Instinct Selections backlash: ask before your agent sells
Instinct Selections pushed unsolicited product recommendations into its AI agent and users called it spam. Here is the opt-in rule for your own sales agent.
Instinct launched Instinct Selections, and some users called the product recommendations spam within a day. The feature pushes curated dining, travel and shopping picks into the AI agent that people use to book trips and cancel subscriptions. The idea is reasonable. The rollout pushed suggestions nobody asked for. If you plan to put an AI agent between you and your customers, this is the cheapest lesson you will get this year.
What actually happened
Per TechCrunch, Instinct Selections adds recommendations curated with partners such as local chefs, designers, architects and travel guides. Founder Noah Shinn said the goal is recommendations "differentiated in quality" from what users find on the open web.
Instinct recently raised a $1 billion Series C at a $10 billion valuation. TechCrunch reports the platform handles about $1 billion in annual transactions, and more than half of that is travel.
The complaints were about delivery, not taste. Users received picks such as carry-on luggage, sunglasses and a hat that they did not request. One founder described it as a first "ewwww" moment with an AI assistant. Another user said the fix is simple: ask whether people want recommendations.
Instinct has not said whether it earns money from these recommendations through ads or affiliate deals.
Why unsolicited AI agent recommendations matter for your business
Two lessons, one for each side of the agent.
If you deploy an agent, make recommendations opt-in. An agent that customers trust with their calendar or their order history holds a lot of goodwill. An unrequested sales pitch spends that goodwill fast. Our rule for the agents we build: the agent recommends only when the customer asks, or when the customer turned recommendations on. Log every suggestion, so you can see what the agent pushed and whether anyone bought.
If you sell through agents, the shelf is curated. Instinct fills its picks with help from human experts, not only from search ranking. SEO alone does not put a local restaurant or boutique on that list. Relationships with the curators do, and so do clean, specific listings they can point to.
Disclose the money, too. If your agent earns a commission on a pick, say so in the message. Customers find out eventually, and they will ask why you hid it.
Key takeaways
- Instinct Selections adds curated dining, travel and shopping recommendations to the Instinct AI agent
- Users pushed back on unsolicited picks and asked for an opt-in
- Instinct has not disclosed whether it earns ad or affiliate revenue on the recommendations
- If your agent recommends products, make it opt-in, log every suggestion and disclose commissions
- Agent recommendation shelves are curated by people, so SEO alone will not get you listed
A sales agent that customers did not ask for is a spam filter waiting to happen. We build customer-facing agents with opt-in recommendation rules, suggestion logs and clear disclosure, on your stack. See how we build agents, or estimate what a scoped agent returns.
Sources: TechCrunch.
- #instinct
- #ai-agents
- #product-recommendations
- #customer-trust
- #conversational-commerce
Tommy Rush — Founder, Rush Commerce
Operator turned builder. 15+ years running operations — now shipping the systems businesses run on. More
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