Google AI Shopping Features: How to Maximize Your Visibility

Google AI shopping features are changing how consumers discover and buy products online. Alongside AI answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity, Google AI mode offers shopping features to make product discovery, research, and purchasing faster and more intuitive. These features are improving the shopping experience, as almost one-third of consumers say AI makes online shopping feel less overwhelming, according to survey data compiled by Omnisend.

In 2025, Google launched a new suite of shopping features, including conversational product discovery and virtual try-on. For merchants to maximize visibility in these AI-driven results, complete, well-structured product data is essential.

This article covers the key Google AI Shopping features, how they work across the entire customer life cycle, and the steps to prepare your store for agentic checkout, AI Mode, and more.

What is Google AI shopping?

Google AI Shopping refers to a set of AI-powered shopping experiences across Google Search (including AI Mode), the Shopping tab, and Google’s AI assistant app, Gemini. These experiences include conversational product discovery, virtual try-on, and emerging features like agentic checkout, where AI can complete checkout steps on a shopper’s behalf with prior consent.

With Shopify Agentic Storefronts (currently rolling out in early access), merchants can sell directly in Google AI Mode and the Gemini app, allowing shoppers to move from conversation to checkout without leaving the experience. Availability may vary; check your Shopify Admin for access.

In AI Mode, shoppers can describe what they’re looking for in natural language. A query like, “I’m looking for a cute travel bag for a weekend trip” returns personalized, organized responses combining product information, visuals, pricing, reviews, and availability. Similar AI-generated product responses are also appearing in parts of the Shopping tab as Google expands these capabilities.

Beyond conversational search, Google AI Shopping includes visualization and purchasing tools. Virtual try-on allows shoppers to preview how certain products may look on them before purchasing. Agentic checkout enables Google to complete a purchase on a shopper’s behalf after they confirm.

These experiences rely on product data in Google Merchant Center, a free tool where ecommerce and brick-and-mortar store owners create and manage their product listings across Google platforms. That data feeds into Google’s Shopping Graph—the dataset behind Google’s product results, containing more than 50 billion listings and interpreted using Google’s Gemini AI models.

Google AI shopping features

• Visual discovery
• Virtual try-on
• Agentic checkout
• Conversational shopping in the Gemini app

Google AI Shopping includes features that span the entire customer life cycle, from initial product discovery through checkout. Here’s how these features work and what they mean for merchants:

Visual discovery

In AI Mode, results are presented as curated product panels and summaries rather than a traditional ranked list of links. A query like “backpack for a hiking trip in the Pacific Northwest” may generate product suggestions that reflect attributes such as weather resistance, size, and materials—alongside pricing, reviews, and availability. 

Shoppers can refine their query through conversation with the AI, selecting suggested follow-up prompts or adding new details.

AI Mode changes how products compete compared to traditional keyword-driven search engine results pages (SERPS). What users see is determined in part by how well your product attributes and reviews align with what the shopper is actually looking for. 

“It’s not just about squeezing keywords on a web page,” says Paul Tran, founder of men’s grooming brand Manscaped, on an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast. He describes a future where a shopper asks an AI, “What’s the best trimmer out there?” and receives a single synthesized answer rather than a list of links that rank for the keyword phrase “best beard trimmer.” That shift is already underway.

Virtual try-on

Google’s virtual try-on uses AI-generated images to show how certain products may look on different body types or in a space before purchase. For apparel, shoppers can upload their own photos and see how the item looks on their body, including how it fits and drapes. In categories like furniture and home décor, shoppers can use their phone’s camera to preview how a product might look in their space. 

Steve Bauer, vice president of ecommerce and digital at furniture retailer Arhaus, explains the importance of visualization in an interview with Shopify. Arhaus sells customizable furniture in hundreds of fabric options, so the ability to “try on” options with AI helps customers preview custom products and build confidence before buying. “We want customers to feel like, ‘Wow, that sofa, that chair, that table really is sitting in my space,’” Steve says.

Agentic checkout

Agentic checkout refers to AI systems, sometimes described as AI agents, that can initiate and complete a purchase on a shopper’s behalf after the shopper confirms purchase details. Google’s agentic checkout capability, which is currently rolling out in the US and may not be available for all merchants, is powered by the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard co-developed by Shopify and Google. Shopify stores are UCP-enabled by default, so no additional setup is required to support agentic checkout.

For example, a shopper can track a product’s price and receive a notification when it hits a predetermined target. If the shopper chooses to buy, Google can add the item to the merchant’s cart and securely complete the checkout using Google Pay.

Agentic checkout reflects the “agnostic commerce” trend, where transactions happen across platforms rather than in a single storefront. Sean Frank, CEO of the men’s accessory brand Ridge, sees commerce moving in this direction. 

“Either people are going to be checking out on ChatGPT, or TikTok Shop, or your Shopify store, or Amazon,” he says on an episode of Shopify Masters.

