Amazon SEO: The Complete Guide to Ranking Higher on Amazon in 2026

Amazon advertising has become a non-negotiable cost of doing business on the platform. The days when you could launch a product, optimise your listing, and watch organic sales roll in are long gone. In 2026, Amazon's marketplace is a pay-to-play environment and the brands that win aren't necessarily the ones spending the most. They're the ones spending most intelligently. If you sell on Amazon, you already know that visibility is everything. The difference between page one and page two isn't just a few extra clicks, it's the difference between a thriving product line and one that quietly bleeds money on storage fees. But Amazon SEO in 2026 looks nothing like it did even two years ago. The rollout of Rufus - Amazon's AI shopping assistant - has fundamentally changed how products get discovered. Shoppers are no longer just typing "wireless earbuds under £50" into the search bar. They're asking Rufus questions like "What are the best earbuds for running in the rain?" and getting curated answers that pull from your listing content, reviews, and Q&A section. If your product detail page isn't optimised for both the traditional A10 algorithm and this new AI layer, you're invisible to a growing share of purchase-ready shoppers. This guide breaks down exactly how Amazon SEO works today, what's changed, and what you need to do, step by step, to rank higher and convert more. **How Amazon's Search Algorithm Actually Works in 2026** Amazon's ranking system - commonly called A10 - determines which products appear when a shopper searches for something. Unlike Google, Amazon's algorithm has a single overriding objective: maximise revenue per search. That means it prioritises products most likely to convert into a sale, not just products with the best keyword stuffing. The core ranking factors break down into three categories. **Relevance factors** include keyword match in your title, bullet points, backend search terms, and A+ Content. Amazon needs to understand what your product is before it can rank it for the right queries. This is the foundation - get this wrong and nothing else matters. **Performance factors** are where most of the ranking power sits. Conversion rate, click-through rate, sales velocity, and revenue per session all signal to Amazon that your product deserves prominent placement. A product converting at 15% will almost always outrank a product converting at 8%, even if the lower-converting listing has better keyword optimisation. **Authority factors** include your seller account health, inventory availability, fulfilment method (FBA still gets preference), and the depth of your review profile. These act as multipliers - they don't directly push you up the rankings, but they prevent you from being suppressed. The critical thing most brands miss: Amazon SEO isn't just about getting found. It's about getting found AND converting. Your listing optimisation and your conversion rate optimisation are the same discipline on Amazon. You can't separate them. **The Rufus Factor: How AI Is Changing Amazon Product Discovery** Amazon Rufus launched in the UK in late 2024, and its impact on product discovery has been significant. Rufus sits inside the Amazon app and website, answering natural-language shopping questions by pulling information from product listings, customer reviews, Q&A sections, and Amazon's broader product catalogue. If you want a deeper look at how Rufus, Alexa+, and COSMO work together, we've broken down [Amazon's full AI stack here](/search-lab/decode-amazons-ai-how-what-shoppers). Here's why this matters for your SEO strategy: Rufus doesn't just match keywords. It interprets intent, understands context, and synthesises information across your entire product detail page. When a shopper asks "What's the best moisturiser for sensitive skin that doesn't feel greasy?", Rufus reads your bullet points, scans your reviews for mentions of texture and skin type, and checks your Q&A section for relevant answers. This means your listing content needs to do more than contain the right keywords. It needs to answer the questions shoppers are actually asking - in natural language, with specificity, and backed up by consistent signals across every part of your PDP. **What Rufus pulls from (and what you can control):** - **Product titles:** Rufus uses these for primary product identification. Keep them clear, descriptive, and keyword-rich without being spammy. - **Bullet points:** This is your biggest opportunity. Rufus treats bullet points as the primary source of product feature and benefit information. Structure them to answer common shopping questions directly. - **A+ Content:** Rufus can read the text in your A+ modules. Don't treat A+ as purely visual — include detailed, descriptive text that addresses use cases, comparisons, and specifications. - **Customer reviews:** You can't control what customers write, but you can influence it through product quality, insert cards, and follow-up messaging. Rufus heavily weights review content. - **Q&A section:** Actively seed and answer questions in your Q&A. This is one of the most underused levers for Rufus visibility, and it's entirely within your control. **Keyword Research for Amazon: Finding What Shoppers Actually Search** Amazon keyword research is different from Google keyword research. On Amazon, every search has commercial intent - people are there to buy, not to browse. Your keyword strategy needs to reflect that. **Start with Amazon's own data.