Machine-Readable Quote or RFQ Endpoint for Agent Procurement Workflows
Lets purchasing agents submit structured quote requests instead of guessing at your contact form.
What this signal tests
We check whether your service pages expose a way for an AI agent to request a quote in a structured form. This can be either a Schema.org AskAction or RequestAction descriptor pointing to a JSON endpoint, or an OpenAPI document declaring a quote, RFQ, or estimate path that accepts a POST request. Either route satisfies the test.
Why it matters for your visibility in AI
Most B2B and high-consideration purchases start with a quote request. Today, those requests usually go through a contact form designed for humans - free-text fields, captchas, and unclear required information. When a buyer's AI procurement agent tries to submit through that form, it either fails or sends an incomplete request that your sales team has to chase. A machine-readable quote endpoint means a buyer's agent can collect the right structured details from the user once - quantity, timeline, specifications - and submit them cleanly to your sales team. Early agent procurement is happening now in IT, software licensing, professional services, and industrial supply; vendors who accept structured RFQs are getting evaluated more often because their quotes come back faster.
Pass criteria at a glance
| Criterion | Passes when |
|---|---|
| Either path satisfied. |
How we test it
Our scanner first parses each service page's JSON-LD looking for a potentialAction of type AskAction or RequestAction whose target points to a JSON endpoint. If that is absent, it looks for a published OpenAPI document and checks whether any path resembles /quote, /rfq, or /estimate and accepts a POST request. Either path is enough to pass; you do not need both.
Show technical detection method
JSON-LD Service has potentialAction AskAction/RequestAction with JSON target; OR OpenAPI has /quote-like POST path.
If your site fails: how to fix it
- Decide which structured fields you need from a buyer to give a real quote - typically product, quantity, deadline, delivery location, and budget range - and treat that list as your RFQ schema.
- Document a /quote (or /rfq or /estimate) endpoint in your OpenAPI document with a POST request body matching that schema; the work to do this is best done by a developer who can read the OpenAPI specification.
- On each service page, link to that endpoint with a Schema.org potentialAction of type RequestAction so AI agents can discover it directly from the page they are viewing.
- Wire the endpoint to your existing CRM or sales inbox so structured submissions land alongside today's human form submissions, with no duplicate process.
- Acknowledge submissions with a stable response shape (quote id, expected response time) so the agent can update its user without polling.
Quick facts
| Maturity | EMERGING |
|---|---|
| Weight | low |
| Category | Agent Actions |
Primary sources
Related signals
Frequently asked questions
Is this only useful when autonomous AI agents become mainstream?
No. Even today a structured quote endpoint cleans up incoming requests from non-agent buyers as well - sales engineers, channel partners, marketplaces. The agent benefit accrues over time, but the operational benefit lands the day you deploy it.
How is this different from a contact form?
A contact form is rendered for humans and posts to a private handler. A machine-readable quote endpoint is documented in OpenAPI or Schema.org so any external agent can read the field list and submit a valid payload without guessing. The destination - your inbox or CRM - can be the same.
Does this cost anything to implement?
Implementation is a developer task, typically a few days end-to-end. There are no licensing fees. If you already use an API gateway, a CRM with an inbound webhook, or a customer portal, you can usually expose the endpoint without building new infrastructure.
Will agents bypass our sales team?
No. The endpoint hands a structured RFQ to your existing sales process; humans still set pricing and approve quotes. The agent is acting on behalf of the buyer to submit a request, not to negotiate or close. You retain full control over the response.
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