Make Your B2B Offer Discoverable, Qualifiable and RFQ-Ready for AI Agents

Direct RFQ helps manufacturers, distributors and industrial service providers transform complex company, product and capability information into structured data that AI systems, answer engines, procurement teams and buyer agents can understand and use.

We prepare B2B offers for the next stage of digital commerce: not only to be found, but also to be compared, technically qualified and converted into a complete request for quotation.

• Build Your A2A Card
• View an Example

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From online visibility to agent qualification

Traditional websites were designed primarily for people and search engines. Agentic commerce introduces an additional participant: an AI system acting on behalf of a buyer, supplier or procurement team.

That agent needs more than a marketing description. It needs precise identities, specifications, commercial conditions, limitations, evidence, qualification rules and a clear next action.

Direct RFQ connects these elements in one coherent information architecture.

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What we build

A2A Product Cards

Structured descriptions of individual products, variants, technical parameters, prices, availability, documentation and purchasing conditions.

A2A Business Cards

Machine-readable company profiles covering legal identity, markets, locations, certifications, commercial roles, service capabilities and contact paths.

A2A Capability Cards

Structured descriptions of production, engineering, fulfilment or service capabilities that allow a buyer to assess supplier fit before sending an RFQ.

Direct RFQ Cards

Complete request-for-quotation structures containing requirements, quantities, deadlines, delivery conditions, documentation needs and decision criteria.

A2A Agent Cards

Business and transactional context supporting the technical discovery of agents operating through the Agent2Agent protocol.

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The Direct RFQ approach

A B2B offer should be:

Findable — agents can locate the company, product and relevant source.

Understandable — names, categories, parameters and applications are unambiguous.

Comparable — important commercial and technical attributes can be evaluated against alternatives.

Trustworthy — statements are supported by identifiable sources, documentation and ownership.

Executable — the buyer or agent can perform a defined next action.

Governable — permissions, validity periods, responsibilities and limitations are clear.

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Who Direct RFQ is for

Direct RFQ is designed for:

• industrial manufacturers;
• machinery and equipment suppliers;
• component and material producers;
• distributors and wholesalers;
• contract manufacturers;
• engineering companies;
• B2B service providers;
• procurement platforms;
• AI and agentic commerce developers.

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Beyond a product page

A product page usually describes what a product is.

An A2A Product Card also explains:

• whether the product is suitable for a specific application;
• what information is needed to qualify the configuration;
• which variants are available;
• how pricing is calculated;
• what the minimum order is;
• where the product can be delivered;
• which documents are available;
• what remains subject to confirmation;
• how to create a complete RFQ.

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Build the agent-ready B2B web

The future of B2B visibility will not be determined only by rankings. It will also depend on whether digital systems can reliably understand an offer and decide what to do next.

Direct RFQ provides the structure required to move from visibility to qualification and from qualification to a business action.

CTA: Start a Direct RFQ Project

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WHAT IS DIRECT RFQ?

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Direct RFQ is a structured approach to preparing and exchanging requests for quotation in AI-assisted B2B markets.

It converts an unstructured purchasing need into a clear set of technical, commercial, logistical and documentary requirements that can be interpreted by people, procurement systems and AI agents.

The problem with traditional RFQs

Many B2B enquiries are incomplete. They may omit dimensions, operating conditions, quantities, delivery locations, expected documentation, decision deadlines or required services.

Suppliers must then ask multiple follow-up questions. Buyers receive offers based on different assumptions, making comparison difficult and slowing down the purchasing process.

What makes an RFQ direct?

A Direct RFQ contains enough structured information to:

• identify the requested product, service or capability;
• assess technical fit;
• identify missing qualification data;
• determine commercial scope;
• evaluate delivery feasibility;
• establish required evidence and documentation;
• route the request to the right supplier or agent;
• generate a comparable quotation.

Direct RFQ is not just a form

A form collects fields.

A Direct RFQ model also defines:

• the meaning of each field;
• accepted units and values;
• relationships between requirements;
• mandatory and optional information;
• qualification rules;
• version and validity;
• responsible parties;
• expected output.

Direct RFQ and agentic commerce

In agentic commerce, a buyer agent may discover suppliers, compare products, request missing information and prepare a purchasing recommendation.

Direct RFQ gives that agent a structured language for expressing demand and receiving a qualified response.

See the Direct RFQ Card structure.

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A2A CARD

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A2A Card: Structured Business Information for AI Agents

An A2A Card is a structured representation of a company, product, capability, agent or purchasing requirement.

Its purpose is to make B2B information easier to discover, understand, compare, qualify and use in an agent-assisted workflow.

