Google AI Shopping: How to Optimize Your Product Data
Google AI shopping picks products from your data. See the new Merchant Center AI report sections and a checklist to fix titles, attributes and descriptions.
Google AI shopping now decides which products appear when a shopper asks a full question instead of typing two keywords, and it picks them mostly from your product data: titles, descriptions, attributes, images and reviews. Google has just added three new sections to its Merchant Center AI report that show exactly which words and attributes it wants to see. This guide explains what changed and gives you a practical checklist to clean up your catalog before the Q4 rush, whether you sell in the Gulf or ship worldwide.
What Google just changed in Merchant Center
On September 9, 2026, Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google added three sections to the AI performance insights report in Merchant Center. The report first launched in July and began expanding to more regions in early September. The three new sections are:
- AI Search intent: shows how your products match the searches shoppers make in Google’s AI experiences.
- AI Search terms: recommends popular terms to include in the descriptions of products that already show up in AI searches.
- AI attributes: recommends missing product attributes that appear in AI searches, so you can fill the gaps in your listings.
According to Google’s Merchant Center help page, the report covers organic visibility (free listings, not paid ads) in AI Mode and AI Overviews. It groups data by shopping stage (Discovery, Evaluation and Ready to buy) and shows your share of voice against similar brands. You find it under Analytics, then Products, then the AI performance tab.
One important limit for Gulf merchants: the help page says the report currently covers English-language queries in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the United States only. If your store sells mainly inside Saudi Arabia, you may not see the report yet. That does not make the update irrelevant. It tells you, in Google’s own words, what its AI shopping systems look for, and those signals apply to every product feed.
Why Google AI shopping rewards product data, not keyword stuffing
Classic product SEO was about ranking one page for one phrase. AI shopping works differently. A shopper asks something like “a fast wireless charger that works for my phone, earbuds and watch at the same time,” and Google assembles an answer from products whose data clearly matches each part of that request.
A Shopify guide to Google AI shopping published in April 2026 describes how AI Mode shows curated product panels with attributes, pricing, reviews and availability, and it recommends clear, specific titles over keyword-stuffed ones. It also stresses complete product identifiers, use-case context in descriptions, high-resolution images from several angles, and customer reviews. The new Merchant Center sections confirm the same direction: Google now tells merchants which terms and attributes are missing.
| Old product SEO habit | What AI shopping needs instead |
|---|---|
| Repeat one keyword several times in the title | A clear title with product type, key feature and compatibility |
| Short, generic description copied from the supplier | A description that explains who the product is for and how it is used |
| Attributes left empty (color, material, size) | Every relevant attribute filled in, consistently |
| One small image | Sharp images from several angles |
| Reviews treated as optional | Reviews collected actively, because they help products get matched |
A product data checklist for Google AI shopping
Whether your store runs on Salla (get a 10% discount with the code F-GTFFU30M) or Shopify, the work is the same: the data you publish on your product pages and send to Google is what AI shopping reads. Work through these steps on your 20 best-selling or most promising products first, then roll the pattern out to the rest of the catalog.
- Rewrite titles with a clear structure. Use product type, then the main feature, then compatibility or size, then color or material. A title like “Magnetic 3-in-1 Wireless Charger for Phone, Earbuds and Watch, Black” answers more questions than “Best Charger Fast Charger Wireless.”
- Fill every relevant attribute. Color, material, size, compatibility, gender and age group where they apply. The new AI attributes section exists because missing attributes cost visibility.
- Write descriptions around real use cases. Explain who the product is for, the problem it solves and the situation it fits: travel, the office, the car, a gift. Put the most important facts in the first two sentences.
- Use the words shoppers use. If you can access the AI Search terms section, add the recommended terms naturally. If you cannot, read your customer questions and reviews and reuse the phrases buyers write themselves.
- Add product identifiers where they exist. Include GTINs or manufacturer part numbers when your supplier provides them, and never invent them.
