What's inside?

• 🧠 Let’s Start With a Question

• 🔍 Everyone Looks at the Output

• 🧪 The First Test: Inside Amazon Only

• 🔄 Then We Changed the Input

• 🧠 What We’re Actually Testing Now

• 📰 The News Capsule

🧠 Let’s Start With a Question

Hello Amazon Rockstars 🎸

Everyone is talking about Rufus.

What he shows.
What he recommends.
Which products appear in his answers.

But almost no one is asking the more interesting question:

What happens if we focus on Rufus’ input — not his output?

🔍 Everyone Looks at the Output

Most discussions around Rufus stop here:

🛍️ What products does he recommend?
🤔 Why this brand and not another?
🎯 How accurate are his answers?

Fair questions.

But during our tests, we wanted to flip the perspective entirely.

As shown when we started testing Rufus’ behavior, the real curiosity wasn’t what he says…

👂 it was what he listens to.

🧪 The First Test: Inside Amazon Only

We began simply.

We asked Rufus to recommend ashwagandha gummies, without any extra context.
Rufus did what everyone expects:

🛒 Pulled products from Amazon
📄 Looked at listings, reviews, and ratings
📊 Returned standard recommendations

So far, nothing surprising.

🔄 Then We Changed the Input

Next, we asked Rufus to check outside Amazon recommendations and build from there.

This is where things got interesting.

Rufus:

🔍 Referenced external sources like magazines and review sites
🧠 Used those signals to support product suggestions
🔗 Still linked back to Amazon listings.

At that point, we asked him directly where the information came from.

📚 Rufus Acknowledges External Sources

When questioned, Rufus clearly listed outside Amazon sources:

📰 Editorial reviews
🧑‍🏫 Expert articles
🏛️ Trusted publications
🔎 In-depth product analyses

And he explained when he uses them:

❓ When explicitly asked
🧠 When context or expert opinion is requested
✅ When external validation adds value

This wasn’t vague.
It was explicit.

🌐 Feeding Rufus External Content

Then came the real test.

We shared an article from a well-known publication featuring a specific product.

Rufus:

🔎 Recognized the product
🔗 Matched it to Amazon listings
📑 Compared it with other products mentioned in similar articles
🧭 Used the external content to guide recommendations

Important note:
This wasn’t possible just a month earlier.

🔁 Where Rufus Circles Back

Even when “acting like a hacker,” Rufus eventually:

🔄 Circles back to listing data
📦 Uses product details, reviews, and specs
⚙️ Grounds recommendations in Amazon fundamentals (slide 16)

So no — this isn’t a shortcut around listings.

But it is something new.

🧠 What We’re Actually Testing Now

This leads to the real question behind all of this.

What if Rufus can be:

🧩 Fed structured information from outside Amazon
🔁 Exposed to repeated usage scenarios
•📚 Shown expert opinions, reviews, and articles about a product or brand

And then…

🤔 Recommended that product to Amazon buyers asking for advice?

That’s exactly what we’re testing next.

No conclusions yet.
But the direction is clear.

🎯 The Takeaway (For Now)

Most people are focused on Rufus’ answers.

We think the opportunity is earlier than that.

If Rufus learns from outside Amazon…
then brand presence off Amazon might influence discovery on Amazon.

We’ll keep testing.
📣 And we’ll keep you posted.

—
The Ranking Pill Team

Let’s Talk Ranking 🔗

📰 The News Capsule

This video from Adam Heist (whom if you don’t follow, you’re totally missing out), is a pure gem.

Check it out and would love to hear your thoughts!

Was this Ranking Pill recommended by a friend? Say Thank You for me.
Get your own … Subscribe HERE.

💗 Have you watched this one?

It’s all about life inside a sleek Manhattan ad agency — people chasing power, love, and a sense of who they are, in a world built on image and desire. Everyone’s polished on the outside, messy on the inside, and pretending they have it all figured out.

Some episodes make you laugh.
Some make you uncomfortable.
Most make you think.

If you haven’t watched it yet (or it’s been a while), it’s been a surprisingly good one to come back to.

That’s it for today…until next time, Keep Thriving!

Alina