Is Alexa for Shopping free?

Yes. Amazon says any signed-in customer can use Alexa for Shopping at no cost, without a Prime membership or an Echo device. Some features, such as Auto Buy, have their own eligibility rules, so shoppers should check the details for each feature in the app.

How does Alexa for Shopping choose which products to recommend?

Amazon has not published a formula. It says the assistant draws on product information in its store, customer reviews, information from across the web and the shopper's own history and preferences. Listings that clearly answer use-case questions, with complete attributes and strong reviews, give it the most to work with.

Can I turn off Alexa for Shopping on Amazon?

Amazon has not announced a setting to remove the assistant. A third-party browser extension called Adios Alexa for Shopping, formerly Rufus Remover, hides it on desktop browsers. It is not made by Amazon, so check its permissions and reviews before installing any extension that runs on shopping pages.

Can brands advertise in Alexa for Shopping?

Yes. Sponsored Prompts place suggested questions that lead shoppers to an advertiser's products, and trade press reports Sponsored Products ads also appear in the assistant. Advertisers are typically enrolled through Sponsored Products, and a Prompts report shows which prompts triggered their ASINs, with impressions and clicks.

Alexa for Shopping: What Replaced Rufus and How to Rank

Q: Did Amazon change Rufus to Alexa?

Yes. On May 13, 2026, Amazon launched Alexa for Shopping, which combines Rufus with Alexa+. The Rufus name was retired from the shopping interface, though trade press reports Rufus technology still powers parts of the assistant. It works in the Amazon Shopping app, on Amazon.com and on Echo Show devices in the US.

What changed: Rufus and Alexa+ combined into one shopping assistant
When: Launched May 13, 2026 in the US
Who it affects: Every Amazon shopper and every brand selling on Amazon.com
What to do: Rewrite listings to answer use-case questions, then watch the Prompts report

Key takeaways

Amazon replaced the Rufus name with Alexa for Shopping on May 13, 2026, and moved the assistant into the main search bar.
It draws on your listing content, reviews, web information and each shopper's history, so clear use-case answers matter most.
Use the Sponsored Prompts report to see which questions trigger your ASINs and fix the gaps.

	Rufus	Alexa for Shopping
Questions in main search bar
AI overviews on search and detail pages
Shares context with Echo devices
Full store on Echo Show
Price alerts and Auto Buy
Beta label

Based on Amazon's May 2026 announcement and trade press coverage

Did Amazon change Rufus to Alexa?

Yes. On May 13, 2026, Amazon announced Alexa for Shopping, which it describes as bringing together Rufus and Alexa+ in one assistant. The Rufus name no longer appears in the shopping interface, and trade press reports that Rufus technology still powers parts of the experience in the background. The chat bubble icon was replaced by an Alexa icon, and shoppers no longer need to open a separate chat window to reach it.

Amazon's stated reason was continuity: the two assistants did not share context, so a conversation started on an Echo device could not carry on in the shopping app. Analysts quoted by Modern Retail also pointed out that shoppers know the Alexa name far better than Rufus.

Launch date: May 13, 2026
Market: United States
Where: Amazon Shopping app, Amazon.com and Echo Show
Cost: free when signed in, no Prime or Echo device needed

What Alexa for Shopping can do

Amazon lists a long set of features. Most were tested under Rufus and are now packaged together. The biggest change for brands is placement: questions can be typed into the main search bar, and AI overviews now appear at the top of search results and on product detail pages, so the assistant's summary may be the first thing a shopper reads about your product.

Answer questions from the main search bar or a chat window
Compare selected search results side by side
Show AI overviews on search results and detail pages
Show price history for up to a year
Set price alerts, Auto Buy and scheduled purchases
Build personalised buying guides for big purchases
Add past orders or build a cart through conversation
Buy for Me and Shop Direct for items on other sites

How does Alexa for Shopping pick products?

Amazon has not published a ranking formula, so treat any precise claim about weights with caution. What Amazon does say is that the assistant draws on product knowledge from its store, information from across the web, customer reviews and the shopper's own preferences, purchase history, browsing and past conversations. Tinuiti reports that the same question can return budget options for one account and premium options for another, because answers are personalised.

