What is answer engine optimization?

Answer engine optimization is the practice of making a brand and its products retrievable, understandable and citable by AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Gemini, so the brand appears in the answers buyers read instead of only in traditional search results.

How do I find out if AI recommends my products?

Run a visibility test on your product or brand. LBOX puts the questions real buyers ask to each major answer engine, records which brands are named and which sources are cited, and reports the share of answers that mention you and the share that cite your pages.

Why do AI engines cite retailers and review sites instead of the manufacturer?

Engines cite pages they can retrieve and parse that answer the question directly. Many manufacturer pages are script rendered, thin on specifications, or lack structured data, so the engine falls back to retailers and review sites. Publishing a retrievable page with complete specifications, answer first sections and product schema makes the manufacturer citable.

Plans start at 99 dollars per month for a single published product page, with a Growth plan for a portfolio of products and custom Enterprise terms. Current plans and pricing are published at lbox.com/Pricing.

Can buyers purchase directly from an LBOX page?

Yes. Published pages support transactions with card payment, buyer identity verification, fraud screening, funds released on delivery and dispute mediation, so a buyer can move from an AI answer to a completed order without leaving the page.

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Help & Resources

How Quotes Work on LBOX

A plain-language guide to LBOX's request-for-quote process — what happens at each step, how your identity is protected, and what we guarantee.

Overview

A Request for Quote (RFQ) is a non-binding inquiry you send to a seller through LBOX. You're not ordering anything — you're asking a seller to put together formal pricing and terms for a specific quantity of a specific product. The seller responds with a structured quote that includes unit price, total, lead time, shipping cost, and payment terms. You then decide whether to accept, negotiate, or decline.

Key point: Submitting a quote request creates no financial obligation. You're only committed when you explicitly accept a seller's formal offer and authorize payment.

Step-by-step process

1
You submit a quote request
On any product page, click "Request a Quote." Fill in: what specs or configuration you need, how many units, an optional target price per unit, and an optional required-by date. Your identity (name, email, company) is not shared with the seller at this stage.
2
LBOX routes the request to the seller
LBOX notifies the seller (the manufacturer or authorized reseller listed for that product) via email. The email contains your specifications and quantity, but shows you only as "a LBOX member." The seller sees no identifying information.
3
Seller responds with a formal quote
The seller fills out a structured quote form on their side: unit price, shipping cost, lead time, expiration date (up to 15 days), and payment terms (e.g., 50% deposit + 50% on shipment). Their quote is binding if you accept within the expiration window.
4
You review the quote
LBOX notifies you that a quote has arrived. You'll see all the terms laid out in a structured view — no email back-and-forth. You can accept, counter with different terms, or decline.
5
You accept (or negotiate)
If the terms work, click "Accept Quote." LBOX presents the agreed order summary (product, price, quantity, ship date, payment terms) and asks you to authorize payment. Payment is processed through Stripe — LBOX never stores your card details.
6
Order confirmed — seller ships
Once payment is authorized, the order is confirmed. The seller receives your shipping address and is required to ship by the agreed date. You'll get tracking updates and can monitor the order through your LBOX account.

Your identity & privacy

LBOX uses an identity-masking model in the pre-agreement phase of every quote thread. Here's what that means in practice:

→The seller sees you as "a LBOX member." They do not receive your name, email address, company name, or any other identifying information until after you explicitly authorize payment on an accepted quote.
→All messages between you and the seller route through LBOX's mediated relay. The seller's reply goes to LBOX first, which then forwards it to your registered email. Your email address is never in the "To" or "Reply-To" field of any email sent to the seller.
→The seller cannot look you up, reach out directly, or add you to any mailing list based on a quote request. If you decline a quote or let it expire, the thread closes with no persistent seller-side record of your identity.
→Once you authorize payment on an accepted quote, LBOX releases your shipping address to the seller (necessary for fulfillment). Your email address is still not shared unless you include it voluntarily in a message.

Why we do this: B2B purchasing involves real buyers with real budgets. Exposing buyer identity at the inquiry stage creates unwanted sales pressure and inbox pollution. Our model keeps the conversation structured and on-platform until both sides have explicitly agreed to a deal.

