AI Agents Just Got Access to Every Shopify Product – What This Means for Retail

It was easy to miss, but Shopify just launched what could be the most important update in ecommerce since mobile checkout. Their new Catalog API quietly went live, and with it, a tidal wave of change is coming. Perplexity AI is the first announced partner – and what that partnership signals is huge.

This API gives real-time, structured access to every product published on Shopify. Titles, stock levels, pricing, taxonomy, enriched attributes – all in a machine-readable format, streamed directly to discovery platforms like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity. No scraping. No outdated feeds. No middleman.

Why This Changes Everything

Until now, the digital shelf was fragmented. Each retailer had to optimise their own site, rely on search engines, and fight for ad impressions. But the rise of AI agents means consumers won’t search traditionally anymore. They’ll ask a question and expect one clear, personalised recommendation with real-time product data pulled straight from the source.

This new API means a customer asking Perplexity, “Where can I buy waterproof sneakers under $150?” could now receive a real-time recommendation that pulls in SKUs from multiple Shopify stores – and even complete a single transaction across different merchants. All without landing on your website first.

It’s Already Live. Are You Visible?

Discovery, comparison, and checkout are about to collapse into a single conversation. If your product feed isn’t properly structured, enriched, and optimised, you might already be invisible. Every product published to a Shopify store is auto-enrolled into the feed. You have to request to opt out – but if your content is poorly formatted, you might as well have.

Shopify is taking this seriously. Access to live inventory and pricing is invite-only. Partners are being vetted not just for reach, but for merchant upside. This isn’t just about visibility – it’s about conversions, data security, and performance. And only those with clean, enriched data will stand out.

Advice for Retailers

This is not the time for wait-and-see. CMOs and ecommerce leads need to act now:

• Product descriptions: Rewrite them like high-performing ads. Rich, scannable, relevant to queries.
• Metafields: Standardise your product attributes. Fill in missing data. Treat every field as conversion-critical.
• Knowledge Base meta-objects: Leverage Shopify’s new structures for material details, duties, and more.
• Content hygiene: Duplicated supplier copy won’t cut it. Unique, optimised content is now essential.

For Agencies and Developers

Agentic shopping isn’t a trend – it’s the next frontier. Those building tools, integrations, and performance layers for retailers should:

• Migrate legacy custom fields to Shopify’s native standards.
• Surface rich data that helps agents decide what to show (and what to skip).
• Run proactive diagnostics to identify why clients are invisible in Perplexity or Copilot.

The Urgency Is Real

Shopify has opened the door. Perplexity is already in. And more AI platforms will follow fast. This is a critical window – and one that favours those who move early. Organic visibility will eventually give way to paid listings, but for now, being prepared means you get seen first.

If you haven’t looked at your product feed in months – or are still relying on default copy – you’re already behind.

How Optidan Can Help

At Optidan, we’ve been preparing for this moment. Our AI-powered content solutions transform large-scale product feeds into performance-ready, agent-compatible content. We go beyond standard SEO – we rewrite every product, category, and brand page to meet the real-time needs of AI agents like Perplexity and Copilot.

With our solution, your store isn’t just included in the feed – it stands out. We identify gaps in your product content, fill them with high-quality, human-verified copy, and sync it all at scale. We’re already working with mid to large retailers to optimise thousands of SKUs for this new ecosystem – and the results speak for themselves.

Don’t get left behind. Book a strategy session with our team and make sure your products are visible, relevant, and ready for the AI shopping era.