What is Product answer eligibility?

Product answer eligibility is the set of gates that determine whether a SKU is allowed to appear in — or be transacted through — an AI answer, independent of how well it matches the query. Discovery eligibility gates whether a product can be cited or surfaced in a carousel; transaction eligibility gates whether an agent can actually buy it. Transaction is gated more tightly than discovery: regulated categories (alcohol, age-gated goods, supplements with health claims, financial products) are commonly blocked from one-tap agent purchase even when they surface in answers; high return or dispute rates can make a SKU citable-but-not-buyable; and poor fulfilment reliability (ship-time, cancel-rate) degrades transaction eligibility over time. Accurate trust-block flags keep a brand eligible where it should be and out of trouble where it should not transact.