One framework, several card types

The A2A Card framework includes:

• A2A Product Card;
• A2A Business Card;
• A2A Capability Card;
• A2A Agent Card;
• Direct RFQ Card.

Each card answers a different business question.

The Product Card explains what can be purchased. The Business Card explains who provides it. The Capability Card explains what the supplier can do. The Agent Card explains how an agent can be discovered and engaged. The Direct RFQ Card explains what the buyer needs.

Human-readable and machine-readable

Every A2A Card should have a complete human-readable version.

Depending on the implementation, the same information can also be represented through structured data, JSON, feeds, APIs or agent endpoints.

The machine-readable layer must remain consistent with the visible content.

A proprietary business framework

Direct RFQ A2A Cards are a proprietary business information framework developed for B2B discovery, qualification and procurement.

They complement existing web standards and agent protocols. They do not replace the official Agent Card defined by the Agent2Agent protocol.

CTA

Choose Your A2A Card.

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A2A PRODUCT CARD

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A2A Product Card: Turn a B2B Product Page into Actionable Data

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An A2A Product Card provides the information required to identify, understand, compare, qualify and request a quotation for a specific B2B product.

It combines technical product data with commercial conditions, delivery information, evidence, limitations and a structured next step.

Core product identity

The card should identify:

• product name;
• manufacturer;
• model;
• variant;
• category;
• SKU or product code;
• version;
• intended market;
• product status.

Technical qualification

The card should explain:

• primary applications;
• unsuitable applications;
• technical parameters;
• operating limits;
• configuration options;
• compatibility requirements;
• required buyer inputs;
• testing possibilities.

Commercial qualification

The card can include:

• price or pricing method;
• price validity;
• currency;
• minimum order quantity;
• stock status;
• lead time;
• payment conditions;
• delivery coverage;
• installation;
• training;
• warranty;
• service and spare parts.

Evidence and documentation

Relevant supporting materials may include:

• datasheets;
• declarations;
• certificates;
• test results;
• manuals;
• drawings;
• compliance information;
• warranty conditions.

Direct RFQ section

Every Product Card should end with a structured request path showing which information the buyer needs to provide to receive a qualified quotation.

Build an A2A Product Card.

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A2A BUSINESS CARD

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A2A Business Card: Make Your Company Understandable to Buyer Agents

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An A2A Business Card is a structured company profile designed for B2B discovery and supplier qualification.

It goes beyond a traditional About page by presenting the legal, operational, commercial and trust information needed to evaluate whether a company is a suitable business partner.

Company identity

The card may include:

• legal name;
• trading names;
• registration details;
• tax identifiers;
• headquarters;
• operational locations;
• ownership or group relationships;
• year established.

Commercial role

The card should clearly identify whether the company operates as a:

• manufacturer;
• distributor;
• importer;
• integrator;
• service provider;
• contract manufacturer;
• marketplace;
• representative;
• rental provider.

Markets and capabilities

The profile can describe:

• industries served;
• geographic coverage;
• languages;
• customer types;
• available services;
• sales channels;
• installation coverage;
• service response;
• warehousing;
• fulfilment.

Trust and verification

Useful trust signals include:

• certifications;
• manufacturer authorisations;
• trademarks;
• memberships;
• insurance;
• published policies;
• verifiable company records;
• case studies;
• contact ownership.

CTA

Build an A2A Business Card.

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A2A CAPABILITY CARD

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A2A Capability Card: Describe What Your Company Can Actually Deliver

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An A2A Capability Card represents a specific production, engineering, fulfilment or service capability.

It is particularly useful when the buyer is not searching for a fixed catalogue product, but for a supplier able to perform a defined task within stated constraints.

Capability definition

The card should state:

• what the supplier can perform;
• accepted inputs;
• expected outputs;
• technologies and processes;
• capacity ranges;
• dimensions and tolerances;
• materials;
• quality levels;
• geographic availability.

Qualification conditions

The supplier should explain:

• minimum project size;
• maximum capacity;
• required technical files;
• required samples;
• lead-time determinants;
• tooling requirements;
• validation process;
• exclusions and limitations.

Evidence

Capability claims can be supported with:

• machinery lists;
• process descriptions;
• certifications;
• sample projects;
• quality procedures;
• testing methods;
• production photographs;
• reference applications.

Publish a Capability Card.

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A2A AGENT CARD

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A2A Agent Card: Connect Agent Discovery with Business Context

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An official Agent2Agent Agent Card describes the identity, interfaces, capabilities, skills and security requirements of an AI agent.

Direct RFQ extends this technical discovery layer with the business context required for B2B use.

