“Help Me Decide” reveals Amazon’s data-driven edge in AI-powered commerce

Decision fatigue, meet your match: Amazon’s “Help Me Decide” button

We’ve all been there: scrolling through pages of nearly identical products, tabs multiplying as you try to choose the right air fryer, headphones, or camping tent. The options seem endless, and the stakes feel higher than they should. What if you pick the wrong one? What if there’s a better deal just one click away? For many, this is the reality of modern commerce – an endless landscape built on choice, but often at the expense of clarity.

Amazon’s latest feature, “Help Me Decide,” is designed for exactly these moments. Launched to millions of consumers last week, this AI-powered feature makes it easier than ever to pick the right product for you. Powered by large language models (LLMs) and a suite of Amazon-developed AI technologies, including Amazon Bedrock, OpenSearch, and SageMaker, the tool analyzes your browsing, shopping, and search history (along with signals from previous purchases and review preferences) to suggest products that truly fit your needs.  

What sets this feature apart is its ability to explain why a specific product is recommended, based on an unmatched history of browsing data, connecting the dots between your behaviors and the product specifications that matter to you.

Personalization at unmatched scale: Amazon’s data edge in smarter shopping decisions

There’s plenty of talk about artificial intelligence in commerce, but “Help Me Decide” signals a shift. Amazon is now putting its behavioral data to work, moving beyond surfacing highly rated or most frequently purchased items, helping consumers cut through the noise with recommendations that are grounded in their own shopping habits.

Let’s say you’ve been browsing different noise-canceling headphones, comparing models with long battery life, and recently searched for travel accessories. Amazon’s AI ties these behaviors together and recommends a pair of headphones that not only excels in noise cancellation but is also lightweight and comes with a travel case - calling out how it fits your upcoming trip and your preference for convenience on the go.  

This is a level of personalization only possible because Amazon can tap into an enormous volume of individualized shopping data. Every click, search, comparison, and purchase feeds into a profile that reflects not just broad trends, but your unique preferences and past decisions.  

Unlike generative AI models that rely on scraping the internet for product information (and likely learning your preferences from only a few months of interact, Amazon’s "Help me decide” is fueled by real, individualized transaction-level insights and one of the largest product catalogs to scrape from in the world.  

Why this matters for brands

For brands, “Help Me Decide” is another sophisticated LLM evaluating your product data and matching your features and claims to real consumer behaviors. The products recommended to consumers stand out to the LLMs because the data is accurate, machine-readable, and written for both consumers and AI.  

This raises the stakes for brands to optimize their GEO quickly and with precision. If your product information isn’t complete, sourced, and crafted with the right consumer questions in mind, you risk falling behind not just with shoppers, but with the AI tools driving an increasing number of purchase decisions.

Now is the time to make your product data work harder. In a world where decision intelligence is shaping what consumers see, brands that invest in clear, strategic, machine-ready content will win.  

Looking for more actionable strategies to get ahead in AI-driven commerce? Read our latest whitepaper, “From Powerless to Proactive: How brands can own the AI search revolution” here.