AI chats are the new direct channel for brand discovery. They’re on-demand, personalized, and surfacing products in moments of high-intent—without additional ad spend.
On Shopify alone, orders from AI referrals in Q1 2026 were nearly 13-times higher than in Q1 2025.¹
The four tips below will strengthen the underlying content agents and shoppers use to evaluate and choose your brand. They focus on imagery that makes a strong impression in AI chats and on machine-readable data that helps agents find and match your products to shoppers’ prompts.
If you’re on Shopify and sell to the US and Canada, Shopify Catalog already structures key data for Shop and supported AI channels. To maximize your agentic search visibility on Google and Microsoft platforms, make sure your Merchant Center feeds are configured correctly.
1. Design imagery for brand affinity and product legibility
In an AI chat, your product sits beside competitors in an unowned channel, so your imagery needs to work harder to convey your distinct vibe. Consistent visual cues give your brand the opportunity to connect with new audiences and help loyal fans recognize it instantly.
Build your brand world into every image
- Consistent camera angles across the catalog
- Signature lighting that sets a uniform mood
- Colour environments and styling that reflect your target customer
- Recurring textures or background materials
Diverse image galleries give the agent more views and context to assess fit and surface your product when it’s the right choice.
Each product gallery should have:
- High-res images, a minimum 500 by 500 pixels, ideally 1500 by 1500 pixels
- A 1:1 ratio hero shot where the product is centered in the frame
- Multiple angles—front, side, back, and top
- Variant photos for every unique colour, fit, material, or finish
- At least one shot for scale, in a hand, in an environment, or worn
- At least one close-up highlighting texture and material finish
What to avoid:
- Uneven ratios (2:3, 3:4, 16:9) that leave white borders
- Stark white or black backgrounds that blend into the chat UI
- Near-identical shots that limit variety
Small product thumbnails need to be recognizable at a glance within busy mobile chat interfaces.
Design every photo for legibility
- Distinct silhouettes where the product shape is recognizable
- Clean crops that keep the product inside the frame—not bleeding off the edges
- Subtle background color contrast, so products don’t blend into an all white or dark-mode interface
What to avoid:
- Multiple products in a single image—unless they’re sold as a kit
- Cropped images where products bleed off the edges
- Low contrast between the product and background
2. Make your product page the clearest source of product context
Product pages need to be thorough, structured, and machine-readable, because they're weighted more heavily than the other surfaces agents read.
Break your copy into clear sections and use descriptive headings so an agent can easily locate the facts it needs to match your product to a shopper’s prompt.
Product summary
Start with a clear description that includes the most basic information about the product:
- What the product is
- Who it’s for
- The primary problem it solves
Specific attributes
Include the detailed information a knowledgeable sales rep would use to recommend your product with confidence. Use your best judgment to highlight the attributes that matter most for your category:
- Materials: Exact ingredients or raw materials, including percentages where they matter (e.g., 100% organic cotton, 2% salicylic acid)
- Origin and manufacturing: Where it’s made, who makes it, and the exact process used (e.g., garment-washed, hand-knit)
- Sensory qualities: Literal texture, weight, finish, and feel (e.g., matte finish, heavyweight 400 GSM)
- Fit and dimensions: Precise measurements, sizing charts with conversions, and specific compatibility rules
- Claims with proof: Back up descriptors with performance data, certifications, or clinical results
- Use cases: Where, when, or how the product is best used, including the needs or situations it’s designed to support
- Key features: The most important capabilities or design elements that define how the product works and what sets it apart
Reviews and feedback
Surface real-world customer reviews on the product page so agents can validate that your products live up to their claims.
- Ask for specifics: Choose a review platform that lets you ask customers about the attributes that matter most for your category, such as fit, durability, texture, performance, or results.
- Show review text on the page: Don’t rely on screenshots or third-party widgets. Written review text makes it easier for agents to extract specific details and validate claims.
Pre-and post-purchase FAQs
Use FAQs to answer the practical questions that shape buyer confidence. Including them on your product page gives agents a place to resolve concerns, confirm a strong match, and help close the sale.
- Usage and compatibility: How to use it, how often to use it, what it works with, and any limitations or sensitivities.
- Returns and exchanges: Return window, who pays return shipping, and refund or exchange eligibility.
- Warranty and repairs: What’s covered if the product breaks, and for how long.
- Troubleshooting and support: What to do if the product arrives damaged, doesn’t work as expected, or needs support.
In addition to including product-specific FAQs on product pages, Shopify's Knowledge Base app can help you control the general information agents share when shoppers ask about your store.
3. Use product titles that describe what the product is
The product title is one of the primary signals agents use to evaluate relevance. Titles should be descriptive enough to identify the product and distinguish it from similar products, including competitors’ offerings.
Do:
- Limit your product title to 75 characters.
- Front-load titles with the most important information.
- Choose plain words that shoppers would use.
- Include the product’s recognized name or model when shoppers use it to find the item.
- Include the brand name when it adds useful context.
- For technical and hardware goods, include the model number in parentheses.
This example shows what to include in a product title, not how it may appear in an AI chat.
Don’t:
- Bury identifying information in promotional copy
- Add apparel SKUs to your product titles—they belong in backend database fields.
- Format in all-caps, use stylized unicode fonts, or emojis.
This example shows what to avoid in a product title, not how it may appear in an AI chat.
4. Write descriptive image alt text
Alt text is one of the primary text signals agents use to interpret what your images show and connect them to the rest of your product information.
Your image alt text should:
- Describe the product, its visible attributes, and the camera angle in natural language
- Be specific enough to distinguish the image from other photos in your catalog
Alt text plays a crucial role in web accessibility. For more information, read How To Write and Add Image Alt Text.
If you’re on Shopify, here’s how to edit your existing image alt text.
Your product details are your edge
Agentic commerce rewards the brands that know their products best. The details that have always made your product worth choosing can also support agentic discovery. The key is making sure agents know what they are and where to find them.
Ready to start? Shopify Catalog handles the technical layer, structuring your product data for AI agents while you focus on the work only you can do.
¹ PYMNTS, "What Happens to Stores When AI Agents Do the Shopping?" February 2026.