In practice that means three inputs you control and one you do not. You control the catalog data on your listing, the quality of your reviews and how your product is described off Amazon. You do not control the shopper's history. Your goal is to make your listing the clearest, best-supported answer for the use cases your buyers actually ask about. Our Amazon Rufus optimization guide covers the groundwork, and it all still applies.

Why the rename matters for sellers

Rufus was already large before the rename. Amazon says Rufus helped more than 300 million customers in 2025, and Modern Retail reports Amazon tied it to nearly $12 billion in incremental annualized sales and said users were 60% more likely to complete a purchase. Moving the assistant into the main search bar and onto Echo Show puts it in front of even more shoppers.

It also changes what the first impression of your product is. When a shopper asks a question, they may see a written summary and a short list before they ever see your main image or title. A listing that is vague about size, compatibility or who the product suits gives the assistant little to work with.

How to optimize listings for Alexa for Shopping, step by step

Start with your top ten ASINs by revenue and work through each one.

List the questions buyers ask: use reviews, returns reasons and customer messages
Make sure every question is answered in the title, bullets, description or A+ Content
State who the product suits and who it does not, in plain words
Fill every relevant attribute in the listing, including size, material and compatibility
Turn specs into use cases: say what 32 oz means for a full work day
Fix review themes that hurt you, such as fit or durability, at the product level
Ask the assistant your own buyer questions and note how it describes you
Repeat monthly, because answers and personalisation change

1Collect questions
Reviews, returns and buyer messages
2Answer them
Title, bullets, A+ and attributes
3Say who it suits
Plain best for and not for
4Test the assistant
Ask your buyers' questions
5Read Prompts report
Close gaps it reveals

What listing content does the assistant read?

Amazon says the assistant uses its product knowledge and reviews, so the safest assumption is that every visible field counts: title, bullet points, description, A+ Content, images with readable text, attributes and backend data. Our guides on Amazon A+ Content and Amazon backend keywords explain how to fill those fields without keyword stuffing. Natural, specific language matters more here than repeating search terms, because shoppers ask full questions such as which blender is quiet enough for an apartment.

Ads inside Alexa for Shopping: Sponsored Prompts

Ads now appear in the assistant too. Sponsored Prompts are suggested questions that point shoppers to an advertiser's products. Tinuiti reports the format is in beta and largely automated: advertisers are typically auto-enrolled through Sponsored Products, and a Prompts report under Sponsored Products reporting shows prompts, linked ASINs, impressions and clicks. For the newer formats Amazon announced for brands, see our news on Branded Conversations and Sponsored Prompts.

Use the Prompts report as research even if spend is small. The prompts that trigger your ASINs show how the assistant understands your product, and any gap between those prompts and your real use cases is a listing fix.

Listing ready for Alexa for Shopping

Every attribute filled
Use cases stated in bullets
Size and compatibility explicit
A+ Content answers top questions
Review complaints fixed at source
Prompts report checked monthly

What is Adios Alexa for Shopping?

Adios Alexa for Shopping, formerly called Rufus Remover, is a third-party browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that hides the assistant on Amazon pages. It is not an Amazon product. Its listing says it runs locally, but we could not verify the developer's claims. For sellers, its existence is a reminder that some shoppers will still use classic search, so keyword-based ranking and Sponsored Products remain important alongside AI visibility.

Where PPC Spider helps

PPC Spider's Amazon SEO services rewrite listings around the questions your buyers ask, fill attributes and A+ Content, and track how your ASINs show up in search and assistant prompts in SpiderOS. If you are not sure how your catalog reads to Alexa for Shopping, start with a free Amazon audit.

Sources

Amazon: Alexa for Shopping, Amazon's new AI shopping assistant (aboutamazon.com/news/retail/alexa-for-shopping-ai-assistant)
Modern Retail: Why Amazon discontinued its AI-powered Rufus chatbot for Alexa shopping agent (modernretail.co/technology/marketplace-briefing-why-amazon-discontinued-its-ai-powered-rufus-chatbot-for-alexa-shopping-agent/)
Tinuiti: Alexa for Shopping guide for brands (tinuiti.com/blog/amazon/alexa-for-shopping)
Mozilla Add-ons: Adios Alexa for Shopping (addons.mozilla.org/addon/adios-alexa/)

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