GEO & SEO Self-Check Guide for Your Store

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) determine whether search engines like Google and AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can find and understand the products and content in your store. By checking your website’s basic settings, product information, and brand details, you can determine whether your store meets the conditions needed to be fully indexed and accurately recommended by search engines and AI. 

This guide explains how to check your store’s crawl permissions, basic SEO configuration, product and brand structured data, content quality, and your connection to Google’s platforms.

Ensuring Search Engines and AI Can Access Your Store

To confirm that AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can access your store properly, check the following:

1. Go to https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt in your browser to view the file’s contents.
2. Confirm the file does NOT contain the following settings. This would mean the store is completely blocked from all search engine crawling:

• User-agent: *
• Disallow: /

3. Check whether the paths of important pages such as product pages, collection pages, and article pages are individually listed under a Disallow rule.
4. Confirm that OAI-SearchBot (the crawler used by ChatGPT) is not blocked. OpenAI officially recommends allowing OAI-SearchBot to crawl your site so your store’s content has a chance to appear in ChatGPT search results. You can use the third-party tool TechnicalSEO Robots.txt Tools to test specific pages and quickly confirm whether a URL can be crawled. If the result shows Allowed, it means the page can be crawled successfully.
   

If you need to update your robots.txt settings in the SHOPLINE admin, please see "Managing robots.txt for Advanced SEO."

Improving Your Store’s Basic SEO Settings

Your store’s basic SEO settings are key to helping search engines and AI accurately determine "what this page is about." You can check the following four areas in turn:

1. Checking Whether Meta Titles Are Complete

To check the Meta Title on each page of your store, follow these steps:

1. Open your homepage, any product page, any collection page, and a blog post.
2. Right-click on each page and select View Page Source.
3. Search the source code for the <title> tag to confirm the page has a Title set and that it accurately describes the page.
   

To edit the Title in SHOPLINE, go to the EasyRank SEO & GEO All-in-one app, then Automatic SEO > Meta Optimization.

2. Checking Whether Meta Descriptions Are Complete

To check the Meta Description on each page of your store, follow these steps:

1. View the page source on the same pages (homepage, product page, category page, blog post).
2. Search for <meta name="description" content="..."> to confirm each page has a Description filled in.
3. Confirm the Description content is plain text and doesn’t contain HTML tags such as <div> or <p>.
   

To edit the Description in SHOPLINE, also go to the EasyRank SEO & GEO All-in-one app, then Automatic SEO > Meta Optimization.

3. Checking Whether the Canonical Tag Is Set Correctly

A canonical tag tells search engines which version is the standard page when the same page has multiple access points (for example, links with parameters). Check the following:

1. Open the page source of a product page, collection page, or blog page.
2. Search for rel="canonical" to confirm the tag exists.
3. Confirm the URL the canonical tag points to is the official page address you want search engines and AI to recognize.
   

4. Checking Whether the Sitemap Is Working Correctly

A sitemap works like a directory of your store’s URLs, helping search engines quickly find all your important pages. Check the following:

1. Visit https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml in your browser.
2. Click a few random URLs to confirm the pages open properly and don’t return a 404 error.
3. Confirm the number of products listed in the sitemap roughly matches the actual number of products in your store.

To manage your sitemap in SHOPLINE, please see "Managing Sitemap.xml Settings," and we also recommend "Submitting A Sitemap to Google Search Console." 

Helping AI Understand Your Products

When AI recommends products to customers, it needs to understand what you sell, what makes it special, and its price and stock status. The following three areas help AI understand your products more accurately:

Checking Product Structured Data

Google recommends that ecommerce sites add Product structured data to product pages to help search engines understand product information, which can also give products a chance at richer search result displays. Check the following:

1. Open Google Rich Results Test.
2. Enter the URL of any product page and click Test URL.
3. Find the Product item in the results and confirm there’s no Error.
4. Click Detected item to expand the details, and check that the price, stock, brand, and images match what’s actually shown on the page.
   

To set up product structured data in SHOPLINE, go to the EasyRank SEO & GEO All-in-one app, then Structured Data > Product & Review Schema.

Completing Your Product Information

When AI summarizes and recommends products, it needs enough detail to accurately answer customers’ questions. Product pages should ideally include the following information:

• Product name and short description
• Detailed product description and features
• Specs such as material, size, and color
• Who it’s for and how it’s used
• Price and stock status
• Shipping information and return/exchange policy
• Customer reviews

You can edit product information in the Products section of the SHOPLINE admin.

