The Invisible FunnelHow AI agents evaluate real brands · by Accord
Powered by Accord

Brands

Costco logo

Costco

Costco passed the agent’s check: 4 out of 4, every fact from costco.com.

Four journeys, four recommendations for the Gold Star membership, every decisive fact read on Costco’s own pages in six to nine page reads.

Named-offer check Gold Star membership conditions for a Denver household · tested 2026-09-20

4 customer-agent journeys

Decision trace (one journey)

no memorybrand page reachedobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionCostco decision — customer with no relevant memory
    • annual membership fee at most 70 USD
    • membership fee refundable in full if canceled during the year
    • most items returnable for at least 60 days
    • electronics returnable for at least 60 days (preference)
  2. 2Evidence7 searches, 9 pages: costco.com, customerservice.costco.com
    • membership fee usd: 65 brand page
    • membership refundable: true brand page
    • return window days: no stated time limit for most merchandise (satisfaction guaranteed indefinitely, brand page
    • electronics return window days: 90 brand page
  3. 3BeliefRequirements met on the evidence found
  4. 4DecisionSelectedCostco Gold Star MembershipAll four requirement fields were established directly from Costco's own web properties (costco.com and customerservice.costco.com). The Gold Star annual fee is $65, which…
run-8a0109d9Open decision trace →

What remained unresolved

Every typed condition was established in every journey.

Selected in every journey; conditions the agent recorded as unresolved at the time of the decision.

Same task, different memory

2/2selected, no memory
2/2selected, with memory
0 ppdifference

Memory did not change the outcome in these journeys; see what it changed on the Memory page.

Journeys without a readable brand-owned page

0 of 4

All journeys ran on 2026-09-20; a time series needs more than one day of testing.
Selection by day

4 of 4

All journeys ran on 2026-09-20; a time series needs more than one day of testing.

Where its facts came from

0

decisive beliefs about Costco taken from a page that is not the brand’s own, or from a brand page that refused the agent; 0 journeys met a bot wall on the brand site.

What this does not establish: that Costco generally wins or loses customers this way, or that changing one page would change these decisions. It establishes what happened in these 4 journeys.

The numbers

4journeys
4considered
4selected
0not selected
4/4reached a readable Costco page
Selected in every journeyno elimination recorded

4 customer-agent journeys. Costco entered consideration in 4. It was selected in 4 and not selected in 0. In 0, no readable Costco-owned page was reached.

View strongest trace → Open story and traces →

Work at Costco?

Send us the source the agent couldn’t find. We’ll rerun the same customer and publish the before/after. Send the source How the rerun works

Decisions

All journeys

with memorybrand page reachedobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionCostco decision — same customer with relevant memory
    • membership fee at most 70 USD
    • membership fee fully refundable on cancellation
    • most items returnable for at least 60 days
    • electronics returnable for at least 60 days (preference)
    Remembers: “The household paid for a warehouse-club membership in 2024, used it four times, and could not get the unused months refu”
  2. 2Evidence3 searches, 6 pages: customerservice.costco.com, costco.com
    • membership fee usd: 65 brand page
    • membership refundable: Yes — 'We will refund your membership fee in full at any time if you are dissati brand page
    • return window days: No stated day limit for most merchandise — described as a 'Risk-Free 100% Satisf brand page
    • electronics return window days: 90 brand page
  3. 3BeliefRequirements met on the evidence found
  4. 4DecisionSelectedCostco Gold Star MembershipAll four requirement facts were established directly on Costco's own domains (costco.com and customerservice.costco.com). The Gold Star fee is $65/year (≤ $70 requirement…
run-70e4f466Open decision trace →
no memorybrand page reachedobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionCostco decision — customer with no relevant memory
    • annual membership fee at most 70 USD
    • membership fee fully refundable on cancellation
    • most items returnable for at least 60 days
    • electronics returnable for at least 60 days (preference)
  2. 2Evidence3 searches, 6 pages: costco.com, customerservice.costco.com
    • membership fee usd: 65 brand page
    • membership refundable: Yes — Costco states it will cancel and refund the membership fee in full at any brand page
    • return window days: No stated time limit for most merchandise under the Risk-Free 100% Satisfaction brand page
    • electronics return window days: 90 brand page
  3. 3BeliefRequirements met on the evidence found
  4. 4DecisionSelectedCostco Gold Star MembershipAll four required/preferred facts were established directly on Costco's own domains (costco.com and customerservice.costco.com). The Gold Star annual fee is $65, which me…
run-13817815Open decision trace →
with memorybrand page reachedobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionCostco decision — same customer with relevant memory
    • annual fee at most $70
    • membership fee refundable in full on cancellation
    • general return window at least 60 days for most items
    • electronics return window at least 60 days (preference)
    Remembers: “The household paid for a warehouse-club membership in 2024, used it four times, and could not get the unused months refu”
  2. 2Evidence4 searches, 6 pages: costco.com, customerservice.costco.com
    • membership fee usd: 65 brand page
    • membership refundable: Yes — 'We will refund your membership fee in full at any time if you are dissati brand page
    • return window days: No specific day limit stated for most merchandise (open-ended 'Risk-Free 100% Sa brand page
    • electronics return window days: 90 brand page
  3. 3BeliefRequirements met on the evidence found
  4. 4DecisionSelectedCostco Gold Star MembershipAll four requirement facts were established directly from Costco's own domains (costco.com and customerservice.costco.com). The Gold Star annual fee is $65, which is at o…
run-a4b7c007Open decision trace →
no memorybrand page reachedobserved2026-09-20
  1. 1Customer missionCostco decision — customer with no relevant memory
    • annual membership fee at most 70 USD
    • membership fee refundable in full if canceled during the year
    • most items returnable for at least 60 days
    • electronics returnable for at least 60 days (preference)
  2. 2Evidence7 searches, 9 pages: costco.com, customerservice.costco.com
    • membership fee usd: 65 brand page
    • membership refundable: true brand page
    • return window days: no stated time limit for most merchandise (satisfaction guaranteed indefinitely, brand page
    • electronics return window days: 90 brand page
  3. 3BeliefRequirements met on the evidence found
  4. 4DecisionSelectedCostco Gold Star MembershipAll four requirement fields were established directly from Costco's own web properties (costco.com and customerservice.costco.com). The Gold Star annual fee is $65, which…
run-8a0109d9Open decision trace →