** If you have Brand Analytics access (available to brand-registered sellers), this is your most reliable source. It shows you the actual search terms shoppers use on Amazon, along with click and conversion share data. No third-party tool is more accurate than this. **Layer in reverse ASIN research.** Tools like Helium 10, Jungle Scout, or DataDive let you see which keywords your competitors are ranking for and driving sales from. Look for keywords where competitors are converting well but where you're not yet indexed - these are your immediate opportunities. **Don't ignore long-tail queries.** With Rufus interpreting natural-language questions, longer, more specific queries are becoming increasingly valuable. "Organic baby shampoo for cradle cap" might have lower search volume than "baby shampoo," but the conversion rate is dramatically higher because the intent is so specific. These are also the queries where Rufus is most active. **Map keywords to intent, not just volume.** Group your keywords into categories: brand terms (your brand name and variations), product-type terms (what the product is), feature-based terms (specific attributes shoppers care about), and problem-solution terms (what the product helps with). Each category should be represented in different parts of your listing. **Optimising Your Product Title** Your title is the single most important ranking factor on Amazon. It's the first thing the algorithm reads, the first thing shoppers see, and the primary element Rufus uses for product identification. **The formula that works:** Brand + Key Product Descriptor + Primary Keyword + Key Feature/Benefit + Size/Quantity/Variant. For example: "GreenLeaf Organic Baby Shampoo — Gentle Cradle Cap Treatment, Fragrance-Free, 300ml" is far more effective than "GreenLeaf Baby Shampoo Organic Natural Hair Wash Kids Children Toddler Gentle Soap." The first title communicates clearly to both the algorithm and the shopper. The second is keyword-stuffed, hard to read, and actually hurts conversion rate — which in turn hurts rankings. **Key principles for titles:** - Front-load your most important keyword. Amazon gives more weight to terms that appear earlier in the title. - Include your brand name. This helps with brand search queries and builds recognition. - Be specific about what the product does. Rufus uses title specificity to match products to detailed shopper questions. - Stay within character limits. Amazon's guidelines vary by category, but generally aim for 150-200 characters. Titles that are too long get truncated on mobile, which kills click-through rate. - Avoid promotional language. Words like "best seller," "amazing," or "limited offer" violate Amazon's style guide and can get your listing suppressed. **Writing Bullet Points That Rank and Convert** Your bullet points (key product features) serve a dual purpose: they're a major ranking factor for both A10 and Rufus, and they're the primary content shoppers read before making a purchase decision. Most brands waste this space with generic feature lists that don't address what buyers actually care about. **Structure each bullet point around a question your customer is asking.** Based on what we see across hundreds of Amazon listings, the most effective pattern is: Feature → Benefit → Proof/Specificity. Instead of "Made with organic ingredients," write: "100% Organic Ingredients (COSMOS Certified) — Free from sulphates, parabens, and synthetic fragrances, so you can use it daily on sensitive or eczema-prone skin without irritation. Independently tested by dermatologists." The second version answers the questions shoppers actually have: Is it really organic? What's it free from? Can I use it on sensitive skin? Is there any proof? **Bullet point optimisation checklist:** - Include secondary keywords naturally — don't force them. - Address the top 3-5 concerns or questions from your review analysis. - Use specific numbers and certifications rather than vague claims. - Write for scannability - shoppers skim bullet points in seconds. - Cover different angles across your five bullets: ingredients/materials, use cases, compatibility/sizing, quality assurance, and what's included. - Think about what Rufus would need to answer a question about your product. If a shopper asks "Is this suitable for X?", can Rufus find the answer in your bullets? **Backend Search Terms: The Hidden Ranking Lever** Backend search terms are the keywords you enter in Seller Central that shoppers never see but Amazon's algorithm uses for indexation. This is where you capture all the relevant keywords that don't fit naturally into your visible listing content. **Best practices for backend search terms:** You have 250 bytes (not characters - this matters for non-Latin characters) to work with. Don't waste them. Don't repeat keywords already in your title or bullets - Amazon's algorithm indexes your entire listing, so duplicating terms across fields adds no value. Include common misspellings, abbreviations, and