Shopping behaviour is changing faster than ever before. Where a client once searched Google for "best running shoes", today they are increasingly asking an AI assistant directly. Users of ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Perplexity ask AI for product recommendations and make purchasing decisions directly in chat – without ever visiting your e-commerce store. According to Shopify data, the number of orders attributed to AI channels on the platform grew 11-fold from January 2025 to January 2026.
Shopify responded to this change with a new feature called Agentic Storefronts. This is a toolkit that makes your Shopify store's product catalog readable and searchable by AI platforms – without you having to build separate integrations for each platform.
What are Shopify Agentic Storefronts?
Agentic Storefronts is a solution integrated into the Shopify Admin environment that automatically synchronizes your product data with major AI chat platforms. If someone asks ChatGPT "what's the best waterproof hiking backpack under €150", your product might appear in the answer with price, image, and purchase option – directly within the chat.
Shopify describes this principle simply: set it up once, sell everywhere. You don't need to enter into separate agreements with each AI platform or build technical integrations. Shopify Catalog ensures that your product data – prices, stock levels, product descriptions – are up-to-date on all connected platforms.
Which platforms are supported?
Agentic Storefronts currently supports the following AI platforms:
- ChatGPT (OpenAI) – the world's largest AI chat platform
- Microsoft Copilot – integrated into Microsoft products, including Windows and Edge browser
- Google Gemini and Google AI Mode – AI experience integrated into Google search
- Perplexity – popular AI search engine
Shopify and Google also collaborated to develop a new open standard called Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), which creates a common language between different AI platforms. This means Shopify merchants are already prepared for future platforms.
What exactly do Agentic Storefronts enable?
AI offers your products in chat
Your products will appear in AI recommendations when answering a user's question requires recommending a similar product. Shopify Catalog uses special language models (LLMs) to categorize products, enrich descriptions, and link similar products together – so the buyer only sees relevant results.
Checkout directly in AI chat
The customer doesn't have to leave the chat to complete the purchase. Through Microsoft Copilot's new embedded checkout experience, customers can place an order and pay directly within the chat, using Shopify's standard checkout solution.
Controlling brand voice — Knowledge Base
Shopify created the Knowledge Base app, where you can upload your brand's FAQs, return policy, and other important documents. This ensures that AI platforms answer your customers' questions correctly and in your brand's voice – not with randomly generated answers.
Full overview and statistics
All orders made through AI channels arrive in your Shopify Admin environment with precise channel information. You can see which AI platform brought which orders and which products are most popular in AI chats. Additionally, you get an overview of what customers are asking AI about your brand.
Choose which channels you sell in
You have full control. You can enable or disable each AI platform separately – just like you do with Facebook or TikTok sales channels. You decide where your brand is visible.
How to set up Agentic Storefronts?
For existing Shopify merchants, Agentic Storefronts functions like a new sales channel – setup is done directly from the Admin environment. As of March 2026, Shopify has activated Agentic Storefronts by default for all merchants in the store.
- Log in to your Shopify Admin environment
- Navigate to the Sales Channels section
- Find the Agentic Storefronts channel
- Select which AI platforms you want to activate
- Supplement your product data and install the Knowledge Base app for AI FAQ setup
The more accurate and rich your product descriptions, attributes, and metadata are, the better AI will be able to recommend your products in relevant conversations. Also, check out managing metafields, which helps manage product data in a structured way.
What does this mean for Shopify merchants?
Agentic Storefronts is not just another new sales channel – it's a fundamental shift in how customers discover products. According to Adobe Digital Insights, AI-powered traffic to e-commerce stores increased by 4700% by mid-2025 compared to the previous year. The conversion rate for buyers coming from AI is higher than for traditional organic search.
If your e-commerce products are not visible to AI platforms, you will miss out on this growth. However, Shopify has made this setup so simple that every merchant can take advantage of it immediately – without technical knowledge or separate development.
If you are just setting up an e-commerce store, optimize your products for AI search results from the start using Agentic Storefronts.
Please let us know if you have any questions about setting up Agentic Storefronts or supplementing product data. We are happy to help.
