Unlock AI Shopping Success with Our Generative SEO Tips

In case you missed it, our director Mark held a seminar last week on Generative SEO for Shopify. If you couldn’t join him, don't worry – you can catch up on the video here:

Here are the most important takeaways:

Why Generative SEO matters

AI assistants like ChatGPT and others are becoming a regular part of how people search for and discover products. In some cases, they’re already replacing Google for shopping queries.

But unlike Google, there’s currently no option to “buy your way in” with paid ads. That means the only way to appear in AI results is by making sure your store is structured and detailed enough to be picked up. Shopify has also shared early details of new features that may soon allow customers to buy directly from AI search results without visiting your site at all. That makes visibility in these spaces more important than ever.

How to optimise your store

We broke this down into front-end and back-end work.

Front end

• Fill in your product fields thoroughly – titles, descriptions, vendor, and most importantly Category. Category is part of Shopify’s global library, and once set, it unlocks extra fields like size, fabric, colour and target gender. The more you complete, the better your chances of appearing in AI results.

• Make pages richer with supporting content: FAQs, testimonials, user-generated content, related categories and products, and comparison tables.

• Don’t overlook the basics: site speed, clear metadata and alt text for images.

Back end

• Unlike Google’s crawler, AI tools read your site more like a person would. That means they need more detail presented directly on the page.

• Add breadcrumb trails, longer descriptions, filter/sort options, vendor information, reviews and knowledge bases.

• Use structured data wherever possible – lists, tables, FAQs – and make sure key details like delivery and returns, sustainability information, SKUs and barcodes are visible.

What AI tends to prioritise

• Lists of information and comparison tables (AI often lifts these directly into answers)

• Evidence of trustworthiness: reviews, testimonials, studies, social proof

• Clear data points: USPs, delivery info, sustainability claims, product attributes

• Navigation and related items to help AI understand context

• Product descriptions that go beyond the basics
  
  

The Future

During the seminar, Mark looked at an example search for “ski jackets” in ChatGPT. The results didn’t just name brands – it added prices, links and even a comparison table. That’s the direction things are heading: richer, more informative shopping results generated instantly.

Shopify’s recent announcement confirms this: purchases may soon happen entirely through AI results, with no need for the customer to visit your site. For stores, that means Generative SEO is less about chasing clicks and more about making sure your products are included and trusted in the first place.

Final Thoughts

Think of Generative SEO as designing your store for a new kind of customer—the AI assistant. The clearer, richer and more structured your site is, the more likely your products are to appear when people ask AI what to buy.

And if you need a little more guidance or are feeling a little overwhelmed with this new element to your site, don't hesitate to get in touch. We'd be happy to chat about how to make your website the best it can be, for both customers and AI.