A buyer's AI agent audited a vendor's website before purchase, exposing key gaps

A small software vendor discovered that a customer had deployed an AI coding assistant to vet their website before completing a purchase, with the entire automated evaluation occurring the day before the eleven-second transaction. The agent systematically fetched legal pages, support information, and a security.txt file, but also attempted four URLs that returned 404 errors, including pages for a contact form and product bundle. Because the site lacked a dedicated contact page, the agent's report likely flagged the vendor as harder to reach — a finding the team considered misleading and entirely self-inflicted. In response, the vendor made four same-day changes to their site, including adding an llms.txt file for language models, structured schema.org product data with live pricing, a proper security.txt contact, and a clearer pricing page. The incident highlights how a website's machine-readable surface is becoming a critical trust signal as AI-assisted purchasing grows more common.