---
id: "action-structure-content-machines"
type: "action-item"
source_timestamps: ["\\\"§ 1. Structure your content for machines", "not just humans.\\\""]
tags: ["geo", "pim", "data-engineering"]
related: ["concept-generative-engine-optimization"]
action: "Convert human-friendly product descriptions into strict, machine-readable attributes accessible via APIs."
outcome: "AI agents can accurately parse, match, and recommend your products without hallucinating features."
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2026/02/how-brands-can-adapt-when-ai-agents-do-the-shopping"
source_title: "How Brands Can Adapt When AI Agents Do the Shopping"
sources: ["geo"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-geo"
originDay: 3
articleStem: "hbr-ext-14-brands-adapt-ai-shopping"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/02/how-brands-can-adapt-when-ai-agents-do-the-shopping"
sourceTitle: "How Brands Can Adapt When AI Agents Do the Shopping"
---
# Translate Marketing Copy into Machine-Readable Attributes

**Action:** Convert human-friendly product descriptions into strict, machine-readable attributes accessible via APIs.
**Outcome:** AI agents can accurately parse, match, and recommend your products without hallucinating features.

**How.** Audit existing product descriptions and translate human-centric marketing terms — *"cozy," "sustainable"* — into strict machine-readable attributes, e.g. `Material: fleece; temperature range: < 40°F`. Ensure this data, **along with return policies and shipping info**, is **modular, labeled, and accessible via APIs or web markup** in your [[prereq-pim-systems|PIM systems]].

This is the execution of [[concept-generative-engine-optimization-d14]] — Action 1 of the [[framework-five-actions-trust-layer]] and the direct mitigation for Risk 1 in the [[framework-five-core-risks-agentic-shopping]]. Understanding *why* evocative copy fails requires [[prereq-llm-parsing]]; the strategic implication is [[contrarian-seo-vs-geo]].


## Related across articles
- [[action-implement-schema-markup]]
- [[action-structure-machine-readable-data]]
- [[action-build-machine-readable-trust]]