Personal AI agents, such as Meta’s Muse, Instinct, and ChatGPT’s Dots, are initiating a new wave of consumer AI that goes beyond simple queries. These agents can execute tasks on behalf of users, like booking flights, making dinner reservations, and ordering groceries, without requiring users to possess the technical skills to configure software like OpenClaw on their own computers.
However, consumers adopting these agents frequently encounter obstacles when the target website blocks the AI from completing the transaction.
Recently, Amazon began restricting access to Meta’s Muse AI agent on its retail platform, preventing the agent from browsing or purchasing products from the catalog.
This issue extends beyond Amazon or Muse. Social media reports suggest other agents are facing similar restrictions. Some blocks are intentional, such as Amazon's, while others result from standard anti-bot measures designed to combat spam and malicious activity.
For many users, it remains unclear whether a block is accidental or intentional, leading to frustration with both the service provider and the agent facilitating the transaction.
For instance, complaints have surfaced on social media claiming that Muse could not complete a purchase on Walmart’s website, a problem also reported by NBC during Walmart's testing phases.
A Walmart spokesperson clarified that this was not an intentional block. The company is partnered with Muse, as announced at Meta's Connect developer conference in September, aiming to meet customers where they are by offering AI agent experiences.
The technical issue Walmart customers encounter often involves a button requiring a human click to verify the visitor. If this verification is interrupted by the agent, the check fails, causing the agent to be logged out. This suggests current human verification technology may be ill-suited for the agent-first era of the web.
To address this, industry partners including Meta, Walmart, Stripe, Sierra, Genesys, Rocket, NiCE, and Decagon are developing an open standard to define how AI agents communicate with businesses. This protocol aims to distinguish between legitimate agents acting on behalf of users and malicious bots, specifically for online commerce, as stated in a Meta blog post.
Current consumer confusion remains high. While Walmart is attempting to be accessible via AI agents, other companies have been less receptive.
Flight booking is a primary use case for agents, yet many users report airlines rejecting their requests. Delta stated it is taking steps to protect customers from unauthorized automated activity, emphasizing that any integration with AI agents would require balancing security with customer experience.
"While Delta does not currently have a partnership or integration that enables a third-party AI agent to shop for or book Delta flights on a customer’s behalf on our digital platforms, we’re continuing to evaluate how new technology, including external AI agents, could enhance the way customers engage with Delta," said Delta’s General Manager of Global Communications, Heena Chavda.
United referenced its Terms of Use policy, which prohibits the use of robots or automatic devices to monitor or copy website content without prior written permission. The spokesperson did not confirm whether specific personal AI agents like Muse are being blocked.
Early adopters have reported blocking by various brands, including Yelp, eBay, Zillow, Pizza Hut, and different airlines, with some noticing a recent increase in blocks.
Some users reported that eBay suspended their accounts due to agentic AI use, while others claimed Google removed Instinct while it was cleaning Gmail inboxes.
Yelp indicated it does not permit non-human traffic without a paid data licensing program. eBay clarified its policy restricts unauthorized agents and automated scraping, rather than prohibiting all third-party shopping agents.
Adidas, Zillow, and Pizza Hut either did not respond or declined to comment by publication time.
Cloudflare, a major player in website security, offers protection against agents training on data. Some suspect Cloudflare and similar Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are disrupting Muse traffic due to a change in crawler defaults on September 15. This shift allows site owners to block AI training while permitting other bots, and existing sites blocking AI bots for security were shifted to block AI agents on ad pages.
Cloudflare stated it does not have specific data on the blocking of personal AI agents but pointed to its Cloudflare Radar data hub, which shows increased bot activity without differentiating between good and bad bots.
Cloudflare has a vested interest in mitigating AI traffic, operating a marketplace where AI bots pay for data and testing a new browser specifically for agents.
Meta’s decision to form specific brand partnerships for Muse access and focus on new standards appears to be the correct approach. This strategy ensures Muse is welcome at partner sites, making any access issues reportable bugs. Meta maintains a list of partners within the Muse app.
"Turning away a personal agent means turning away the customer behind it. We’d rather work with businesses to address the underlying concerns than see them lose that customer," Meta said regarding the plan to develop a standard. "There is a path that is good for users and good for businesses. It starts with clear norms, gives businesses more predictable control, and evolves toward a more efficient way for agents to work together."
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