What Is an A2A Business Card?

What Is an A2A Business Card? A structured business identity and qualification layer for human and AI-mediated B2B commerce

An A2A Business Card is a structured, verifiable and machine-readable representation of a business created for human buyers, search engines, answer engines, procurement platforms and AI agents.

It brings together the information needed to identify a company, understand what it supplies, assess its capabilities, verify important claims and initiate an appropriate request for quotation.

Unlike a conventional company profile, an A2A Business Card is designed not only to explain what a business does, but also to help another system decide:

whether it has found the correct legal entity;

what commercial role the company performs;

which products, services and capabilities it provides;

which markets, industries and territories it serves;

whether it may be suitable for a particular purchasing requirement;

what evidence supports its claims;

which information must be collected before requesting a quotation;

how an RFQ should be submitted;

when a human specialist must become involved;

which digital actions, tools or agent interfaces are available.

The A2A Business Card is particularly relevant to complex B2B markets where purchasing decisions cannot be reduced to selecting a product and clicking a checkout button.

Short definition

An A2A Business Card is a canonical, structured business record that enables people and AI agents to discover, identify, understand, verify and qualify a company before initiating a B2B request or transaction.

The concept is developed by DirectRFQ.com as part of the broader Direct RFQ framework for agent-ready B2B commerce.

Why businesses need a new type of company profile

Most company websites were built for a world in which a person searched for a supplier, visited several pages, interpreted marketing language and contacted a salesperson.

That model is changing.

Buyers increasingly use AI systems to research markets, prepare specifications, identify suppliers, compare alternatives and generate requests for quotation. Procurement platforms are also adding agent-based functions that can collect data, communicate with suppliers and support purchasing workflows.

In this environment, a company may be evaluated before anyone from the buying organisation visits its website or speaks to its sales team.

An AI agent may need to determine:

Is this the correct company or only a similarly named brand?

Is it a manufacturer, distributor, integrator, reseller or service provider?

Does it serve the buyer’s country?

Can it install and service the product there?

Does it supply the requested category?

Is the capability delivered internally or by a partner?

Is the information current?

Is pricing public or available only through an RFQ?

What technical data is required?

Are there conditions that require human review?

Which claims can be verified?

Traditional company profiles rarely answer these questions in a consistent and machine-readable form.

The result is ambiguity. A potentially suitable supplier may be excluded because its capabilities cannot be confirmed, compared or connected to the buyer’s requirement.

The A2A Business Card is designed to close this gap.

What an A2A Business Card contains

An A2A Business Card may contain several connected information layers.

1. Legal business identity

The card identifies the actual organisation behind the offer, including:

full legal name;

legal form;

country of registration;

registered address;

company registration identifiers;

tax identifiers;

official registry references;

trading names and brands;

primary and related domains.

This helps prevent an AI agent from confusing a brand, website, distributor, publisher or commercial intermediary with the contracting entity.

2. Commercial roles

The card explains the roles in which the business operates, for example:

manufacturer;

contract manufacturer;

brand owner;

importer;

distributor;

reseller;

systems integrator;

rental provider;

installer;

maintenance provider;

service company;

commercial intermediary.

A company may perform different roles for different products. An A2A Business Card should make these distinctions explicit rather than allowing an agent to assume that the company manufactures everything shown on its website.

3. Products, services and capabilities

The card summarises the categories supplied by the business and links to more detailed records, such as:

A2A Product Cards;

A2A Capability Cards;

service descriptions;

product catalogues;

technical documentation;

compliance information;

Direct RFQ Cards.

The Business Card should function as the canonical root of a connected business information graph, not as an isolated page containing every possible detail.

4. Market and geographic coverage

The card can distinguish between countries or regions covered by:

sales;

shipping;

installation;

commissioning;

training;

warranty service;

post-warranty service;

spare-parts delivery;

remote support.

This is more useful than a general statement such as “we operate internationally.”

5. Buyer qualification data

An A2A Business Card helps establish whether the company is a potential match by describing:

supported customer types;

industries served;

suitable project profiles;

minimum technical inputs;

commercial constraints;

unsupported use cases;

automatic exclusion conditions;

situations requiring human consultation.

The card does not automatically approve the company as a supplier. It makes the company Agent Qualifiable: sufficiently structured to be considered for further evaluation.

6. Evidence and provenance

Important statements may be associated with:

an evidence source;

verification status;

verification date;

responsible data owner;

publisher;

validity period;

correction route.

This allows an agent to distinguish between:

self-declared information;

information supported by an official source;

publisher-verified information;

third-party verification;

evidence derived from an actual transaction or implementation.