alternative terms. If shoppers search for "moisturiser" and "moisturiser," include the variant you haven't used in your visible content. Include Spanish, French, or other language terms if relevant to your marketplace. Don't use competitor brand names, ASINs, or any terms that violate Amazon's Terms of Service. Amazon does enforce this, and the penalty can be listing suppression. Use all 250 bytes. There's no benefit to leaving this field short, and every relevant term you include is another query you can potentially index for. **A+ Content and Brand Story: Beyond Keywords** A+ Content (formerly Enhanced Brand Content) lets brand-registered sellers replace the standard product description with rich media modules, comparison charts, lifestyle imagery, detailed feature breakdowns, and brand storytelling. From an SEO perspective, A+ Content contributes to indexation. Amazon does crawl and index the text in your A+ modules, and Rufus can read this content when answering shopper questions. But the real value of A+ Content is its impact on conversion rate. Amazon's own data suggests A+ Content can increase conversion rates by 3-10%. Since conversion rate is one of the strongest ranking signals, investing in high-quality A+ Content has an indirect but powerful effect on your organic rankings. **What makes A+ Content work:** - **Comparison charts** that position your product against competitors (or your own product range) on the features that matter most to your audience. - **Use-case modules** showing the product in context - how it's used, who it's for, what problems it solves. - **Detailed specification modules** that answer the technical questions power-buyers have. - **Brand Story** sections that build trust and credibility, particularly important for challenger brands competing against established names. - **Text-rich modules** that give Rufus additional content to pull from when answering shopper questions. Don't treat A+ as just a branding exercise. Every module should serve either a conversion purpose (addressing an objection, building trust, demonstrating value) or an SEO purpose (providing content for indexation and Rufus). **Review Strategy: The Ranking Factor You Can't Fake** Reviews are the most powerful trust signal on Amazon, and they directly influence both your conversion rate and your Rufus visibility. A product with 500 reviews averaging 4.3 stars will almost always outperform an identical product with 50 reviews averaging 4.8 stars, because volume signals reliability. You can't (and shouldn't) try to game reviews. Amazon's detection systems are sophisticated, and the penalties - from review removal to account suspension - aren't worth the risk. But you absolutely can and should have a strategy for generating legitimate reviews at scale. **The Amazon Vine programme** is available to brand-registered sellers and lets you provide free units to trusted reviewers in exchange for honest feedback. It's particularly valuable for new product launches where you need to build social proof quickly. **Request a Review automation** through Amazon's "Request a Review" button or through authorised tools can significantly increase your review rate. The standard conversion from purchase to review is around 1-3%. With consistent review requests, you can push this to 5-8%. **Product quality and experience** remain the most effective long-term review strategy. Products that genuinely solve a problem well, arrive in good condition, and meet or exceed expectations naturally generate better reviews. This seems obvious, but it's remarkable how many brands invest heavily in advertising while selling a mediocre product. **Monitor and respond to negative reviews.** While you can't remove legitimate negative reviews, responding professionally shows future shoppers (and Rufus) that you stand behind your product. Address the specific concern, offer a resolution, and demonstrate that you care about customer satisfaction. **Amazon SEO Mistakes That Are Costing You Rankings** After auditing thousands of Amazon listings, these are the mistakes we see most frequently and they're often the reason brands plateau at page two or three despite significant advertising spend. **Treating Amazon SEO as a one-time task.** Amazon's marketplace is dynamic. Competitor listings change, search behaviour evolves, and Amazon regularly updates its algorithm. Listings that were well-optimised in 2024 may be underperforming in 2026 if they haven't been updated. Quarterly audits should be the minimum cadence. **Ignoring the Rufus layer entirely.** Many brands haven't updated their listing strategy to account for AI-driven discovery. If your bullet points read like a keyword list rather than natural-language answers to shopping questions, you're losing Rufus visibility. **Over-indexing on search volume, under-indexing on relevance.** Ranking for a high-volume keyword that doesn't accurately describe your product will drive clicks that don't convert — which actually hurts your rankings over time. Amazon's algorithm notices when shoppers click on your listing and immediately bounce back to search results. **Neglecting mobile optimisation.