What is GTIN and can you also review our website to see if we have errors?
Reviewing a website is beyond the scope of this AMA, this AMA is for answering questions, unfortunately not analyzing a website.
A GTIN is a barcode, that is stamped on your product. If you make your own products, this usually does not exist and it is safe to ignore.
If you want to improve your Google AI overviews, have a look at the below details.
To increase visibility in Google’s AI surfaces (AI Overviews, AI Mode, and conversational shopping), the highest-impact lever for products is your Google Merchant Center product data. Google’s AI shopping answers are built from the Shopping Graph, which is fed by your product feed, so the more complete and structured your data, the more accurately AI systems can understand, represent, and recommend your products when shoppers ask questions in natural language.
I’ve made a video guide covering this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Ay8iy8v0A
Start with these two established attributes:
Product Highlight [product_highlight] : short bullet-style selling points AI can quote directly: Product highlight [product_highlight] - Google Merchant Center Help
Product Detail [product_detail] : structured technical specs (section/name/value), ideal for spec-driven questions: Product detail [product_detail] - Google Merchant Center Help
Then add the new conversational attributes, which Google rolled out specifically to help AI systems and conversational agents understand product nuances. They’re optional, submitted via a supplemental feed, primary feed, or the Merchant API, and adding them won’t affect the approval status of your existing products:
Question and Answer [question_and_answer] : arguably the highest-leverage one. FAQ pairs in plain language directly match how people ask AI (“does it have a headphone jack?”). If your product pages already have FAQs, most of this data exists, it just needs mapping: Question and answer [question_and_answer] - Google Merchant Center Help
Variant Option [variant_option] : lets you declare variant dimensions beyond the standard color/size/material set (e.g. “graphics card”, “scent”, “wattage”), so AI doesn’t have to guess variant differences from titles. Used together with item_group_id: Variant option [variant_option] - Google Merchant Center Help
Item Group Title [item_group_title] : a clean shared title for the whole variant family, so AI can present the product group first, then drill into a specific variant: Item group title [item_group_title] - Google Merchant Center Help
Related Products [related_product] : declares accessories, spare parts, substitutes, “often bought with” relationships, which powers cross-sell answers like “what accessories work with this”: Related product [related_product] - Google Merchant Center Help
Document Link [document_link] : URLs to hosted PDFs (manuals, spec sheets, assembly guides, ingredient lists) that AI agents can reference for detailed questions your description doesn’t cover. Most valuable for electronics, appliances, furniture, tools: Document link [document_link] - Google Merchant Center Help
Popularity Rank [popularity_rank] : a 0–100 value ranking each product against the rest of YOUR catalog, helping AI answer “best” and “most popular” queries. Note this ranks your own products against each other, not against competitors, setting everything to 100 won’t help. Keep it updated as sales data changes: Popularity rank [popularity_rank] - Google Merchant Center Help
A few practical tips:
1. Don’t duplicate data, Google explicitly says not to repeat information already in description, product_highlight, or product_detail inside the conversational attributes.
2. Keep feed and landing page consistent, the details in your feed must match what’s shown on the product page.
3. If your catalog is large, start with your top-selling SKUs: question_and_answer and popularity_rank first, then variant_option + item_group_title if you sell variants.
And beyond these, aim for overall feed completeness, the full product data specification is here, and every accurately filled attribute is another fact AI systems can use: Product data specification - Google Merchant Center Help
Can you please explain further “2. Keep feed and landing page consistent, the details in your feed must match what’s shown on the product page.”
If I’m selling (my 2 main product categories) 1. print-on-demand t-shirts where the suppliers print and ship them for me, and 2. I also print/ship the wall art myself, 3. mugs 4. hats. 5. tote bags. Do you think my catalog is large enough and what is SKU, do I need them?
That means, ensure that you accurately describe what you sell. For example don’t say you sell a watercup in the data feed, and on the product landing page its a t shirt.
To be eligable for any Google Shopping platform, you just need 1 product, so anything more than 1 is fine.
SKU is irrelevant, but SKU stands for stock keeping unit, this is a value identifier you use for your own stock keeping.
Let’s say you sell a Nike Prime Black T-shirt in size Large. You could use an SKU that is nike-prime-b-l
But this value has no influence or relevance to Google Shopping. So if you want to use it or not, is up to you, it’s just your own internal stock keeping identifier for that specific product.
@EmmanuelFlossie Can you please explain further "Don’t duplicate data, Google explicitly says not to repeat information already in description, product_highlight, or product_detail inside the conversational attributes.
This means, if in the description and for example the product highlight. Don’t have the same exact sentence, or sentences. Have information that is not a replication of the one or the other.
For example if in the description, you have a sentence that says: presented in a luxurious gift box with a personalised gift card included
Don’t have this same exact sentence in the product highlight.
For examples, click on each linked document I shared, it provides examples how it will look like.
For example for product highlight, it gives you the following example: “Supports thousands of apps, including Netflix, YouTube, HBO Now, Spotify, Showtime, Pandora, Google Play Movies”,“1080p maximum display resolution”,“Supports both 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz Wi-Fi networks”,“Supports iOS, MacOS, Windows, ChromeOS and Android devices”
Each recommened attribute I list, has examples.