7. Direct RFQ information

The card explains how to initiate a qualified request for quotation, including:

supported RFQ types;

required buyer information;

required technical data;

accepted attachments;

submission channels;

expected response stages;

human-review conditions;

the channel used to issue a formal quotation.

8. Machine-readable interfaces

Depending on its maturity level, an A2A Business Card may be available through:

a human-readable web page;

JSON-LD;

downloadable JSON;

a published JSON Schema;

an OpenAPI interface;

a WebMCP-enabled form;

an MCP server;

an Agentic Resource Discovery catalogue;

a linked technical A2A Agent Card.

An A2A Business Card is not simply a longer About Us page

Adding more marketing copy does not make a business easier for an AI agent to qualify.

The value of an A2A Business Card comes from structure, clarity, evidence, status and actionability.

Traditional company profile	A2A Business Card
Written mainly for people	Designed for people and machines
Uses general marketing descriptions	Uses defined roles and capability statements
May mix brands and legal entities	Separates brand, publisher and contracting entity
Lists products without qualification rules	Links products to buyer needs and constraints
Usually provides one generic contact form	Provides purpose-specific RFQ routes
Rarely states data validity	Includes update and review dates
Makes claims without field-level evidence	Associates material claims with sources and statuses
Describes the business	Supports discovery, qualification and action

The objective is not to create the longest company page. It is to create the most reliable and usable business record.

A2A Business Card vs. technical A2A Agent Card

The two concepts must be clearly distinguished.

The official Agent2Agent Protocol defines an Agent Card as a JSON metadata document published by an operational A2A server. It describes an AI agent’s identity, skills, supported interfaces, service endpoint and authentication requirements. The standard discovery location is typically /.well-known/agent-card.json. A2A Agent Card documentation

The DirectRFQ A2A Business Card describes a business organisation.

A2A Business Card	A2A Agent Card
Describes a company	Describes an operational agent
Contains legal and commercial identity	Contains agent identity and provider information
Lists products, services and capabilities	Lists executable agent skills
Supports supplier qualification	Supports agent discovery and communication
May link to several RFQ routes	Provides an A2A service endpoint
Can exist without an AI agent	Requires an operational A2A implementation

A company can therefore publish an A2A Business Card before it has deployed an agent. If it later launches an A2A-compatible agent, the two records can be linked.

The DirectRFQ A2A Business Card is an independent business data framework. It complements the technical A2A Agent Card but is not an official component of the Agent2Agent Protocol.

A2A Business Card vs. Digital Product Passport

An A2A Business Card and a Digital Product Passport serve different primary purposes.

An A2A Business Card describes the business, its commercial roles, capabilities, markets, qualification requirements and contact routes.

A Digital Product Passport describes a particular product and may contain regulated information about materials, sustainability, repairability, origin or lifecycle.

A2A Business Card	Digital Product Passport
Business-level record	Product-level record
Supports supplier discovery and qualification	Supports product traceability and regulatory data
Describes commercial roles and capabilities	Describes product composition and lifecycle information
Links to RFQ actions	Links to product evidence and compliance data
Can exist for services and capabilities	Usually applies to physical products

The records are complementary. An A2A Business Card may link to Product Cards, and those Product Cards may link to relevant Digital Product Passports.

How the card supports an AI-mediated procurement journey

Step 1: Discovery

The buyer or AI agent discovers the business through search, an answer engine, a registry, a marketplace, an industry directory or a known domain.

Step 2: Entity resolution

The legal entity, brand, domain, locations and contracting role are identified.

Step 3: Capability matching

The buyer’s requirement is compared with the company’s declared products, services, capabilities, markets and constraints.

Step 4: Evidence review

Material claims are checked against declared sources, verification levels and validity dates.

Step 5: Information-gap detection

The agent identifies which technical or commercial information is still missing.

Step 6: Direct RFQ preparation

The appropriate Direct RFQ Card or category-specific questionnaire is selected.

Step 7: Submission and validation

The RFQ is submitted through a declared channel and checked for completeness and fit.

Step 8: Human escalation

A technical specialist or authorised commercial representative becomes involved when the requirement is complex, unusual, high-value or regulated.

Step 9: Formal quotation

The supplier issues an authorised commercial offer. The A2A Business Card does not itself create a contract.

From machine-readable to agent-actionable

An A2A Business Card can mature gradually.

Level 1 — Business Listed

The company has a canonical identity and basic public record.

Level 2 — Entity Verified

Selected identity data and business claims have been checked against declared sources.

Level 3 — Agent Qualifiable

An agent can determine whether the business is a potential match for a defined need.

Level 4 — Direct RFQ Ready

The company publishes structured RFQ routes, required inputs and response rules.

Level 5 — Agent Actionable

An agent can perform a structured action through a form, WebMCP tool or API.