Adding FAQs for Products and Your Brand

Adding questions that customers are likely to search for to your product pages, collection pages, and blog posts can increase AI’s trust in your page content. Consider preparing content in the following directions:

Product FAQs can include:

• Which size should I choose?
• Is this product waterproof?
• How long does shipping take?
• Can I return this product?
• What material is it made of?
• Is it suitable for outdoor use?

Brand FAQs can include:

• Where does the brand ship to?
• How long does delivery take?
• What is your return/exchange policy?
• Where is the company located?

For guidance on adding FAQ structured data, please see "EasyRank SEO & GEO All-in-one: Setting Up FAQ Schema for AI Search (GEO)."

Helping AI Recognize Your Brand

Beyond the product itself, AI also needs to understand who your brand is and whether it can be trusted. The following two areas help build brand credibility:

Checking Organization Structured Data

Organization structured data helps AI understand basic information about your company, increasing AI search’s trust in your store. Check the following:

1. Open the page source of any page.
2. Search for "@type": "Organization" to confirm this structured data exists.
3. Check that the brand name, logo, official store URL, social media links, contact information, and brand description are all correct.
   

To set this up in SHOPLINE, go to the EasyRank SEO & GEO All-in-one app, then Structured Data > Organization Schema.

Completing Your Brand Information Pages

Having complete brand information pages increases AI search’s trust in your store. Your store should have at least the following pages:

• About Us
• Contact Us
• Shipping Policy
• Return / Refund Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service

Order tracking, About us, and Contact us pages are located in the SHOPLINE admin under Online Store > Custom Pages. Other information (such as structured data for shipping and return/exchange policies) can be set up in the EasyRank SEO & GEO All-in-one app, under Structured Data > Merchant Shipping & Return Policy Schema.

Optimizing Your Content So AI Can Understand and Reference It More Easily

High-quality blog and content pages also increase AI search’s trust in your store. The following two areas can help you improve content quality:

Checking Blog / Content Quality

Check your existing blog or knowledge content against the following points:

• Content is written around your target customers’ real questions
• Content isn’t simply mass-produced by AI, and includes original information
• Content clearly states the author or brand behind it
• Content shows an update date
• Sources are cited when referencing outside material
• Content is reasonably connected to your products
• Content directly answers shoppers’ specific questions

You can edit blog content in the SHOPLINE admin under Online Store > Blog.

Using a Clear Content Structure

When writing blog content, use a clear structure like the one below to make it easier for AI to break down and reference:

• H1 title clearly matches the core question
• A short Introduction at the start
• H2/H3 headings that answer different sub-questions in turn
• Direct answers to important questions, without going in circles
• Lists or tables to present structured information (such as a comparison table)
• An FAQ and Conclusion at the end
• Avoid long stretches of unfocused marketing copy

If your store uses an OS 3.0 theme, you can adjust the Heading tags (H1/H2/H3) on your blog pages directly in the theme editor. For details, please see "Designing Your Blog Pages in the Theme Editor (OS 3.0 Themes)."

After finishing your content edits, we recommend turning on Blog Schema structured data. Go to the EasyRank SEO & GEO All-in-one app, then Structured Data > Blog Schema.

Checking Hreflang Settings for Multi-Language Stores

If your store has multiple language versions, you’ll need hreflang tags to tell search engines which page corresponds to each language. Check the following:

1. Open the page source of any language version of a page.
2. Search for <link rel="alternate" hreflang="..."> to confirm each language version has a corresponding tag.
3. Check that the language codes are correct (for example, en, de, fr, es).
4. Click through the links in each hreflang tag to confirm none of them point to a 404 page or the wrong language version.
   

Connecting to Google Platforms

Connecting to official Google platforms helps Google more accurately verify and display your product information. We recommend prioritizing the following two platforms:

Setting Up Google Search Console

To set up and check Google Search Console, follow these steps:

1. See "Verifying Your Domain with Google Search Console" to complete domain verification.
2. See "Submitting A Sitemap to Google Search Console" to submit your sitemap.
3. Log in to Google Search Console and confirm there are no large numbers of indexing errors.
4. Confirm there aren’t large numbers of pages marked Crawled – currently not indexed or Discovered – currently not indexed.
5. Confirm there are no serious errors in your Product structured data.

Setting Up Google Merchant Center

To set up and check Google Merchant Center, follow these steps:

1. See "Creating a Google Merchant Center Account" to complete account creation.
2. Confirm your product feed is synced, with correct pricing, stock, and images.
3. Confirm your shipping and return policy settings are correct.
4. Turn on Free Listings so your products have a chance to appear for free in Google Shopping results.

Self-Check Quick Reference Table

After completing the checks above, use the quick reference table below to confirm the status of your store’s GEO/SEO settings item by item.