As customers increasingly use AI for product searches, SHOPLINE has launched the "Search & Crawler Management" feature. It provides a one-stop interface for merchants to edit brand highlights, best-sellers, and more, helping AI better understand and represent your brand in customer interactions.
In this article, you'll find:
1. Set up in SHOPLINE Admin
Step 1
Go to [Marketing & Tracker] > [Search & Crawler Management] and select the "AI Search Optimization" tab.
Step 2
Click the Edit button in the "Edit AI-Readable Content" section.
Step 3
Once on the editing page, you will see system-generated default content. You can edit the file in the "Edit Text" section to add brand highlights, best-selling products, or custom AI response guidelines.
*Notes:
- Please use brief summaries or bullet points for better AI understanding.
- You can enter up to 10,000 characters. Further input is restricted.
Editing example
Add descriptions of featured products in the product section, then click Save at the top right.
Once saved, a "Successfully updated" notification will appear, and it will direct you back to the "Search & Crawler Management" page.
*Note: To revert to the system-generated default content, click Reset to default at the top right. After confirming in the pop-up, the content will be updated, and it will direct you back to the "Search & Crawler Management" page.
Step 4
Once completed, click View llms.txt file in the "Preview AI-Readable Content" section to preview the content.
*Example of llms.txt file: Below is the system-generated default content, which includes the store introduction, product recommendations, and other information.
Step 5
Follow the instructions in the "Verify AI Answers" section, then enter your usage scenarios or questions into an AI search tool. Check whether the AI can correctly introduce your brand and products, or answer questions about store policies.
Verification example
The llms.txt file guides AI to determine stock status using visual cues like button text, and includes structured data so AI can cross-reference stock markers in the webpage source code.
Using an AI search tool (Gemini is used as an example below), ask whether a specific product is in stock or available for pre-order.
After AI generates a response, compare it with the information on your storefront or Admin to verify its accuracy. If further adjustments are needed, you can update your llms.txt file in the "Edit AI-Readable Content" section.
*Notes:
- AI crawlers may take a few hours to a few days to crawl data.
- While llms.txt helps guide AI search accuracy, AI models rely on probabilistic reasoning, so outputs may vary and cannot be fully controlled.
2. Feature permissions management
Step 1
In the SHOPLINE Admin, go to [Settings] > [Permission & Security]. Click Edit to adjust the staff member's permission settings.
Step 2
In the "Marketing & Tracker" section under "Admin Access Rights", find "Search & Crawler Management" and set the staff member's view and add/edit permissions as needed.
3. Search engine files
In addition to setting up the "AI Search Optimization" feature, you can also view the following files in the "Search Engine Files" tab.
i. Search engine access policy
The system has automatically generated two files, llms.txt and llms-full.txt, and added their locations to robots.txt and the homepage to help AI crawlers locate them. Click View robots.txt file to check the file content.
ii. Sitemap
The system automatically includes all multilingual URLs displayed on your storefront in sitemap.xml. Click View sitemap.xml file to see the sitemap index for each language.
4. Notes
- llms.txt and llms-full.txt currently share the same content.
- If the llms.txt file uses the system default content, there will be a cache delay of about 12 hours before a store name update is reflected in the file.
- If the same file is edited simultaneously in multiple windows, only the last saved version will be kept.
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