Level 6 — A2A Enabled

The company operates or formally appoints an agent with a valid technical A2A Agent Card and compatible endpoint.

Level 7 — Agent Transactable

An authorised agent can complete defined commercial actions within a documented mandate, approval and audit framework.

These levels should be treated as progressive readiness profiles rather than a claim that every company needs full transaction autonomy.

How an A2A Business Card becomes discoverable

A public Business Card should have a canonical web address and structured-data representation. More advanced implementations may also expose a machine-readable business record and advertise available tools through emerging discovery mechanisms.

Google’s Agentic Resource Discovery proposal allows a provider to publish an ai-catalog.json file describing resources such as A2A agents, MCP servers and OpenAPI tools. Registries may index these catalogues and help agents discover suitable capabilities. Agentic Resource Discovery

An A2A Business Card can act as the business-identity record linked from such resources. It should not claim to be a technical agent endpoint unless a real agent implementation exists.

How an A2A Business Card becomes actionable

The first actionable implementation does not need to be a fully autonomous agent.

A company can begin with a well-designed Direct RFQ form that declares:

the purpose of the action;

required and optional inputs;

validation rules;

accepted files;

the expected result;

human-confirmation requirements;

privacy and confidentiality conditions.

WebMCP is being developed as a proposed web standard that allows websites to expose forms and functions as structured tools for browser-based AI agents. Chrome WebMCP documentation

The maturity path can therefore be:

readable company page;

structured business data;

category-specific Direct RFQ form;

agent-readable website action;

authenticated API or MCP tool;

operational A2A agent;

authorised transactional workflow.

Which businesses can use an A2A Business Card?

The framework is intended for businesses whose offers require context, qualification or trust before purchase.

Examples include:

industrial manufacturers;

machinery suppliers;

systems integrators;

contract manufacturers;

engineering companies;

distributors;

maintenance providers;

logistics operators;

packaging suppliers;

chemical and ingredient suppliers;

spare-parts suppliers;

rental companies;

testing and certification providers;

professional B2B service firms;

companies offering production capacity.

It can be particularly valuable to small and medium-sized suppliers whose real capabilities are not adequately represented by conventional websites or large procurement databases.

Example: an industrial packaging supplier

A conventional profile might state:

We provide comprehensive end-of-line packaging solutions for customers throughout Poland.

An A2A Business Card would clarify:

the legal entity providing the service;

whether the company is a manufacturer, distributor or integrator;

which machine and material categories are supplied;

which activities are performed internally or by partners;

where delivery, installation and service are available;

whether machines can be purchased, rented or tested;

what technical data is required for selection;

which environments require human engineering review;

what documentation may be requested;

where to submit a product, rental, service or spare-parts RFQ;

when the information was last verified.

The second representation is more useful to both a procurement specialist and an AI agent because it reduces unsupported assumptions.

What an A2A Business Card does not guarantee

Publishing a card does not automatically mean that:

the company is an approved supplier;

every business claim has been independently verified;

a product is currently available;

the stated capability applies to every project;

a quotation will be issued;

a price or delivery term is binding;

an AI agent is authorised to place an order;

a transaction can proceed without human approval;

external AI platforms will recommend the business.

The card should distinguish facts, declarations, conditions, unknowns and time-sensitive information.

Formal due diligence, technical qualification and contractual approval remain necessary where appropriate.

Who owns and maintains the information?

A trustworthy A2A Business Card should identify several separate roles:

subject business — the company described by the card;

data owner — the organisation responsible for the business data;

card publisher — the entity preparing or hosting the card;

verification provider — the entity checking selected claims;

RFQ operator — the entity receiving or processing enquiries;

contracting entity — the party identified in the formal offer or contract;

specification owner — DirectRFQ.com for the DirectRFQ framework.

These roles may be performed by the same company, but they should not be silently assumed to be identical.

How often should the card be updated?

Legal identity may change infrequently, while commercial and operational data can change daily.

The card should therefore include:

card version;

last update date;

last verification date;

next review date;

correction contact;

status such as active, outdated, suspended or archived.

Prices, stock, lead times, certificates, contact points and geographic coverage may require separate validity periods.

A long page with outdated information is less useful than a smaller card with clear freshness signals.

How to create an A2A Business Card

1. Resolve the business identity

Identify the legal entity, brands, domains, locations and contracting relationships.

2. Map the commercial roles

Determine when the company acts as manufacturer, distributor, integrator, service provider or intermediary.

3. Model products and capabilities

Create clear categories and decide which details belong in separate Product or Capability Cards.

4. Define supplier-fit rules

Specify suitable buyers, territories, applications, constraints and human-review triggers.

