Lucas Tieleman is the Co-founder and CEO of Optiversal, an AI-powered eCommerce platform helping retailers improve product discoverability and conversion through richer product data and dynamically generated content. Previously Chief Product Officer at Bazaarvoice and a serial entrepreneur, Lucas brings deep expertise in eCommerce, AI search, product strategy, and digital shopping experiences. He also represented Optiversal in winning the Judges’ Choice award at Shoptalk 2024, which included an optional £100,000 investment from Commerce Ventures.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [1:33] Lucas Tieleman’s journey through eCommerce, entrepreneurship, Bazaarvoice, and building Optiversal
• [2:40] How consumer search behavior is changing in the age of LLMs
• [6:49] Lucas explains the growing disconnect between how shoppers search and how product catalogs are structured
• [13:46] The role of AI in improving product data quality and filling catalog gaps
• [15:30] Why structured product data and optimized feeds are crucial for visibility across Google and LLMs
• [19:21] What the future of automated eCommerce experiences could look like
• [24:28] How AI can help brands continuously maintain, optimize, and adapt digital shopping experiences

In this episode…

As consumers shift from short keyword searches to conversational queries, product catalogs need to evolve with them. Basic attributes and product descriptions often miss the context and language shoppers now bring to Google and LLM-powered search. So what does a product catalog need to look like to stay discoverable?

According to eCommerce and AI search expert Lucas Tieleman, brands need richer, more structured product data that reflects how consumers actually describe and search for products. That means filling catalog gaps, adding natural-language attributes, optimizing product feeds for Google and OpenAI, and creating relevant landing pages around specific shopper intent. Lucas also highlights how AI can analyze reviews, images, search trends, and catalog data to continuously improve product information at scale. The goal is not simply more content, but better signals that help search engines and LLMs connect the right products with the right queries.

In this episode of The Digital Deep Dive, Aaron Conant talks with Lucas Tieleman, Co-founder and CEO of Optiversal, about the new product catalog requirements for LLMs. Lucas explains how natural-language search is reshaping product data, why optimized feeds matter for AI visibility, and how automated landing pages can improve discoverability and conversion. He also touches on AI-driven catalog enrichment and self-maintaining eCommerce experiences.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Aaron Conant on LinkedIn   
• BWG Connect  
• Lucas Tieleman: LinkedIn | Email
• Optiversal
• Bazaarvoice

Quotable Moments:

• “We exist to bridge the gap between how consumers search for products and how retailers and brands talk about their products.”
• “People are asking more complicated, nuanced, natural-language questions.”
• “The beauty of all of this is that we use AI to automate it.”
• “The most important thing is getting your data right and structured right.”
• “Everybody sends a data feed in, but most of them aren't optimizing.”

Action Steps:

1. Optimize product feeds for AI discovery: Sending high-quality, structured product data to Google and OpenAI helps LLMs understand products more accurately and surface them for relevant searches.
2. Fill gaps in product attributes: Enriching incomplete catalogs with details from reviews, images, and existing product data gives search engines more context to match products with consumer intent.
3. Build around natural-language search: Creating content for the longer, more nuanced questions shoppers now ask improves discoverability beyond traditional keyword-based searches.
4. Create landing pages for specific use cases: Developing pages around occasions, needs, seasons, and shopper intent can make the experience more relevant and improve conversion.
5. Continuously maintain and refine content: Using AI to remove underperforming pages, update seasonal information, and refresh product data helps keep the eCommerce experience accurate and useful over time.

About BWG Connect...

BWG Connect provides executive strategy and networking sessions that help brands from any industry with their overall business planning and execution. We network and knowledge share together to better understand and adapt to the newest trends, strategies, and pain points shaping growth in the digital space. BWG Connect, in conjunction with BWG Strategy, has built an exclusive network of 125,000+ senior professionals and hosts over 2,000 virtual and in-person networking events on an annual basis.

In addition, we have had 1x1 conversations with over 5,000 brands and have a real-time pulse on what digital strategies are successful and why. This in-depth knowledge allows our team to operate on the cutting-edge and provide our clients with best-in-class guidance on how to win in the digital world. We have provided free consultations and strategy sessions for companies of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune-100, to enable growth, resolve issues and make curated service provider introductions that can impact your digital footprint.

We have held to the philosophy of providing high-level insights and actionable knowledge with no sales pitches in order to provide to our network the ability to listen, learn and act to improve themselves as well as their organizations. Our ultimate goal is to be the resource out there to help digital executives find the research they need to excel in the modern marketplace.

If you are interested in getting involved with any of our current or past events, you can find them here. If you are looking for help & would like to set up some time to chat with our team, you can schedule a time or reach out directly to Aaron@bwgconnect.com or Tiffany@bwgconnect.com.

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