Technical discovery layer

This layer may contain:

• agent name and description;
• protocol version;
• service interfaces;
• supported content types;
• declared skills;
• security schemes;
• authentication requirements;
• endpoint information.

Business context layer

A business-ready implementation may additionally explain:

• the legal operator of the agent;
• industries and markets served;
• permitted actions;
• transaction limits;
• data access rules;
• escalation procedures;
• human approval requirements;
• audit and record policies.

Important distinction

An A2A Business Card describes a company.

An A2A Product Card describes a product.

An official A2A Agent Card describes a functioning agent and how other agents can communicate with it.

These objects can reference one another but should not be treated as interchangeable.

Prepare an Agent-Ready Business Profile.

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DIRECT RFQ CARD

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Direct RFQ Card: A Structured Request for Quotation

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A Direct RFQ Card represents a specific purchasing requirement in a format that suppliers, procurement systems and AI agents can process consistently.

It reduces ambiguity before the quotation stage and helps suppliers respond on a comparable basis.

Buyer and request identity

The card can specify:

• RFQ identifier;
• buyer identity or buyer type;
• publication date;
• response deadline;
• validity;
• confidentiality level;
• contact or agent endpoint.

Requirement

The central requirement should include:

• product, service or capability sought;
• technical parameters;
• quantity;
• units;
• variants;
• operating conditions;
• acceptable alternatives;
• mandatory constraints.

Commercial and logistical conditions

The RFQ may define:

• target delivery date;
• delivery location;
• Incoterms;
• currency;
• payment expectations;
• required warranty;
• installation;
• commissioning;
• training;
• recurring demand.

Documentation requirements

The buyer can identify required:

• declarations;
• certificates;
• test reports;
• drawings;
• safety information;
• quality documents;
• traceability information;
• regulatory evidence.

Response structure

The supplier should know exactly which fields must be returned, including price, validity, availability, lead time, exclusions and responsible contact.

Create a Direct RFQ Card.

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A2O

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A2O: Agent-to-Agent Optimization for B2B

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Agent-to-Agent Optimization prepares a business and its digital information for discovery, interpretation, qualification and action by AI agents.

A2O extends beyond conventional visibility. It evaluates whether an agent can reliably understand an offer and complete the next step.

The six A2O questions

Can the agent find the right entity?

Can it understand what is being offered?

Can it compare the offer with alternatives?

Can it verify the most important claims?

Can it perform or initiate the next action?

Can it determine the applicable rules, authority and limitations?

A2O work areas

A2O may include:

• entity and product identification;
• information architecture;
• structured attributes;
• qualification logic;
• commercial data;
• schema and JSON-LD;
• feeds and exports;
• RFQ workflows;
• agent interfaces;
• governance and versioning.

A2O versus SEO

SEO helps a page become discoverable in search.

A2O adds the information and operational structure required after discovery: understanding, comparison, qualification and action.

The two disciplines should work together.

Request an A2O Readiness Review.

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AGENTIC COMMERCE READINESS

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Agentic Commerce Readiness for Industrial B2B

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Agentic commerce readiness is the ability of a company to support AI-assisted product discovery, supplier qualification, negotiation preparation and purchasing workflows.

It requires more than adding a chatbot to a website.

What we assess

The readiness review covers:

• company identity;
• product data quality;
• capability data;
• pricing logic;
• inventory and availability;
• delivery rules;
• documentation;
• buyer qualification;
• RFQ handling;
• permissions;
• security;
• human escalation.

Readiness levels

Visible

The company and offer can be found.

Understandable

Products and capabilities can be interpreted correctly.

Qualifiable

The system can assess technical and commercial fit.

Actionable

The system can initiate a request, reservation or transaction.

Governed

Actions are controlled by clear authority, security and audit rules.

Assess Your Agentic Commerce Readiness.

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DIRECT RFQ STANDARD

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The Direct RFQ Standard

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The Direct RFQ Standard is a practical working framework for publishing complete, comparable and actionable B2B offer and request data.

It is designed to support websites, answer engines, procurement systems and agent-assisted commerce.

Status of the framework

The Direct RFQ Standard is an independent framework developed by Direct RFQ.

It should not be presented as an ISO, IEC, CEN or government standard. Each published version should have a version number, release date, scope and changelog.

Core layers

Identity layer

Who or what is being described?

Descriptive layer

What does the entity offer or require?

Qualification layer

Under which conditions is it suitable?

Commercial layer

How is the offer priced, supplied and contracted?

Evidence layer

Which documents and sources support the claims?

Action layer

What can the buyer, supplier or agent do next?