Payment & escrow

LBOX processes all payments through Stripe. We do not store card details or act as a bank. Here's how payment works:

Payment terms are set by the seller

Each seller configures their preferred payment terms on their quote. LBOX supports two standard presets: (A) 100% on order — full settlement on order confirmation; (B) 50% deposit on order + 50% on shipping confirmation. Custom milestone schedules are available for large orders by arrangement.

You see the terms before you commit

When you accept a quote, LBOX shows you the complete order summary: product, quantity, unit price, total, shipping cost, and the exact payment schedule. You must explicitly authorize payment — there is no auto-charge.

Funds are held in transit

When you pay, funds are not immediately released to the seller. For payment preset B (50/50), the deposit is captured on order and the remaining 50% is captured when the seller confirms shipment. For preset A (100% on order), full settlement is processed after the seller ships and LBOX verifies the shipping confirmation.

Seller payout

Sellers receive their payout via Stripe Connect, net of LBOX's 5% facilitator fee. Payout timing follows Stripe's standard schedule (typically 2 business days after capture).

Buyer protections

Shipping backstop

If the seller hasn't shipped within 30 days of the agreed ship date, you can request a full refund of any payments made — regardless of the seller's stated refund policy. Mutual extensions agreed in-thread (and logged by LBOX) reset the 30-day clock.

Dispute mediation

If the order arrives damaged, incomplete, or not as described, you have 7 days from confirmed delivery to open a dispute. LBOX reviews the claim, contacts both parties, and mediates a resolution — either a partial refund, full refund, or reshipment. Sellers cannot unilaterally close a dispute.

Structured payment authorization

You will never be charged without seeing a complete order summary and explicitly clicking an authorization button. There are no hidden fees or auto-renewals on marketplace transactions.

No-commitment inquiry

Submitting a quote request is always free and creates no purchase obligation. You can decline a quote, let it expire, or simply not respond. The thread closes automatically after 15 days with no action required from you.

The seller's side

LBOX's seller network consists of manufacturers and authorized resellers who have registered on the platform and agreed to LBOX's seller terms. Here's what they see and how they operate:

•Sellers receive quote requests via email with your specs, quantity, and optional target price. They do not see your identity.
•Sellers respond through a LBOX-hosted form (not direct email), which enforces the structured quote format (price, lead time, payment terms, expiration date). This means you always get complete, comparable information — not a casual "let me check with my team" reply.
•Sellers can only respond to a quote; they cannot initiate outreach to you. The thread is buyer-initiated and buyer-directed.
•Sellers are required to ship by the agreed date or face the shipping backstop. LBOX monitors shipment confirmations and enforces the 30-day window.
•Sellers pay LBOX a 5% facilitator fee on completed transactions. This is how LBOX funds its operations — buyers pay no platform fee.

FAQ

Trust and security

LBOX is built on top of Stripe, the payment infrastructure used by Amazon, Shopify, Target, and millions of other businesses. The protections below apply to every transaction on the platform.

Stripe-secured payments

Payments are processed by Stripe, which is annually certified by a Qualified Security Assessor as a Payment Card Industry Level 1 Service Provider — the highest security level in the payments industry. Stripe also maintains SOC 1, SOC 2 Type II, and SOC 3 audits, and follows zero-trust data protocols. Your card data is sent directly to Stripe and is never stored on LBOX servers.

Identity verification

Every seller on LBOX completes Stripe Connect identity verification before they can list products. This includes KYC document review, MATCH list screening, and sanctions list checks. Sellers also attest in their Seller Agreement to being either the manufacturer of the product or an authorized reseller with a documented authorization on file.

Every buyer is an authenticated LBOX account holder with email confirmation. There are no anonymous purchases on the platform.

Funds held in escrow

When you accept a quote and authorize payment, your funds are held by LBOX in a Stripe Connect escrow account. The seller does not receive payment until they confirm shipment. If the seller fails to ship within 30 days of the agreed ship date, LBOX releases the funds back to you under the shipping backstop.

Dispute mediation

If something goes wrong with an order, LBOX mediates between buyer and seller before any chargeback or refund. We respond within 48 business hours. Disputes are typically resolved within 14 days. If we cannot reach resolution, you can escalate to a Stripe chargeback through your card issuer — but most issues never reach that step.

Platform liability boundaries

Under the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, sellers are solely responsible for their goods, services, and local compliance. LBOX facilitates the transaction; the seller is responsible for the product itself. This is a standard marketplace structure used across the industry.

Last updated: May 2026

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