5. Collect evidence

Associate material claims with official sources, documents, case studies or transaction evidence.

6. Design Direct RFQ routes

Create category-specific paths for product quotations, solution selection, service, rental, spare parts or other commercial intents.

7. Publish structured representations

Provide a canonical page, JSON-LD and a machine-readable record using the DirectRFQ schema.

8. Add actionable interfaces

Where justified, connect the card with WebMCP, OpenAPI, MCP or a technical A2A Agent Card.

9. Establish maintenance responsibility

Assign a data owner, review frequency, correction route and update process.

10. Measure business outcomes

Track qualified enquiries, missing-information rates, response time, agent-originated traffic and conversion from qualification to quotation.

Business value of an A2A Business Card

For a supplier, the card may help:

establish a clearer digital identity;

improve discoverability in AI-mediated research;

enter more relevant supplier shortlists;

reduce unsuitable enquiries;

shorten technical clarification;

present evidence before direct contact;

standardise RFQ intake;

connect separate product, service and compliance resources;

prepare the organisation for agentic commerce.

For a buyer, it may help:

identify the correct supplier;

understand the supplier’s role;

compare capabilities;

verify selected claims;

detect missing information;

build a more complete RFQ;

determine when human consultation is required.

The main value is not the card itself. The value comes from reducing the uncertainty between discovering a business and deciding whether to involve it in a purchasing process.

The DirectRFQ approach

DirectRFQ.com treats the A2A Business Card as one component of a larger agent-ready B2B architecture.

The framework connects:

business identity;

product data;

capability data;

evidence and provenance;

buyer qualification;

Direct RFQ structures;

human escalation;

machine-readable interfaces;

future agent-to-agent interaction.

The goal is not to remove humans from complex B2B transactions. The goal is to make the stages before human involvement more precise, efficient and verifiable.

Frequently asked questions

Is an A2A Business Card an official A2A Protocol standard?

No. The DirectRFQ A2A Business Card is an independent business data framework developed by DirectRFQ.com. It complements the official technical A2A Agent Card but is not part of the Agent2Agent Protocol specification.

Does a company need an AI agent to publish a card?

No. A company can publish an A2A Business Card before deploying any AI agent.

Is it the same as a company profile?

No. A company profile mainly describes the business. An A2A Business Card also supports entity resolution, qualification, evidence, lifecycle management and Direct RFQ actions.

Is it the same as a Digital Product Passport?

No. An A2A Business Card describes a business. A DPP describes a particular product and its regulated or lifecycle data. The two records can be linked.

Does it replace a supplier onboarding questionnaire?

Not necessarily. It can pre-populate or simplify supplier onboarding, but a buyer may still require confidential, financial, security or contractual information.

Can prices and stock be included?

Yes, provided that time-sensitive information includes an update date, validity period and applicable conditions.

Can information be restricted?

Yes. The DirectRFQ framework supports public, verified-buyer and transactional information layers.

What does Agent Qualifiable mean?

It means that an AI agent has enough structured information to determine whether the company may be suitable for a particular need. It does not mean that the company has been finally approved as a supplier.

What does A2A Enabled mean?

Within the DirectRFQ framework, it means that the company operates or formally appoints an operational agent with a valid technical A2A Agent Card and compatible endpoint.

Is the card a commercial offer?

No. Binding conditions should be contained in an authorised quotation, order confirmation or contract.

Does the card guarantee visibility in ChatGPT, Gemini or other AI systems?

No. It improves clarity and agent readiness, but no external platform is required to discover, cite, shortlist or recommend the business.

Can a small industrial supplier use an A2A Business Card?

Yes. The framework may be especially useful to specialised SMEs whose capabilities are difficult to represent through a conventional company website.

Create an A2A Business Card for your company

DirectRFQ.com helps B2B companies transform fragmented business information, capabilities, documents and enquiry processes into structured resources for human buyers and AI agents.

An implementation may include:

business identity mapping;

capability modelling;

evidence and source review;

A2A Business Card creation;

Product and Capability Cards;

Direct RFQ templates;

JSON-LD and machine-readable data;

Agentic Commerce Readiness assessment;

planning for WebMCP, OpenAPI, MCP or A2A integration;

periodic verification and data maintenance.

Contact DirectRFQ.com to request an A2A Business Card assessment or implementation.

References

Agent2Agent Protocol Specification

A2A Agent Discovery and Agent Cards

Google: Agentic Resource Discovery

Chrome for Developers: WebMCP

Schema.org: Organization

SEO and publication data

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What Is an A2A Business Card? Definition and B2B Use Cases

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Learn what an A2A Business Card is and how structured business identity, capabilities, evidence and Direct RFQ data prepare B2B suppliers for AI agents.