---
type: Article
name: "Being found vs being bought from: what's the difference?"
id: "https://selfe.ai/insights/glossary/being-found-vs-being-bought-from-whats-the-difference"
url: "https://selfe.ai/insights/glossary/being-found-vs-being-bought-from-whats-the-difference"
publisher: "did:web:selfe.ai"
description: "Being found means an AI agent knows a business exists and mentions it. Being bought from means the agent can complete a booking or purchase there. The first doesn't guarantee the second."
datePublished: "2026-09-15T16:25:20.643Z"
author: The Selfe team
---

# Being found vs being bought from: what's the difference?

> Being found means an AI agent knows a business exists and mentions it. Being bought from means the agent can complete a booking or purchase there. The first doesn't guarantee the second.

## In short

- Being found is an agent knowing you exist. Being bought from is an agent completing a transaction with you.
- Most "AI visibility" advice only addresses the first one.

Good for: Catching the single most common mistake in how businesses think about AI visibility.

A lot of "AI visibility" advice stops at the first one: get mentioned, get named, show up in an answer. None of that confirms an agent can go any further, check real availability, verify the terms, complete the transaction. A business can be mentioned constantly and booked from never, if the facts underneath the mention aren't reachable or verifiable. The gap between the two is most of what agent-readiness is.

## Good for

Catching the single most common mistake in how businesses think about AI visibility.

## Act on this

- [Check whether an agent can buy from you](https://selfe.ai/agentic-commerce/buyability-check) — the free readiness scan.
- [Discover venues](https://selfe.ai/api/registry/discover) — `POST`, semantic browse across the registry.
- [Match a bookable answer](https://selfe.ai/api/registry/match) — `POST` with dates and party size.
- [Verify Selfe's identity](https://selfe.ai/.well-known/did.json) — `did:web:selfe.ai`.
- [Agent card](https://selfe.ai/.well-known/agent-card.json) — how to connect over A2A or MCP.