- Upgrade images. Several clear angles on a clean background, plus one image showing the product in use.
- Keep price and availability in sync. An AI answer that shows an out-of-stock product or an old price loses the sale and the shopper’s trust.
- Collect reviews after every delivered order. A short follow-up message asking for a rating is enough to start.
- Check your feed for disapprovals weekly. Fix rejected products quickly, especially before White Friday and 11.11.
Where to start if you have hundreds of products
Do not try to rewrite everything in one weekend. Pick one category, fix titles and attributes there, and compare clicks and orders after a few weeks. If the numbers improve, apply the same template to the next category. If you also run paid campaigns, the same clean data helps there too; our guide to the Google Ads AI Max upgrade explains why.
What this means for Gulf and cross-border merchants
Many Gulf stores sell in Arabic and English at the same time. Because Google’s report is currently limited to English queries in five countries, merchants who also sell to English-speaking shoppers or ship abroad get the clearest benefit today. But the habits it rewards, such as complete attributes, precise titles and useful descriptions, are good practice in every language. Keep your Arabic and English product data consistent: the same attributes, the same key features and the same prices, so no version of your listing contradicts another.
AI discovery is also spreading beyond Google. If you sell on several platforms, our guide to Shopify Agentic Storefronts shows how the same product data is starting to power AI shopping assistants on other channels. Good data built once pays off across all of them.
A strong storefront still matters, because AI answers send shoppers to your product pages to finish the purchase. If your theme is slow or your product pages are thin, our Salla store design service and Shopify store design service can help you fix the foundation before peak season.
How MaXab.ai helps you prepare product data for AI shopping
MaXab.ai is an AI-powered dropshipping app that connects directly to Salla stores. You browse a catalog of more than 10,000 products, which is updated continuously with new products, and add any of them to your store in one click, with no inventory and no upfront stock cost. What makes it different from traditional dropshipping apps is that MaXab.ai acts as a real intermediary: it buys the product from the supplier and follows each order until it reaches your end customer, so you do not deal with the supplier or the shipping yourself.
For AI shopping, the most useful part is the content layer. MaXab.ai’s AI writes product titles, product descriptions and SEO articles in your brand’s voice, and this is available now. That gives you a clean, structured starting point for every imported product instead of a raw supplier description. The Professional plan adds AI SEO optimization, 4 to 6 SEO articles a month, 10 to 20 AI product images a month and one minute of AI ad video a month.
The catalog is also rich in products that AI shoppers describe in detail. Featured products are shipped directly from China to your customers, including sections such as Mobile Electronics (for example magnetic 3-in-1 wireless chargers and power banks), Smart Devices (smart watches and smart rings for health and sleep tracking) and Audio (wireless earbuds and noise-cancelling headphones). If you prefer products stocked inside Saudi Arabia, the Women’s Bags and Men’s Wallets and Bags sections are held locally. You can compare plans on the MaXab.ai pricing section.
Frequently asked questions
Can Saudi merchants see the AI performance report?
According to Google’s help page, the report currently covers English-language queries in Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the United States. Merchants who sell only inside Saudi Arabia may not see it yet, but the same data improvements still apply to their listings.
Does this report include my paid ads?
No. Google says the report focuses on organic AI traffic from free listings in AI Mode and AI Overviews, not on paid ads.
Should I rewrite all my product titles at once?
No. Start with one category or your top 20 products, measure the result, then apply the same title and attribute template to the rest. This lowers the risk and shows you what works for your store.
Get your catalog ready before peak season
Google AI shopping is moving product discovery from keywords to complete, trustworthy product data, and Google is now showing merchants exactly which terms and attributes they are missing. Fix your titles, fill your attributes, write useful descriptions and keep prices in sync before White Friday and 11.11 arrive. If you want a faster start, try MaXab.ai to import ready-to-sell products into your Salla store and let AI draft the product content for you.
