go to whoever the AI recommends. It goes to whoever controls the route from the answer to the checkout.”
Readers are affiliated with 225+ U.S. organizations, including Amazon, Google, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, JPMorganChase, Bloomberg, Nielsen and WPP Media. Reader affiliations are shown for context and do not imply endorsement, sponsorship or affiliation with Aqxle.
Start with a conversation. Go as deep as the route warrants.
Every engagement begins with a free 15-minute chat. On the call we pick the path that fits, and all three lead to the full map of where your sale escapes.
Free 15-minute chat
Tell me about your brand and category. I'll share what the research shows for brands like yours and where I'd look first. No pitch, nothing to prepare.
Focused engagement
A first, tightly scoped engagement for one brand or category.
We follow real AI shopping answers to the cart and map where your sale escapes: mention-to-link rate, attribution leakage, and the Amazon handover. You get a board-ready readout and the one leak to fix first.
Ongoing advisory
A small number of advisory engagements.
For brands, retailers and publishers that want senior input on how AI is routing their shoppers, and what to do about it.
Monthly: a 60-minute working session with me on the decisions in front of you, a one-page note afterwards with what we agreed and what happens next, and quick questions by email in between.
Free route audit
A quick look if you're not yet sure there's a leak.
Tell me your brand and one product. I follow a real AI shopping answer in your category to the cart and send a one-page leak read: where AI sends your shoppers, who gets paid along the way, whether the product can actually be bought, and the one leak to fix first.
Omnichannel Leakage Map
The standard engagement. Your full route, from AI answer to cart, across retailers, marketplaces and affiliate networks, with every handover measured and priced. We quantify what each leak costs and what closing it is worth.
Continuous monitoring: we re-measure monthly and flag every new leak the moment it opens.
Not sure which path fits? That's what the 15 minutes are for.
Book the chatEven when they buy, you can’t see it came from AI.
The Commerce Graph maps the route from an AI recommendation, through publishers, affiliate links, retailers, marketplaces, sellers and carts. At each hop, attribution, demand, control or revenue can leak. We measure where.
Every brand is optimising to be recommended by AI. Almost none can see what happens after. We can, and we’ll show you exactly where your sale escapes.
Observed, not modelled. Every figure is a per-run average of five captures, with the range across captures.
- 01AI prompt
A shopper asks ChatGPT what to buy.
Sample168non-branded beauty prompts, 5 captures each.
cites - 02Publisher article
ChatGPT cites a publisher’s article.
Signal intact~100%of links in the AI answer carry an AI source tag (4,082 of 4,084).
lists - 03Shopping links
The article links out to retailers.
Leak75%of shopping links on the cited publisher page are rerouted through an affiliate network.
followed - 04Every redirect
Followed by script, redirect by redirect.
Leak7 in 10shopping links credit the publisher, not the AI.
lands on - 05Landing page
The retailer page where the shopper lands.
Leak~3%still show an AI origin. Sephora, Ulta and Nordstrom: 0%.
checked - 06Buyable?
Whether the product can actually be bought.
Leak39%of Amazon links with a seller result go to a reseller or a listing no one can buy from.
On Amazon, prestige leaks more than mass.
Every link ChatGPT cited, followed to the page where the shopper lands. ChatGPT tags nearly every link it sends. By the time the shopper reaches the retailer, almost none of that signal survives.
Source: Aqxle, AI Commerce Leakage Index, Beauty, Edition One (September 2026). ChatGPT, U.S., 19–24 Sep 2026. Links followed by script to the final page; no live clicks or purchases. Link shares are observed; nothing here is a revenue estimate. Each figure is measured at its own hop, on its own set of links, so this is not a funnel.
A conversation, not a pitch.
- 01You tell me about your brand and category.
- 02I share what the research shows for brands like yours, and where I'd look first.
- 03We choose the path: a focused engagement, ongoing advisory or a free route audit. Or none of them.
No pitch. Nothing to prepare. Brands, retailers and publishers welcome.
Prefer email? Write to hello@aqxle.ai.
Book your 15 minutes
Choose a slot on my calendar. It’s free and takes 15 minutes.
Choose a timeOpens my Calendly page in a new tab.
Or send a few details first and we’ll find a time.
Before you book.
What happens in the 15 minutes?
A conversation, not a pitch. You tell me about your brand and category, I share what the research shows for brands like yours, and we decide which path fits, or whether none does.
How do I choose a path?
We choose together on the call. A focused engagement suits one brand or category you want mapped properly. Ongoing advisory suits teams that want continuing senior input. The free route audit is a quick look if you're not sure there's a leak yet. All three lead to the full Omnichannel Leakage Map.
Is the free route audit still available?
Yes, as one of the three paths. Tell me your brand and one product, and I follow a real AI shopping answer in your category to the cart and send a one-page leak read: where AI sends your shoppers, who gets paid along the way, whether the product can actually be bought, and the one leak to fix first.
What do I need to prepare?
Nothing for the chat. For a route audit, your brand and one product or category is enough to start.
Who is this for?
Brands, retailers and publishers. The booking form asks your role so I can prepare.
Is the research modelled?
No: observed, not modelled. Every figure is a per-run average of five captures, with the range across captures. Link shares are observed by script, with no panels, no revenue estimates and no live clicks.
AI Commerce Leakage Index: Beauty
Edition One, September 2026. A standing measurement of what happens between the moment an AI names a product and the moment someone gets paid for it.
One email a week. The leak, measured.
Weekly analysis at the intersection of AI search and commerce, plus the monthly deep dive before anyone else sees it. Written for the people who own the number.
Where does your sale escape?
Start with 15 minutes. If a closer look is worth it, we'll know by the end of the call.