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Notes on what AI agents are told.

Studies and explainers about Shopify’s AI catalog and the agents that read it.

[study] We checked 192 products Shopify describes to AI agents What AI agents were told about 192 top-ranked products on one day in September, checked claim by claim against each brand’s own copy. With the method, the receipts, and what it can’t tell you. Read2 min read
[how-to] Product images and alt text in Shopify’s AI catalog Shopify’s catalog carries each product’s images and their alt text. Here’s what that means for your photos, what nobody has shown about alt text and rankings, and what to check. Read5 min read
[how-to] How to write Shopify product titles for AI agents The title is the one main product field Shopify doesn’t label as AI-generated, which makes it the field you control most. Here’s what the platforms say about titles, and what we’d do with it. Read5 min read
[how-to] A 30-minute product data audit for AI agents Thirty minutes, one sample of products, five passes. A checklist for finding the gaps in your Shopify product data that AI agents will read, summarize and repeat. Read5 min read
[explainer] Shopify Catalog vs Google Merchant Center: two feeds, two stories Google AI Mode and Gemini get your products through Google & YouTube or Merchant Center, not Shopify Catalog. Here’s how the two feeds differ, and why checking only one leaves half the picture. Read5 min read
[how-to] How to read what Shopify’s catalog says about your product You can’t see the catalog’s version of your product in the product editor. Here are three ways to read it, what to look for once you have it, and where each route runs out. Read5 min read
[how-to] Can you edit what Shopify’s catalog says about your products? There’s no edit button for what Shopify’s catalog tells AI agents about your product. There are inputs you control, though. Here’s which ones, and what to expect from them. Read5 min read
[explainer] What AI agents can do on a Shopify storefront Shopify says a set of WebMCP tools is live on every Liquid storefront. Here’s what each tool does, where the data comes from, and how it differs from the catalog behind ChatGPT and Copilot. Read5 min read
[explainer] AI visibility for Shopify: what GEO and AEO actually measure “AI visibility” covers three different questions: are you available to AI agents, are you recommended, and is what they’re told true. Here’s how to measure each for a Shopify store, and what the platforms say helps. Read5 min read
[explainer] Does your Shopify store need an llms.txt file? Apps will sell you an llms.txt file. Shopify already serves one, plus an agents.md, for every store. Here’s what they contain, how to edit them, and what they can and can’t do for AI visibility. Read4 min read
[explainer] UCP vs ACP: what Shopify merchants need to know Two open standards for AI agents that shop, one from Shopify and Google, one from OpenAI and Stripe. Here’s what each is, where each is used, and why a Shopify merchant mostly doesn’t need to pick. Read5 min read
[study] Free-from claims in AI shopping: where summaries go wrong Free-from claims are short, popular and easy for a summary to invent. Here are real examples of what AI agents were told, why this kind of claim breaks, and how to write yours so it survives. Read4 min read
[how-to] Shopify metafields for AI shopping: Catalog Mapping If your real product data lives in metafields, AI shopping agents may never see it. Shopify’s Catalog Mapping tool changes which fields the catalog reads. Here’s what it does, step by step, and when to bother. Read5 min read
[how-to] How to write product descriptions for AI shopping agents AI agents match your description to a shopper’s question, then summarize it. Here are the writing rules that help with both, drawn from Shopify’s guidance and from the claims we’ve seen summaries get wrong. Read5 min read
[how-to] Shopify agentic storefronts: a settings guide Agentic storefronts is on by default for eligible Shopify stores. Here’s what that means, what each setting under Sales channels > Agentic does, and how the AI channels differ on checkout and requirements. Read6 min read
[how-to] Selling on ChatGPT with Shopify: how it works in 2026 A lot of advice about selling on ChatGPT still describes Instant Checkout, which OpenAI stepped back from in March 2026. Here’s how it works for Shopify stores now, from Shopify’s and OpenAI’s own pages. Read5 min read
[notes] Agents can check out on Shopify now. Who checks what they read first? Shopify now lets browser agents read and complete checkouts. Its docs put consent on the order and total, not on whether the product description behind the order was right. Read5 min read
[how-to] AI getting your product wrong? A fix guide for Shopify An AI agent told a shopper your product is something it isn’t. Before rewriting anything, find out where the claim came from. For Shopify stores there are four likely sources, and each has a different fix. Read6 min read
[explainer] What is Shopify Catalog? A plain guide for merchants Shopify Catalog is the product feed behind ChatGPT, Copilot and other AI shopping channels. Here’s what it holds, what Shopify’s AI adds to it, and the handful of settings you actually control. Read6 min read
[how-to] Shopify products not showing in ChatGPT? What to check “Not in ChatGPT” has two very different causes: your products never reached ChatGPT, or they did and aren’t being picked. Here’s how to tell which, and what to check for each. Read5 min read
[how-to] Shopify Catalog requirements: why products get left out A checklist of Shopify Catalog’s requirements, from private mode to zero prices to hidden-from-search products, with where to check each one in your admin and what to change. Read5 min read
[explainer] What Shopify’s AI adds to your listings: inferred fields Shopify’s developer docs mark six catalog fields as “Inferred”, written or enriched by Shopify rather than by you. Here’s what each one is, what can go wrong, and how to see what yours say. Read5 min read
[explainer] How AI shopping agents choose which products to show Every AI shopping channel ranks products its own way, and none publishes a formula. Here’s what OpenAI, Shopify, Google and Microsoft have actually said about what goes into the pick. Read5 min read