By Steve Merrill, Founder of WRKNG Digital — August 6, 2026
Which product feed fields do AI shopping agents read first?
Title, GTIN, brand, product type, price, and availability. Then color, size, material, and condition. Fill those ten and an agent can actually match your product to what a buyer asked for.
An agent reads the feed before it reads your page. Every blank field is a reason to pass on you. The Google Merchant Center product data spec defines these fields, and AI shopping agents lean on the same ones. Here are the ten in the order they matter.
1. Product title
The single most important field. Write it the way a buyer says it out loud, with brand, product type, and one defining attribute first. "Ridgeline Waterproof Hiking Boots" beats "The Trailblazer."
2. GTIN
The global identifier that lets an agent match your product to a known item. For branded goods, a valid GTIN builds confidence. Missing it makes the agent work harder to trust you.
3. Brand
Agents filter and match by brand constantly. Leave it blank and you drop out of any brand-specific request. Fill it on every product, even your own house label.
4. Product type and category
This tells the agent what the item actually is. A precise category maps you to the right buyer questions. Vague or missing categories get you matched to nothing.
5. Price
Buyers ask for products "under $150." Price is how the agent honors that filter. It also has to match your live page exactly, or the agent drops the product.
6. Availability
Agents won't recommend what they think is out of stock. Keep availability accurate in real time. A stale "out of stock" hides a product you could actually sell.
7. Color
A common buyer filter and a common blank field. "Show me the charcoal one" only works if color is populated. Use plain color names, not marketing names like "Midnight Whisper."
8. Size
Essential for apparel, footwear, and anything with fit. The agent needs to match "size 11" to a real variant. Incomplete size data means you miss size-specific requests entirely.
9. Material
More important than owners think. "Waterproof," "merino wool," "stainless steel" are all material signals buyers search by. Fill it and you match a whole set of attribute-based requests.
10. Condition
New, used, or refurbished. Quick to fill and often overlooked. For any store selling anything but new, it decides whether you match the buyer's intent at all.
Frequently asked questions
Which fields matter most?
Title, GTIN, brand, product type, price, and availability first, then color, size, material, and condition.
Do I need a GTIN?
For branded and manufactured products, yes. For custom items without one, fill the other fields thoroughly.
How do I fill these on Shopify?
Use native fields, variants, and metafields, then export a complete feed through Google Merchant Center. Start with top sellers.
The bottom line
AI shopping agents pick products they can read. These ten fields are the read. Fill them on your top sellers and the same catalog starts showing up in AI answers.
We clean and complete product feeds for Shopify and DTC stores. See how it works at WRKNG Digital's agentic commerce page.
