Hey {{first_name}},
You might have seen Shopify and Google announce their new Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) this week.
Great… just what we all need…
Another thing to worry about with AI.
TL;DR
UCP is the standard Google + Shopify are using to power buying inside AI experiences (like Google AI Mode and Gemini).
And the good news, this isn’t something you need to “build”.
It’s something you either get included in… or you don’t.
And that depends almost entirely on how clean, clear, and trustworthy your product and policy data is.
What’s happening right now
Google is rolling this out across AI Mode in Search and Gemini.
Product discovery happens via Google Merchant Center shopping feeds.
Embedded checkout is currently available to a small group of approved merchants and is being rolled out gradually.
On the Shopify side, they are using Shopify Catalog as their main data source that feeds AI channels (including the Shop app) as these partnerships expand.
But it’s not the only way discovery happens.
Your products can still be discovered via normal web crawling and existing Google product feeds
Lastly, automatic inclusion in Shopify Catalog currently requires shipping to the US or Canada.
So if you don’t ship to those regions, you’ll likely miss the first wave.
Things you can do now…
Rename your variants. Use the words and options people would actually search for.
Tidy up your product pages. Titles, key details, benefits, images, barcodes/GTINs if you have them. If it’s unclear to a human, AI won’t know what to do with it either.
Make shipping times and return policies clear. Easy to find on the product page, not on separate pages or popups.
Sort out your FAQs. I haven’t used this before, but apparently, the Shopify Knowledge Base allows you to define clear answers regarding shipping, returns, and sizing, so AI doesn’t guess.
Ensure your reviews are clearly visible on product pages. Not hidden behind tabs, and ensure the review schema is set up correctly.
And that is about it for now.
Chat soon,
Peter
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