By Rafaela Ruf - Head of product at GUURU and UGC expert
Community Opinions vs. AI Blind Spots: Elektro Wandelt’s 59% Visibility Lift with GUURU
Introduction
AI-driven search is changing the game of product discovery – and most e-commerce product pages are playing by the old rules.
This post is for e-commerce managers, content strategists, and SEO professionals exploring new ways to stay visible in an AI-first search landscape – especially as LLMs begin shaping what product content gets seen, cited, and trusted. When Google’s AI Overview answers a customer’s product question, will your PDP be mentioned or cited? Even found?
Together with Elektro Wandelt, a leading German e-commerce retailer for electrical products we ran a first-of-its-kind test to see whether authentic community content on page could improve AI visibility and citations in major LLM-based search engines. Using real peer advice from product experts (the Guurus), we embedded “Community Opinions” on selected product pages and tracked the results.
The outcome:
👉 +51% domain visibility increase
👉 +59% more citations of Elektro Wandelt Product Pages in AI-generated answers
Let’s dive into how this worked, why it matters, and what it means for the future of e-commerce content strategy.
The Challenge: Search Has Shifted from Keywords to Actual Questions
The rise of AI-driven search is reshaping how people discover products. Instead of typing fragmented terms like “Busch-Jaeger AP-681 specs”, users now ask full, natural-language questions such as:
“Ist die Busch-Jaeger 83210 AP-681 kompatibel mit anderen Herstellern?”
→ “Is the Busch-Jaeger 83210 AP-681 compatible with other manufacturers?”
“Kann ich den Busch-Jaeger AP-681 in einem älteren STR-System nutzen?”
→ “Can I use the Busch-Jaeger AP-681 in an older STR system?”
“Ist die Hager KDN363A auch für QuickConnect geeignet?”
→ “Is the Hager KDN363A also suitable for QuickConnect?”
These are real buyer questions from the middle or bottom of the funnel. But PDPs are rarely built to answer them – leaving a visibility gap that Google AIO, Chat GPT or Perplexity are more than happy to skip over. That’s a missed opportunity. Especially when the answers are already being given – by your own expert community.
The Hypothesis: Human Answers Improve AI Visibility
GUURU enables e-commerce brands to activate their expert customers as live product advisors. From these chat conversations, we automatically extract Community Opinions – structured answers written in a helpful, peer-to-peer tone – and embed them directly into PDPs.
In an age of mass AI-generated content, original human voices stand out. Community Opinions bring named authorship, personal tone, and product expertise – signals that both users and LLMs are beginning to value more than generic summaries.
Our belief: this human-authored, contextual content is exactly what AI engines are looking for.
It checks every box:
✓ Authored by real, named individuals
✓ Reflects product experience, not just specs
✓ Answers specific, high-intent queries
✓ Embedded in the PDP (crawlable + indexable)
✓ Automatically refreshed and scored for quality using GUURU’s curation engine
The Test Setup: Elektro Wandelt x GUURU
Brand: Elektro Wandelt – German e-commerce retailer for electrical products
Test Scope: 100 AI prompts (real user questions, high intent)
Method: Measured responses in Google AI Overviews and Perplexity.ai
Timeframe: 10 days before and after publishing Community Opinions
Tool: Visibility and Citation tracking powered by Peec AI
What We Published: Community Content on PDPs
Instead of anonymous reviews, Elektro Wandelt’s PDPs now feature named, credible expert voices.
Only compatible with the manufacturer’s own system
💬 “The Busch-Jaeger 83210 AP-681 audio indoor station only works within the matching system of the same manufacturer. Connecting it to existing wiring from other brands is not possible because it is a bus system and each manufacturer uses different systems. Only when replacing it with an identical model from the same manufacturer is no additional accessory required.”
– Michael, Master electrician with experience as a site manager and in a planning office for large-scale projects. Commercial and industrial construction as well as residential construction and smart home PV systems up to several MW — there is always a solution to the problem.
Not compatible with other systems
💬 “The product Busch-Jaeger 83210 AP-681 audio indoor station is presumably not compatible with other systems. It is not an analog system; therefore all components should come from one system. Such bus systems generally only work with each other.”
– Thomas, as a master electrician, I pursue my interests both privately and professionally.
Wiring adjustment required
💬“Replacing an STR intercom system with the Busch-Jaeger 83210 AP-681 model is possible, but requires an adjustment of the wiring, because older STR systems often use a 6+n system, whereas modern systems like Busch-Jaeger are based on 2-wire bus technology. A compatible device and professional installation of the wiring are necessary.”
– Anna, Master’s degree in electrical engineering | I share my expertise and the experience I have gained throughout my career
This content is:
- Use-case driven
- Conversational
- Embedded in context (next to price, specs, and CTA)
- SEO- and AI-readable
The Results: Real Uplift in AI Visibility & Citations
After publishing Community Opinions we saw:
📊 +51% increase in domain visibility
More elektro-wandelt.de pages appeared as sources in answers on Perplexity and Google AIO.
📊 +59% increase in PDPs appearing as sources
elektro-wandelt.de product pages were directly considered as a source in LLM generated responses.
📊 Example citation:
“The product Busch-Jaeger 83210 AP-681 audio indoor station is presumably not compatible with other systems….” Community Opinions, Thomas
As seen in the screenshot, Google AI Overview linked directly to Elektro Wandelt’s PDP, citing the Community Opinion.
Now, instead of listing generic results, Google gives the user an answer derived from the Community Opinion and links back to the PDP. These aren’t just visibility gains – they’re signals of trust from AI engines.
Why It Works: AI Favors Human Context
The winning formula wasn’t keywords. It was authenticity + specificity + structure.
Today’s AI systems don’t surface content because it’s long or keyword-dense, they surface it because it’s useful, human, and structurally understandable.
Community Opinions naturally meet the signals modern AI systems prioritize:
- They live inside the PDP, giving them direct context to the product
- They’re written by identifiable people with relevant expertise
- They reflect real experience, not synthetic sales language
- They’re kept fresh, signaling ongoing relevance
- They’re supported by structured markup, giving AI models clean signals to interpret
This combination puts Community Opinions at the intersection of E-E-A-T and AI retrieval, making them not just discoverable, but high-credibility answers that outperform generic content in machine-driven search.
What’s Next: Scaling Learnings Into an AI-First Content Strategy
More Case Studies to Come
We’re now extending this measurement approach across more product categories and AI systems, including a new live case with Jack Wolfskin, where we’re also tracking visibility in GPT-4 and AI Mode.
New results will follow soon as part of our ongoing research into AI-ready content for e-commerce.
Takeaways for E-Commerce & SEO Teams
- Mid-funnel, high-intent questions drive conversion — not just top-funnel traffic.
- Community Q&A becomes high-value once it’s structured and crawlable.
- Content must sit directly on the PDP, not buried in support pages.
- Performance now includes AI visibility and citations, not only blue links.
- Create with prompts and answers in mind, not traditional keywords.
Why This Matters
AI isn’t replacing original human content – it’s reshaping how content is found, trusted, and surfaced as a source. Elektro Wandelt’s results highlight that authentic, community-driven insights don’t just help users – they meaningfully boost visibility in AI-led discovery. Brands not embedding real answers directly on PDPs risk becoming invisible in the future of search.
Rafaela Ruf, Head of product
With 15 years of experience in product management, Rafaela loves being the connecting piece between what users want and what technology can build. Joining GUURU in 2020, Rafaela enjoys lean experimenting and the hands-on work at a startup. She is also a passionate dancer and member of Lisbon’s Forró dance community. Follow Rafaela on LinkedIn.
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