@EmmanuelFlossie Can you please give some examples for t-shirts or wall art, when you mentioned-" Then add the new conversational attributes, which Google rolled out specifically to help AI systems and conversational agents understand product nuances. They’re optional, submitted via a supplemental feed, primary feed, or the Merchant API, and adding them won’t affect the approval status of your existing products:"
If your question is how to submit these values, have a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9neaNemcws
If you are asking how to structure it, have a look at the details below. And if you need more technical info, kindly click on each documentation I referenced in my first reply. It shows examples, rules, guidelines, etc.
Imagine you sell a “Retro Sunset Cat” t-shirt in 3 colors × 5 sizes, and a “Retro Sunset Cat” wall art print in 3 sizes, framed or unframed. Here’s what each attribute could look like (shown in the simple text format you’d use in a Google Sheet supplemental feed, one cell per attribute):
1. Product Highlight [product_highlight] : short selling points, one per entry (each under 150 characters):
T-shirt:
Original artwork designed in-house, not licensed clip art100% ring-spun cotton, pre-shrunkWater-based eco inks that won't crack or fade
Wall art:
Printed on 200gsm archival matte paperFade-resistant pigment inks rated 75+ yearsShips flat in rigid packaging, not rolled in a tube
2. Product Detail [product_detail] : structured specs in section:name:value format:
T-shirt: Fabric:Material:100% cotton, Fabric:Weight:180gsm, Fit:Style:Unisex regular fit, Care:Washing:Machine wash cold inside out
Wall art: Print:Paper:Archival matte 200gsm, Print:Ink:Pigment-based, Dimensions:Border:0.25 inch white border, Frame:Material:Solid oak
3. Question and Answer [question_and_answer] : FAQ pairs in plain language, exactly how people ask AI:
T-shirt:
- Q:
Does this t-shirt shrink after washing?A:No, the fabric is pre-shrunk. Wash cold and hang dry for best results. - Q:
Is the print on the front or back?A:The design is printed on the front only. - Q:
Do the shirts run small?A:They run true to size with a unisex fit. Size down for a slimmer fit.
Wall art:
- Q:
Does the print come with a frame?A:Framed and unframed options are available. Unframed prints fit standard frame sizes. - Q:
Is the print ready to hang?A:Framed versions arrive with hanging hardware attached. Unframed prints need a frame.
4. Variant Option [variant_option], Item Group Title [item_group_title] and Item Group ID : these three work together. Each variant is its own row in your feed, all sharing one item_group_id, and every variant in the group must declare the same set of option names:
T-shirt, navy medium:
- item_group_id:
CAT-TEE - item_group_title:
Retro Sunset Cat T-Shirt - variant_option:
color:Navy,size:M
T-shirt, black large: same item_group_id and item_group_title, but variant_option: color:Black,size:L
Wall art, 12Ă—16 framed:
- item_group_id:
CAT-ART - item_group_title:
Retro Sunset Cat Art Print - variant_option:
size:12x16 in,frame:Oak framed
Wall art, 18Ă—24 unframed: variant_option: size:18x24 in,frame:Unframed
Note the wall art example is where this attribute earns its keep — “frame” isn’t a standard Google attribute, so declaring it stops AI from having to guess the difference from your titles. Also note: this describes how the variants differ; your Shopify SKUs are the unique id for each row.
5. Related Product [related_product] : format is relationship_type:identifier_type:identifier, where the identifier is the other product’s ID in your feed:
On the t-shirt: often_bought_with:id:CAT-MUG-11OZ, often_bought_with:id:CAT-TOTE
On the unframed wall art: accessory:id:OAK-FRAME-12x16, substitute:id:CAT-ART-CANVAS-12x16
This is what powers answers like “what goes with this print?”, AI can suggest your matching mug or the frame instead of a competitor’s.
6. Document Link [document_link] : links to hosted PDFs. Honestly, for apparel and prints this one is low priority (it shines for electronics and furniture). But if you have one, e.g. for framed art: a PDF hanging/care guide hosted on your site. Skip it otherwise.
7. Popularity Rank [popularity_rank] : a 0–100 score ranking each product within your own catalog:
If the cat t-shirt is your #1 seller: 98. The wall art sells moderately: 65. A slow-moving tote: 20.
This lets AI answer “what’s this shop’s most popular design?” correctly. Two things to remember: it’s relative to your own products only (setting everything to 100 does nothing), and you should refresh it as your sales change.
@EmmanuelFlossie I had a brick-and-mortar booths where I sold my art prints and some t-shirts, however the Store owner decided to close the store last April, my brand is in Google Map and I have a Google Merchant account, I see message from Google to get my brand “Verified”, do I still need to get verified if I mainly sell now online, although I accept wholesale orders and print them in my house.
I think you can still the brand management, without a Google Business Profile. I say, I think, because this is something handled by the merchant itself, I only edit it after they have set it up. So I am unsure if it’s required to be linked to Google Business Profile or not. (I don’t think it is)
You should be able to do this here: Promote Your Business with Merchant Center - Google for Retail
But to use Google Merchant Center, no you don’t need a Google Business Profile.
@EmmanuelFlossie Thank you so much Emmanuel, you’re very helpful and supportive, I aprreciate you!
My pleasure, have a lovely day ahead.