This article only applies to products with eligibility in the United States and for participating merchants and partners. You may see this checkout experience soon on specific surfaces such as AI Mode in Search and Gemini.
About the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)
The Universal Commerce Protocol is a new open standard for agentic commerce that enables agents and systems to work together across the ecosystem. It works across the entire shopping journey from discovery and buying to post-purchase support. UCP establishes a common language for agents and systems to operate together across consumer surfaces, businesses, and payment providers. The protocol is compatible with major industry protocols such as Agent2Agent (A2A), Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), and Model Context Protocol (MCP).
About the checkout feature powered by UCP
By integrating with UCP, you can implement a checkout button on eligible product listings in AI Mode in Google Search and on Gemini.
- You will remain the seller of record and may be able to customize the integration to preserve your specific checkout requirements and needs.
- Customers can checkout quickly with Google Pay, using payment methods and shipping information already saved in Google Wallet. Customers will remain in the secure Google Pay flow, which eliminates additional steps in the checkout process and may help boost confidence and reduce cart abandonment.
Frequently asked questions
How can I implement the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)?
The protocol will be available in phases. To participate in the early access program, make sure you meet the following requirements. Then, submit this interest form. Only product listings using the native_commerce product attribute will display the “Buy” button for this checkout experience. See detailed product data implementation
How does UCP relate to the agentic checkout feature?
Google’s agentic checkout feature buys things on the customer’s behalf directly on a merchant’s website at the customer’s direction. UCP is the open protocol which standardizes the programmatic exchange of information (via API, MCP or A2A) between the AI Agent and the Merchant’s backend to enable a broad set of commerce journeys including product discovery and checkout on Google AI Mode and Gemini.
What is the difference between the existing checkout button and this new checkout experience?
With the existing checkout button, the transaction occurs on your site. With the new checkout experience enabled, the checkout happens directly on Google’s surfaces while keeping you the merchant of record.
What kind of payment credentials are supported by UCP?
Currently, the feature uses standard Funding Primary Account Numbers (FPANs) that users have stored on their Google Wallet. More forms of payments may become available in the future.
Do I need to enable the Google Pay API buy button to participate?
You do not need to enable the Google Pay API button on your existing checkout surfaces to participate. By integrating with the Universal Commerce Protocol, you’ll be able to accept payments via UCP as long as your payment service providers (PSPs) are able to accept a payment token from Google Pay (many PSPs support Google Pay API). If your PSP is not integrated with the Google Pay API, the PSP can follow the steps here to onboard.
What changes do I need to make to my Merchant Center account?
Merchant Center will continue to be the central hub to prepare your product data to show ads and listings on Google surfaces. The best preparation is to ensure all your data in the Merchant Center - from product feeds to brand assets - is as robust and up-to-date as possible. Review the guidelines for full UCP implementation guide