This Issue's TLDR...

• How to check if your listings are (in)visible to Rufus Alexa
• Amazon is messing around with SERP (again)
• Foreign importers no longer have an advantage

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If you haven't been paying attention to what's been happening with search and discoverability on Amazon...

You're about to get blind-sided.

Here's what I mean...

I took some time off from writing this newsletter during the month of May (don't act like you noticed).

I wasn't on holiday; I was just focusing my energies elsewhere.

During that time, I spotted a SIGNIFICANT change to the customer search UX on Amazon:

Instead of serving search results (like we're all used to), for selected queries, Amazon is routing shoppers directly to a Rufus Alexa chat.

At first, I thought it was a weblab (i.e., beta test).

But, this has persisted for over a month. Which suggests to me that it's a permanent feature.

A permanent feature that will expand.

What does this mean for you?

Your listings need to have strong presence in Alexa For Shopping.

Your listings need to be AEO optimized.

This starts with benchmarking where you're currently at.

I've seen a few people create Claude skills to perform AEO audits.

I've also seen a few existing softwares roll out AEO audit functionality.

The tool I've been using for this is SmartScout's Amazon AI Scorecard.

If you want to test this out yourself, and start to benchmark where you are from an AEO perspective, I have a killer discount link below (i.e., this discount it not offered anywhere else).

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BEST from LinkedIn

Speaking of search and discoverability changes on Amazon...

A few friends, including my eagle-eyed buddy Ryan Cramer, have observed that Amazon is rotating secondary images into search results.

This is recent, very clearly a weblab. Customer engagement data will ultimately determine whether this sticks.

If it does, my recommendation to you:

👉 Run a PickFu poll to rank order your secondary images in terms of customer impact. Then, move the most impactful/persuasive image to second position. Move your weakest images to outside the visible stack (i.e., image positions 7+).

BEST from X

I'll answer this question briefly:

Today, this account is probably only worth $2-$5k.

3 years ago or, heck, even 3 months ago, this would have been worth more.

But, Amazon's DD+7 rollout created payment frequency parity across all accounts.

FYI, payment frequency and payment timing were/are valuation drivers for aged seller accounts.

Another valuation driver for aged seller accounts...brand approvals (i.e., which brands is the account ungated for).

Based on a recent announcement from Amazon, this could be going away too...

Betteringyou @ecommerit The current seller account owner of Pharmapacks is effectively closing shop, they only have like 12 active ASINs. I always wonder what these types of super aged accounts are worth. i am assuming the account is unrestricted/ungated on a ton of listings, but maybe became 8:44 PM • May 21, 2026 0 Retweets 13 Likes Read 3 replies

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BEST from X [BONUS]

An important Executive Order to put accountability (and costs!) on foreign Importers of Record.

This is a good development to level the playing field between US-based and non-US based sellers.

Shinghi @ShinghiD On June 3, 2026, the White House issued an Executive Order on Strengthening Customs Enforcement. It changes how foreign sellers operate in the U.S. market. Here is what it does, in plain terms, and why it matters to anyone selling online in America. First, the basic term. An https://twitter.com/typesfast/status/2062288620724084980 Ryan Petersen @typesfast The Trump administration just took massive positive steps to crack down on the tariff fraud I’ve been ranting about for the last year. Credit where it’s due this is great policy. 11:15 PM • Jun 3, 2026 5 Retweets 38 Likes Read 8 replies

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