AI Visibility for Your Online Store
We check whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity fetch your online store, understand it, and mention it in their answers – and fix the causes if they don't. For retailers and manufacturers with their own store. You get a measured baseline, a prioritized action plan, and content that models can reuse.
Why Your Store Is Missing From AI Answers
More and more users put their buying questions to an AI assistant instead of a search engine: "Which bike lock is the most secure?" or "Find me a backpack made from recycled material under €100". The answer names a few stores – or none.
When a store is missing there, it usually comes down to one of four causes: a bot shield, a CDN rule, or the robots.txt blocks the AI crawlers. The pages do not answer the question in the opening sentences but somewhere further down. The actual product information only exists in catalogues and PDFs, not on the website. Or there are no third-party sources – reviews, trade media, directories – against which the model can check your claims.
Traditional SEO remains the foundation: AI systems largely use the same search indexes and signals. AI visibility builds on it and closes the four gaps that SEO does not cover.
AI Visibility: SEO as the Foundation, Four Building Blocks on Top
AI systems largely use the same signals as search engines. A store that is not found on Google is rarely mentioned in AI answers either. On top of that come four factors that traditional SEO does not cover.
Traditional SEO
- → Optimization for rankings on Google and Bing
- → Crawlability, content, keywords, backlinks
- → Goal: visibility in the search results
- → User clicks on a search result
AI Visibility
- → Builds on SEO: same indexes, same crawlability
- → In addition: access for AI crawlers, answer-first content, product data, third-party sources
- → Goal: be mentioned and described correctly in AI answers
- → User gets the answer – often without a click
Our 5-Phase Approach to AI Visibility
From crawler access to measurement through the prompt set and your customers' own words.
Crawler Access and Technical Readability
We check whether AI crawlers can fetch your store at all: robots.txt, CDN and firewall rules, CMS settings, and how the pages render. What a crawler cannot load, no model can mention.
AI System Strategy and Prompt Set
We define which AI systems matter for your audience and build a fixed prompt set – split into questions that include your brand name and questions that do not, such as product category or problem.
Source Analysis
We evaluate which pages the models cite in their answers and what they claim about your brand. This shows where the gaps and incorrect statements are and which sources you can influence yourself.
Content and Product Data
Answer first: every page answers its core question in the opening sentences, with your own knowledge instead of interchangeable copy. Information from catalogues and PDFs moves onto the website, product data feeds are cleaned up, and Schema.org is added – for rich results, merchant feeds, and AI agents.
Third-Party Sources and Measurement
Review profiles, trade media, and YouTube give the models outside confirmation. We measure through the prompt set and through your customers' own words: "How did you hear about us?" in the contact form or the shipping confirmation email.
Technical and Content Optimizations
What we actually work on – and what we deliberately treat as a side topic.
Schema.org Markup
Product, Offer, FAQ, Organization – structured data for rich results, merchant feeds, and AI agents. Whether a page gets mentioned is decided by its content; Schema.org makes the facts machine-readable.
Crawler Access
GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended: we check robots.txt, CDN and firewall rules, and server logs – so the crawlers actually fetch your pages instead of failing at a bot shield.
Answer-First Content
Core statement in the opening sentences, one thought per paragraph, clear headings, and your own knowledge instead of interchangeable copy. This is how models find the passage they can reuse.
Product Data and Feeds
Complete, unambiguous product data in the store and in your feeds for Merchant Center and other channels. Information that so far only lives in catalogues and PDFs moves onto the website.
Third-Party Sources
Review profiles, trade media, industry directories, and YouTube. AI systems cross-check your statements against outside sources – without that confirmation, the brand stays vague in the answers.
llms.txt – a Side Topic
A text file with a company overview in the root directory. Google has stated it does not process the file; no other major provider has confirmed using it. We set it up on request but promise no effect.
Why AI Visibility with Zerosoftware?
AI visibility requires deep understanding of e-commerce, structured data, and AI technology. We bring all three areas together.
E-Commerce Firsthand
We run our own online stores and know the challenges – from product data to conversion.
Deep Shopware Expertise
As a Shopware Bronze Partner, we implement product data feeds, Schema.org, and crawler permissions directly in the shop system – see Shopware development.
AI Know-How in Daily Business
We use AI tools daily – for content, automation, and data processing. Real-world experience, not theory.
Connected, Not Isolated
Clean product data is created in the ERP and PIM, not in the frontend. That is why we connect AI visibility with data synchronisation and store development.
Agentic Commerce: The Next Level
AI visibility is preparation for Agentic Commerce – a future where AI agents autonomously search, compare, and purchase products. Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is leading the way.
Our AI Visibility Services
From analysis through implementation to ongoing support.
AI Audit
Assessment following phases 1 to 3, with a prioritized action plan.