Conversational shopping in the Gemini app

The Gemini app extends Google’s AI shopping into a chat-based assistant interface that can function like a shopping agent. Shoppers can brainstorm gift ideas, create shopping lists, or request specific recommendations and then receive product listings with pricing and availability.

With Shopify Agentic Storefronts enabled, shoppers can move from conversation to checkout directly in the Gemini App. 

How to prepare your business for Google AI shopping

1. Install the Google & YouTube channel
2. Complete your product data and identifiers
3. Create high-quality product listings
4. Build trust through reviews
5. Monitor your product feed and fix disapprovals

For Shopify merchants, getting started with Google AI Shopping doesn’t require a custom integration. Shopify’s product data feed lets you sync your full catalog to Google automatically. Updates to pricing, availability, and product data automatically update in Google Merchant Center and can appear across AI Mode, virtual try-on, and agentic checkout.

The steps below help you optimize what Google’s AI sees and increase the likelihood that your products appear in these new shopping experiences. Once you’ve completed them, you can explore enabling Agentic Storefronts (where available), which allow AI assistants like the Gemini app to complete purchases directly from your store.

1. Install the Google & YouTube channel

The Google & YouTube sales channel in Shopify syncs your products and store data with your Google Merchant Center account. This connection makes your catalog eligible to appear across Google’s ecosystem, including Google Shopping, Google Search, Google Images, and Google Lens (Google’s visual search tool). It also enables paid campaigns like Performance Max if you choose to run ads. 

Install the Google & YouTube sales channel from the Shopify App Store, connect your Google account, and sync your product feed.

2. Complete your product data and identifiers

Google AI Shopping relies on detailed data to understand your products. A human shopper can look at a photo and guess that a down jacket is warm; an AI needs the fill power, shell material, and temperature rating explicitly stated in your product feed. Audit your catalog and aim to have every required and recommended field filled for each listing. If a field is empty, the AI may deprioritize or exclude your product in certain results.

Google also requires certain classification fields to categorize your products, including Google product categories and unique identifiers like GTINs (Global Trade Item Numbers, such as barcodes) or MPNs (Manufacturer Part Numbers). These identifiers help Google understand what your product is and how it relates to similar items. Without them, your product may be less likely to appear in relevant queries. The Google & YouTube channel in Shopify helps you add this information during the sync process.

3. Create high-quality product listings

Google’s AI relies on the content in your product listings, including titles, product descriptions, and images, to match your product to a shopper’s intent. 

Product titles work differently in AI shopping. In traditional search, a title like “Women’s Winter Parka Waterproof Insulated Coat Black Hooded Warm Jacket” could rank well because it’s packed with searchable terms. In AI-powered shopping results, clarity about what the product is and what differentiates it matters more than keyword stacking. A title like “Patagonia Down Parka, Waterproof, 600-Fill, Hooded” tells the AI exactly what it needs: the brand, the product type, and the key differentiating features.

Your product descriptions provide the additional context Google’s AI needs to match your product to shopper intent. Instead of listing specs alone, describe when, where, and how someone would actually use the product. For example, rather than “women’s parka, polyester fill,” try “wind-resistant insulated parka built for daily cold-weather wear—deep pockets, adjustable hood, and a water-resistant shell that handles winter walks and commutes.” The more context you provide, the better positioned your product is to match nuanced shopper queries. 

Images are another key part of your product listing. For strong performance in AI-powered visual results and Google’s virtual try-on, use high-resolution images with plain or neutral backgrounds and capture multiple angles of your product. For apparel, show the item on different body types. 

4. Build trust through reviews

Google’s AI-powered shopping results consider not only product attributes but also customer reviews and ratings. Insights, such as how a fabric feels on skin or how durable a bag is after months of use, can help inform how products appear in comparison tables and recommendations. 

Encourage customers to leave reviews, respond to their feedback, and consider using a product reviews app like Judge.me to automate review requests and help make your ratings eligible to appear in Google Shopping results.

5. Monitor your product feed and fix disapprovals

Getting your products into Google Merchant Center is not a one-time task. Google regularly reviews product data, and listings that don’t comply with its product data specifications can be disapproved and removed from shopping ads and free listings, which may prevent them from appearing in AI-powered results.

Disapprovals appear in your Google Merchant Center account under the “Diagnostics” tab. Sync errors between Shopify and Google are flagged in the Google & YouTube channel overview in your Shopify admin.

Common causes of disapproval include price mismatches between your store and your feed, missing or incorrect product identifiers, generic or placeholder images, and incomplete product data. In severe cases, repeated data quality issues can trigger account-level warnings or even suspension.

Check the health of your feed regularly. When issues appear, correct the product data in your Shopify Admin and sync the changes again. Fixing disapprovals quickly keeps your listings eligible and prevents small issues from compounding into larger problems.