Governance layer

Who controls the data, permissions and validity?

Conformance levels

Possible conformance levels can include:

• Direct RFQ Basic;
• Direct RFQ Structured;
• Direct RFQ Qualifiable;
• Direct RFQ Executable;
• Direct RFQ A2A Enabled.

Review the Standard.

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FUCTEG FRAMEWORK

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FUCTEG: A Framework for Measuring B2B Agent Readiness

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FUCTEG evaluates whether a company, product, capability or offer is ready to participate in AI-assisted discovery and agentic commerce.

Findable

Can an agent locate the correct company, category, product, document, contact point or endpoint?

Understandable

Are names, classifications, specifications, applications, variants and limitations unambiguous?

Comparable

Can the offer be compared using price, performance, capacity, MOQ, lead time, delivery and total cost?

Trustworthy

Can important claims be traced to a responsible source, document, certificate, test or identifiable organization?

Executable

Can an agent perform a useful next action such as submitting an RFQ, requesting a document, checking availability or initiating a purchase?

Governable

Are permissions, responsibilities, validity periods, security conditions, transaction limits and escalation procedures defined?

Evaluate Your Offer with FUCTEG.

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EXAMPLES

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A2A Card and Direct RFQ Examples

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The Direct RFQ Example Library demonstrates how companies, products, capabilities and purchasing requirements can be represented in a structured and agent-readable format.

Example categories

Product Cards

Examples containing product identity, technical parameters, price logic, availability, delivery and RFQ requirements.

Business Cards

Examples presenting legal identity, markets, certifications, locations, roles and commercial capabilities.

Capability Cards

Examples describing production, engineering, service or fulfilment capacity.

Direct RFQ Cards

Examples of complete purchasing requirements with structured response fields.

Example status

Every example should clearly state whether it is:

• a demonstration;
• based on public information;
• verified by the company;
• commercially current;
• archived;
• available for agent interaction.

Explore the Card Library.

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INDUSTRIES

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Direct RFQ for Industrial B2B Markets

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Different B2B markets require different qualification data.

Direct RFQ provides a shared architecture while allowing each industry to define its own technical parameters, documents, commercial rules and purchasing workflows.

Manufacturing

Products, components, machines, production capacity, tolerances, drawings, materials and validation.

Packaging

Packaging machinery, consumables, line integration, product dimensions, throughput, film or strap parameters, service and compliance.

Chemicals and ingredients

Grades, concentrations, applications, certificates, safety documents, packaging formats, MOQ and regulatory conditions.

Industrial services

Location, response time, qualifications, equipment, scope, exclusions and service-level conditions.

Distribution

Brands, territories, stock, lead times, delivery coverage, minimum orders, warranties and authorised service.

Select Your Industry.

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RESOURCES

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Direct RFQ Resources

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Practical resources for companies preparing for AI search, answer engines, agentic commerce and structured B2B procurement.

Guides

In-depth explanations and implementation guides.

Glossary

Clear definitions of emerging terminology used in AI-assisted B2B commerce.

Research

Market analysis, trends and observations on agentic procurement and digital supplier discovery.

Documentation

Current versions of the Direct RFQ framework, field definitions, templates and changelogs.

Explore the Resources.

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ABOUT

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Building the Agent-Ready B2B Web

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Direct RFQ develops practical methods for making B2B companies, products, capabilities and commercial offers understandable and actionable for AI systems.

Our thesis

Industrial B2B commerce cannot be reduced to a shopping cart.

Products often require technical qualification, configuration, documentation, delivery planning, installation, service and commercial negotiation.

AI agents will therefore need structured information and clear operating rules before they can support reliable B2B transactions.

Our work

Direct RFQ combines:

• B2B product information architecture;
• structured supplier data;
• request-for-quotation design;
• answer engine optimization;
• Agent-to-Agent Optimization;
• agentic commerce readiness;
• public examples and working specifications.

Our approach

We focus on useful, verifiable and operational information rather than AI marketing claims.

Work with Direct RFQ.

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CONTACT

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Start a Direct RFQ Project

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Prepare your company, product, capability or purchasing workflow for AI-assisted B2B discovery and agentic commerce.

Project types

You can contact Direct RFQ about:

• an A2A Product Card;
• an A2A Business Card;
• an A2A Capability Card;
• a Direct RFQ Card;
• an A2O readiness review;
• an agentic commerce assessment;
• a structured data or card library project.

Suggested form fields

• name;
• company;
• business email;
• website;
• country;
• industry;
• card or service required;
• number of products or capabilities;
• current data sources;
• expected outcome;
• message.

CTA button: Submit Project Details

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