Beyond the search bar, Alphabet’s Google is positioning itself as the leading architect of “agency commerce.” In this new world, AI will not only suggest what to buy, but will also make the purchase. For years, online retail has operated under a predictable platform where shoppers search on retailer websites, click on results, and complete checkout. Agent Commerce is rewriting these steps. Instead of manually navigating through results, consumers will rely on artificial intelligence agents that can compare products, manage user accounts, and complete purchases in a single conversation. Google is making that transition possible. Another reason the club returned to Alphabet in late December with the Google Gemini 3 AI model, which has emerged as a world-class rival to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Our most recent purchase was on Tuesday’s bear market. GOOGL 1Y Mountain Alphabet 1 Year At the National Retail Federation conference earlier this month, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP). It’s a new open standard designed to help autonomous AI agents handle the most complex parts of shopping, including discount codes, payment processing, and checkout. UCP enables merchants to participate in the AI platform shift by enabling retailers to offer personalized deals and easy checkout directly within Google Search and Gemini. Built in collaboration with Wayfair, Shopify, Walmart, Etsy, and Target, the system “[UCP]lays the foundation for AI agents and systems to communicate with each other at every step of the shopping journey,” Pichai wrote in a LinkedIn post after the NRF announcement. Google said UCP is built for both retailers and customers, “keeping the complete customer relationship front and center, from the moment of discovery to decision-making and beyond.” Google also positioned agent commerce as a key platform change forging a “new chapter in retail.” This is a necessary move as shoppers increasingly rely on AI tools rather than traditional search to guide their purchasing decisions, and as foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores declines. The UCP standard comes at a critical time when AI agents are transforming retail operations, growth, and the customer experience. OpenAI’s ChatGPT has already entered agent commerce with the launch of instant checkout. This is a feature that allows users to browse, select, and purchase products directly in ChatGPT without leaving the conversation. Similar to Google’s UCP, ChatGPT has an Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP) that allows you to work with merchants, payment processors, and fulfillment systems to complete purchases. OpenAI also announced plans last week to begin testing ads in the U.S. that would compete directly with Google’s core advertising business. OpenAI advertising has not started yet. Instead, the company said in a press release that it is starting by testing ads at the bottom of ChatGPT answers when there are relevant products or services based on a user’s conversation with the chatbot. Amazon, which is also the name of the club, has a generative AI shopping agent called Rufus that allows users to ask questions about products. Chatbots compare product features, make recommendations, and help you narrow down your purchases. However, Rufus is not a full agent because he does not complete transactions. As competition accelerates rapidly, Google has one major advantage. That’s a huge amount of user data. That ecosystem, including Gmail, YouTube, search, maps, and ads, is the fuel AI needs to get smarter. Moreover, usage is also increasing rapidly. As of Alphabet’s second quarter of fiscal 2025, AI-powered search serves more than 200 million users each month. The Gemini app had over 650 million monthly users as of November, and Gemini Enterprise had over 2 million business users within months of launch. Until recently, Alphabet appeared to be playing catch-up in the generative AI race, from the underwhelming initial launch of Gemini to Alphabet’s answer to ChatGPT to a Justice Department lawsuit alleging that Google has a monopoly on digital advertising and search. But with legal issues negated and the rapid expansion of Gemini (particularly the latest version, Gemini 3), “Alphabet’s Google has once again taken the lead among frontier model developers,” Argus Research wrote in an early January note. That’s why fellow club name Apple has chosen Gemini as its partner to run improved AI-powered Siri in the future. Jim Cramer agrees that Gemini 3 is better than other chatbots. He said at the club’s monthly monthly meeting for club members on Thursday that Alphabet was the “outright winner” among the most lucrative mega-cap tech stocks. With Gemini powering UCP behind the scenes and giving it control over the entire shopping experience, Wall Street sees Google’s technology as clearly separating it from the crowded AI commerce space. By introducing UCP technology to power agent commerce, Roth MKM believes that “Google has no innovation dilemma.” Google is “completely disrupting retail search from within,” analysts said in a research note last week, noting that UCP ushered in a new era of “chat-then-buy” rather than the traditional “search-click-buy” model. They also argued that UCP “positions Google as a commerce infrastructure rather than a direct retailer.” The company believes the importance of UCP lies in enabling “personalized offers, loyalty integration, and checkout directly within AI conversations,” and says Google is preparing to roll out buy buttons in AI Search and Gemini. Ross rates Alphabet stock a buy, with a price target of $310. KeyBanc reiterated its bullish view, arguing that given Google’s long history of helping retailers respond to technological change, UCP “builds on the historic strength of retailers and AI momentum.” The analysts went on to write last week: “We expect Google’s AI momentum to continue as agent-assisted shopping comes to Search and the Gemini app.” The company has given the stock a “buy” rating and a price target of $330. Conclusion While our investment case for Alphabet is not focused on the company’s retail AI tools, UCP adds to the story of Google solidifying its position as a leader in the AI race. Alphabet has dispelled the perception that it is playing catch-up with generative AI. In fact, we argue that tech giants are shifting on the offensive and setting the rules of a critical AI commerce game. Investors will get an update on what else Alphabet has in store in the AI space when it reports its fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 after the bell on February 4th. We also look forward to seeing what the company has in store for 2026. Alphabet has a rating of 1, the equivalent of a “buy,” and a price target of $350 per share. (Jim Cramer’s charitable trust is long GOOGL, AMZN. See here for a complete list of stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you will receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. 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