As more consumers turn to artificial intelligence (AI) assistants instead of search engines to discover products, Filipino micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) risk becoming invisible unless their online stores are built to be recognized by these new shopping tools.
Payments platform HitPay is aiming to address that gap by automatically making every HitPay Online Store in the Philippines discoverable by AI shopping assistants such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, allowing small businesses to appear in AI-generated shopping recommendations without requiring additional technical setup or fees.
The capability is available at no extra cost to all active HitPay Online Store merchants in the country and does not require developers or software integration beyond standard transaction fees.
The announcement comes as online shopping habits continue to evolve.
IMAGE CREDIT: Spiralytics
According to Spiralytics, most small businesses in the Philippines built their customer base through social media. Six in ten Filipinos now use social platforms as their primary source of brand research, surpassing search engines. While social media remains an important discovery channel, AI assistants are rapidly emerging as another way consumers search for products and services.
According to Bain & Company, 39% of consumers across Asia-Pacific already use AI while shopping online, while another 40% intend to do so. Meanwhile, McKinsey estimates that AI-driven commerce could account for between US$3 trillion and US$5 trillion in global retail spending by 2030.
While many Filipino businesses have established an online presence, AI adoption among MSMEs remains relatively limited.
Government data cited by HitPay shows that only 14.9% of Philippine businesses currently use AI tools, despite 90% owning computers and 81% having internet access. At the same time, 77% of MSMEs say they want to adopt digital technologies, yet only 16% have successfully done so.
For many small businesses, the challenge is no longer simply getting online — but ensuring their products can be found as shopping behavior evolves.
“Filipino entrepreneurs are among the most resourceful sellers anywhere. They have built real businesses on GCash, on QR, inside their phones, often without a website at all,” said Aditya Haripurkar, Co-Founder and CEO of HitPay.
“What held them back from AI was never ambition, and it was never connectivity — it was the technical setup the tools quietly assume. We have removed that.”
Helping MSMEs stay visible in AI-powered shopping
According to HitPay, every online store on its platform now automatically publishes machine-readable product information — including product names, prices, inventory levels, and availability — that AI shopping assistants can interpret when responding to customer queries.
The information is updated throughout the day to improve the accuracy of recommendations.
The company said its current focus is on helping merchants become discoverable through AI rather than enabling transactions directly within AI assistants, as AI-powered checkout experiences continue to evolve across the industry.
Haripurkar said the goal is to ensure smaller merchants have the same opportunity as larger brands when consumers begin asking AI assistants where to shop.
“As more customers ask an assistant what to buy, a small seller in Manila or Cebu should have the same chance of showing up as any large brand from the moment they open,” he said.
The AI discovery capability is integrated into HitPay Online Store, the company’s no-code ecommerce platform that enables merchants to build online storefronts and accept digital payments through GCash, Maya, QR Ph, and more than 50 payment methods across Southeast Asia.
