In affiliate marketing, a postback is a server-to-server notification that an advertiser, merchant, or affiliate network sends after a tracked user completes a defined conversion.
This form of S2S conversion tracking allows the receiving platform to match the outcome to an earlier referral or click without relying on the original browser session. AI commerce still needs the mechanism because an AI product normally loses direct visibility after the user leaves its interface for a merchant or partner system. AON applies the affiliate postback model to AI-originated commerce by preserving the Offer, dispatch, click, and publisher context needed to evaluate a partner conversion notification under the applicable attribution and commission rules.
How AON extends the affiliate postback model
AON accepts Partner-to-AON outcome reports through a configured partner integration and separately supports AON-to-Developer webhook delivery. The two directions have different payload, credential, security, and delivery responsibilities; the current endpoints and authentication requirements remain in the implementation guide. Neither direction changes merchant checkout authority or makes a recorded event automatically payable.
Read the Partner postback guideHow postback works
Record the referral or click
An affiliate platform creates a tracking reference when a user follows a publisher’s attributed destination.
Complete the downstream action
The user later purchases, registers, books, or completes another defined conversion on the advertiser or merchant system.
Send the postback
The advertiser or network sends a server-to-server notification containing the conversion and the available tracking reference.
Match and record the outcome
The receiving platform resolves the earlier interaction, handles duplicates, and evaluates the event under its attribution and commission rules.
Why AI commerce still needs postbacks
An AI agent can initiate a useful commercial handoff, but it usually cannot observe the authoritative outcome inside the downstream merchant system.
| Concept | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The user leaves the AI surface | The AI product hands the user to a merchant or partner destination and no longer controls the session. |
| The outcome happens downstream | Checkout, approval, booking, activation, or another Goal occurs in a separate authoritative system. |
| A click cannot prove conversion | The originating product can observe the handoff, but it cannot infer that the declared commercial event was completed. |
| The server report closes the loop | A postback returns outcome evidence that can be matched to the original Offer interaction without requiring control of merchant checkout. |
- AON currently documents Partner-to-AON conversion intake through its configured Partner route. The separate AON-to-Developer webhook has its own payload, security, and delivery contract.
- A Partner postback is not a checkout confirmation shown to the user, and it does not replace merchant records, refund handling, risk review, or settlement reconciliation.
Traditional affiliate postback vs AON postback
AON retains the established server-to-server purpose of a postback but applies it to a richer AI-commerce evidence chain. The mechanism still reports a downstream outcome; the difference is how the originating interaction and the payable event are identified. See the Traditional affiliate network definition.
- Originating context
Traditional systems commonly start from an affiliate click or campaign reference. AON can preserve stable Offer identity, per-dispatch identity, and a distinct click identity.
- Event identity
AON evaluates
event_nameagainst thegoals[].eventvalues declared by the attributed Offer. An exact match is required for billing evaluation; an unmatched valid event is not automatically a payable conversion.
Example in practice
A procurement assistant presents an attributed software trial Offer. The user follows the Offer to the merchant and registers later, outside the AI product. The supply Partner sends AON a postback containing the trial Goal event and a supported tracking anchor. AON can match that server report to the original Offer interaction, deduplicate it, and then evaluate attribution and commission rules.
Common questions about postback
What is a postback in affiliate marketing?
It is a server-to-server conversion notification that reports an outcome to the system responsible for matching it to an earlier affiliate referral or click. It is also called S2S conversion tracking.
Why does AI commerce still need postbacks?
The AI product usually cannot see what happens after the user reaches a merchant or partner system. A postback supplies the downstream outcome evidence that the original click cannot provide. AON uses that report with the original Offer, dispatch, and click context to evaluate whether the downstream event can be attributed.
What does AON add to a traditional postback?
AON preserves the Offer, dispatch, tracking, and click context needed to evaluate the reported event. An exact match with a declared Offer Goal is required before the event can proceed through billing evaluation.
Are a Partner-to-AON postback and an AON-to-Developer webhook the same request?
No. They have different senders, recipients, payloads, credentials, and runtime responsibilities.
Does a successful postback guarantee commission?
No. Receipt or recording is only one step. Attribution, event matching, deduplication, risk, reconciliation, and commercial rules still determine the final outcome.
What should a receiver do if the same conversion postback is sent twice?
Treat duplicate delivery as an expected server-to-server integration condition and use the documented event and attribution identifiers to deduplicate it. A duplicate report should not create a second payable outcome merely because it was received more than once.
Sources
- AgentOffer Protocol sourceAON specification
- AON Partner postbacksAON documentation
- AON Tracking APIAON documentation
- Adjust server callbacks overviewIndustry source