By Steve Merrill, Founder of WRKNG Digital — October 17, 2026
Which product feed fields does AI check before recommending you?
AI checks the fields that let it read your product, verify it, and match it to what a shopper asked for. Seven fields do most of the work. If these are complete and consistent, you are readable. If they are blank or conflicting, you get skipped.
1. Title
The title tells the model what the thing actually is. Write it plain and specific, not clever. "Men's merino wool base layer, long sleeve" beats a branded slogan every time.
2. Price
Price has to be machine-readable and live. Put it in Offer markup so an assistant can read and verify it without rendering your page.
3. Availability
Assistants avoid recommending anything that might be sold out. An accurate, fast-syncing availability field keeps you in the running instead of filtered out.
4. Product identifiers
GTIN and MPN tie your product to a known catalog entry the model can confirm. Shopify's product details docs show where these live. Without them, you are an unverified claim.
5. Description
The description is where the model learns the details that match a specific request. Say what it is, what it is made of, and who it is for. Skip the marketing adjectives.
6. Brand
A consistent brand field connects your product to your identity across the web. When your brand data matches everywhere, the model has more to trust.
7. Image with alt text
The image and its alt text describe the product in a form both people and machines read. Google's product data guidance treats clear images as part of a complete record.
Here's the bottom line: these seven are not optional extras. They are the difference between a product a model can recommend and one it cannot even see.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which product feed field matters most for AI?
Price and availability in machine-readable Offer markup, because an assistant has to verify them before it will recommend you.
Why do product identifiers matter in a feed?
GTINs and MPNs tie your product to a known catalog entry the model can confirm. Without them you stay an unverified claim.
Does image alt text affect AI recommendations?
Yes. Alt text describes the product in words a model reads, so clear, plain alt text is part of a complete, recommendable product record.
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