** Over 70% of Amazon shopping sessions happen on mobile. If your title gets truncated, your main image doesn't communicate clearly at thumbnail size, or your A+ Content doesn't render well on small screens, you're losing the majority of your potential customers. **Separating SEO from advertising strategy.** Your organic and paid strategies should work together. Sponsored Products campaigns drive sales velocity that boosts organic rankings. Organic rankings reduce your dependence on paid traffic. The most effective Amazon strategies treat these as two sides of the same coin. We've written more about how to [run fast feedback experiments across Amazon and AI search](/blog/experiment-playbook-feedback-amazon-ai-search-2025) if you want to see how this works in practice. **Measuring Amazon SEO Performance** You can't improve what you don't measure. Here are the metrics that actually matter for Amazon SEO, and where to find them. **Organic keyword rankings** can be tracked through tools like Helium 10's Keyword Tracker or DataDive. Monitor your position for your top 20-30 keywords weekly. Look for trends rather than daily fluctuations. Amazon rankings naturally move around. **Session percentage and page views** in your Business Reports tell you how much traffic your listings are receiving. A decline in sessions despite stable rankings could indicate a click-through rate problem (usually the main image or title). **Unit session percentage** (conversion rate) is your most important metric. Track this at the ASIN level and investigate any significant drops. Common causes include price changes, negative reviews, loss of the Buy Box, or increased competition. **Brand Analytics search query performance** shows your impression share, click share, and purchase share for specific search terms. This is the closest thing Amazon offers to a Google Search Console equivalent, and it's invaluable for understanding where you're losing shoppers in the funnel. **Revenue and profitability per ASIN** should be the ultimate measure of your SEO success. Rankings and traffic are vanity metrics if they're not translating into profitable sales. **What an Amazon SEO Agency Actually Does (And When You Need One)** Many brands start Amazon SEO in-house and hit a ceiling. The fundamentals, decent titles, reasonable keywords, basic A+ Content, can be handled by a competent marketing team. But there's a level of sophistication and ongoing optimisation that typically requires specialist expertise. An experienced Amazon SEO agency brings several things that are hard to replicate in-house: deep category-specific knowledge across hundreds of brands, access to premium tools and proprietary data, a systematic approach to testing and iteration, and the ability to integrate SEO with advertising, content, and marketplace strategy into a coherent growth plan. The question isn't whether you need an agency, it's whether the complexity of your Amazon business justifies specialist support. If you're running more than 50 ASINs, competing in a crowded category, or finding that your organic rankings have plateaued despite ongoing optimisation, it's probably time to bring in specialists. At Lmo7, we take a different approach to Amazon SEO. As an agentic commerce agency, we don't just optimise listings for today's algorithm, we engineer visibility across the AI layer that's increasingly determining which products shoppers discover. That means optimising for Rufus, structuring content for Amazon's evolving AI infrastructure, and treating your product detail pages as living assets that need continuous, data-driven refinement. Our founder, Stephen Honight, spent over a decade leading eCommerce for brands like Mars, Unilever, and LEGO before building Lmo7 to help consumer brands navigate this shift. If your Amazon SEO strategy hasn't been updated for the AI era, [get in touch](/contact) — we'll audit your listings and show you exactly where the opportunities are. **Key Takeaways** Amazon SEO in 2026 is a two-layer game. You need to satisfy the A10 algorithm's traditional ranking factors - relevance, conversion rate, sales velocity - while simultaneously optimising for Rufus and Amazon's AI-driven discovery layer. Brands that only do one or the other are leaving significant revenue on the table. The most effective approach is systematic: thorough keyword research grounded in actual shopper behaviour, listing content that answers real questions with specificity and proof, a review strategy that builds social proof at scale, and ongoing measurement and iteration that keeps your listings competitive as the marketplace evolves. Start with an honest audit of your current listings. Compare them against the framework in this guide. Identify the biggest gaps - whether that's keyword coverage, Rufus readiness, conversion rate optimisation, or review velocity - and prioritise accordingly. The brands that win on Amazon aren't the ones with the biggest budgets. They're the ones with the most disciplined, data-driven approach to organic visibility. --- *Lmo7 is an agentic commerce agency helping consumer brands build visibility across AI-powered shopping experiences - from Amazon Rufus to ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews. [Explore our Amazon services](/ai-search-for-consumer-brands) or [book a free listing audit](/contact).*