- Crawler access check: robots.txt, CDN, firewall, server logs
- Build and run the branded and unbranded prompt set
- Source analysis: what the models cite, what they say about you
- Check of product data, feeds, and Schema.org
- Competitor comparison in AI responses
- Prioritized action plan
AI Optimization
Implementation of the measures from the audit – technical and editorial.
- Everything from the AI Audit
- Establish crawler permissions and technical readability
- Answer-first content for service, category, and product pages
- Bring catalogue and PDF content onto the website
- Product data feeds and Schema.org (Product, Offer, FAQ, Organization)
- Initiate third-party sources: review profiles, directories, trade media
- Technical implementation in your shop system
AI Monitoring
Ongoing measurement and adjustment of your AI visibility.
- Monthly run of the prompt set with report
- Monitoring in ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity
- Evaluation of "How did you hear about us?" answers from contact form and shipping email
- Keep the source analysis current, correct wrong statements
- Keep product data and structured data up to date
- Quarterly strategy meetings
AI Systems We Optimize For
AI visibility isn't limited to one system. We optimize for all relevant AI platforms.
ChatGPT
OpenAI
Shopping recommendations and product research
Gemini
Direct shopping integration and UCP
Claude
Anthropic
Product research and comparisons
Perplexity
Perplexity AI
Shopping hub and product recommendations
When AI doesn't just recommend, but buys
AI visibility doesn't end at the recommendation. With Agentic Commerce, AI agents buy products on the user's behalf. Shopware has introduced its own features for this under „Shopware Intelligence". The groundwork is the same as for your AI visibility: well-maintained product data, structured data, and a connected ERP.
Part of the direct Shopware connection is US-only for now, with the EU rollout announced. If you work on your AI visibility today, you are also prepared for Agentic Commerce.
Agentic Commerce in ShopwareDeepen Your Knowledge
Our guides explain the key building blocks of AI visibility in detail.
AI Visibility in E-Commerce: Why Act Now?
What AI visibility means and why it's becoming essential for online stores.
AI VisibilitySchema.org for AI Recommendations
Structured product data for rich results, merchant feeds, and AI agents – and what it does not do.
AI Visibilityllms.txt: What It Can Do – and What It Can't
How the file is structured and an honest assessment: no major provider has confirmed processing it.
AI VisibilityTest AI Visibility
Branded and unbranded prompt set, evaluation criteria, and measurement through your customers' own words.
Related Services
Product data, feeds, and crawler permissions are created in the shop system and the systems connected to it.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI Visibility
What exactly is AI visibility?
AI visibility means that AI systems such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, or Perplexity can fetch your store, understand your content, and mention you in their answers with correct details. It is measured through a fixed set of questions with and without your brand name, and through what your customers tell you about how they heard of you.
Do I need AI visibility in addition to SEO?
SEO is the foundation. AI systems largely rely on the same signals and search indexes as Google and Bing; a store that is not found there rarely appears in AI answers either. On top of that, what counts is crawler access for the AI bots, content that gives the answer first, complete product data, and third-party sources such as reviews and trade media. You do not need special data formats like llms.txt for this.
Which AI systems are relevant for e-commerce?
The most important AI systems for e-commerce are currently ChatGPT (OpenAI) with shopping features, Google Gemini with direct shopping integration, Perplexity with product recommendations, and Claude (Anthropic) for product research. With Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), AI agents have been shopping autonomously in the US since January 2026 – more countries will follow. Which systems matter for your audience is decided in phase 2.
Does AI visibility only work with Shopware?
No. Crawler access, content, product data, and third-party sources do not depend on the shop system. For Shopware we implement the technical measures ourselves – Schema.org extensions, product data feeds, changes to robots.txt and rendering. For other shop systems we handle analysis and concept and work with your implementation partner.
How quickly will I see results?
There is no general answer. It depends on how often the AI crawlers fetch your pages, when the search indexes pick up the changes, how frequently the providers update their models, and how quickly third-party sources such as review profiles or trade media respond to you. Technical causes like a blocked crawler show the fastest effect once fixed; third-party sources take the longest. That is why we measure continuously through the prompt set instead of working towards a fixed date.
Does an llms.txt file bring AI visibility?
As of today, there is no evidence for that. Google stated in 2026 that it does not process the file; OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity have not confirmed using it, and crawler logs show hardly any requests for it. The file does no harm, but it replaces none of the five phases.
What does AI visibility optimization cost?
That depends on the scope: number of pages and products, the state of your product data, whether catalogue and PDF content first has to be brought onto the website, and how many third-party sources need to be built up. The audit is clearly defined; optimization and monitoring follow the action plan. You receive a quote based on the audit.
Further Reading
Is Your Store Visible to AI?
Let's find out whether AI crawlers fetch your store, what the models say about you, and which sources they rely on.
Free initial assessment. Reply within 24 hours during business hours. No sales pitch.