FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Agentic AI, agentic commerce, GEO, agent-to-agent — and what "in agentic customer mode" means for your company.
The essentials
What is agentic AI?
Agentic AI refers to systems that can take in a goal, break it down into actions and carry them out autonomously within defined limits — not just answer. On the customer side, this gives rise to the agentic customer: a customer who delegates intentions, and soon entire missions, to their agent.
What is agentic commerce?
Agentic commerce is the set of actions an AI agent carries out on a customer's behalf: comparing, booking, buying, paying within authorized limits. For a company, taking part means making its offer and its operations actionable by these agents — not just visible.
How does agentic AI change the customer relationship?
Customers increasingly rely on agents to search, compare and act for them. Being chosen is no longer enough: the company has to become able to go all the way to the expected outcome, by making its data, rules and services accessible to the customer's agent.
What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?
GEO covers the practices that make a brand findable, understandable and citeable by AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity). It is the equivalent of SEO for generative answers. But visibility is no longer enough once the customer asks their agent to act: the company must also become actionable (an agent-to-agent relationship).
How do I prepare my company for AI agents?
Beyond automating tasks, it means rethinking the company around the outcome the customer expects: defining the promise you want to keep, checking you can deliver it, then making your capabilities accessible and reliable to agents. This is what AltMode Studio helps with.
Will AI agents replace websites and apps?
Not necessarily, but they slot in between the customer and the company: the agent often becomes the first point of contact. A brand can keep its website and apps while losing control of the path that leads to them. The point is to stay actionable by the customer's agent, all the way to the outcome.
What is the difference between an assistant (chatbot) and an AI agent?
An assistant advises and answers; an agent acts on the customer's behalf — it prepares an action, carries it out within authorized limits and tracks its consequences. It is this shift from "advising" to "acting" that forces the company to become actionable, not just visible.
What is an AI shopping agent?
An agent that searches, compares and completes a purchase on a customer's behalf, within the limits they authorize. For a company, being present means making its offer, its prices and its journey accessible to that agent — from discovery through to payment and follow-up.
What does an AI agent need from a company in order to act?
Reliable, accessible building blocks: up-to-date data, explicit rules, triggerable actions, controlled limits and a clear commitment. The company standardizes these capabilities; the agent personalizes the path.
How is agentic AI different from generative AI (ChatGPT)?
Generative AI produces content and answers; agentic AI takes in a goal and carries it out by chaining actions. The first informs, the second acts — and it is the action that commits a promise, a responsibility and a proof on the company's side.
What is the agent-to-agent web (the "agentic web")?
The internet where the customer's agent interacts directly with companies' agents, services and data to prepare, authorize and carry out actions. The relationship no longer runs only through human interfaces: it becomes agent-to-agent.
The vocabulary
What is the agentic customer?
The agentic customer is a customer who acts with the help of an AI agent: they hand it an intention, delegate part of the work and expect an outcome. Their agent searches, compares, recommends, then carries out the action within the authorized limits. AltMode Studio uses this term to describe this new mode of relationship.
What does it mean for a company to be "in agentic customer mode"?
A company is in agentic customer mode when it can take in a mission set by a customer or their agent and answer it with a clear promise. It makes its offer, its systems and its organization actionable by agents to keep that commitment through to the promised outcome. It is not a new interface, but another way of orchestrating the company around the outcome the customer expects.
What is a Promise-Led Company?
A Promise-Led Company responds to the mission entrusted by the customer by defining the promise it wants to make executable. It tests that promise against the reality of the company, then organizes its capabilities, its mandates and its proof to keep that commitment in an agent-to-agent relationship.
What is an executable brand promise?
An executable brand promise translates the brand's ambition into decisions, capabilities, mandates and proof that teams, systems and agents can mobilize. It connects three dimensions: the outcome the customer is seeking, the brand's difference and the economic value that makes the commitment sustainable.
What is an agent-to-agent relationship?
The relationship becomes agent-to-agent when the customer's agent interacts with the company's agents, services and data to prepare an action, authorize it, carry it out and verify its result. It goes beyond a technical exchange between software: it commits a promise, a power, a responsibility and a proof.
What is the difference between GEO and agent-to-agent?
GEO makes the brand visible: it helps an assistant find, understand and cite it. Agent-to-agent makes it actionable: it lets the customer's agent act with the company all the way to the outcome. Visibility is no longer enough once the customer asks their agent to act.
What does AltMode Studio do?
AltMode Studio helps leadership teams define the promise they want to make executable in an agent-to-agent world, test it against the reality of the company, and rebuild processes designed for agents.