Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about making your store AI-visible with Shop2LLM.

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Basics — What is Shop2LLM? AI Visibility — Why is my store invisible? Pricing & Plans Setup & Maintenance Troubleshooting

Basics

What is Shop2LLM?

Shop2LLM is the AI Search Console for e-commerce — the first tool that makes your online store visible, discoverable, and citable by ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and all major AI assistants. It auto-generates llms.txt, JSON-LD product schema, and AI-readable product catalogs. The Free plan covers basic AI visibility; the Pro plan ($9/month) adds full analytics, revenue tracking by AI platform, and always-on cloud connection.

What is the difference between SEO and GEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) focuses on ranking in traditional search engine results pages — getting your page to appear as a blue link in Google results. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) focuses on being cited inside AI-generated answers — getting your brand and products mentioned when ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini synthesize a response.

The key difference: SEO gets you clicked; GEO gets you quoted. With 69% of Google searches now resolving without a single click (Source: Similarweb 2025), being visible inside AI answers is no longer optional. Shop2LLM handles both traditional SEO (schema, sitemaps) and GEO (llms.txt, AI crawler rules, API endpoints).

AI Visibility

Why is my e-commerce store invisible to AI assistants?

AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude cannot browse websites the way humans do. They don't see your homepage, click through categories, or scroll product listings. Instead, they need structured data and APIs. Without these, your store is effectively invisible to the 200+ million people who ask AI what to buy every week.

AI needs three things to discover your store — what we call the Three-Legged Stool of AI Visibility:

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llms.txt

Tells AI your store exists. A curated Markdown file that gives AI assistants a map of your most important pages. Without it, AI must crawl blindly.

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Product Schema

Tells AI what you sell. JSON-LD structured data on every product page so AI can understand your catalog — names, prices, stock, images.

🔌

API Endpoint

Lets AI search your products dynamically. When someone asks "find wireless headphones under $100," AI needs to query your catalog in real time.

Miss any one, and AI can't reliably discover your store.

What is llms.txt and why does my store need it?

llms.txt is a Markdown file placed at your store's root URL that gives AI assistants a curated, machine-readable map of your most important content. Proposed in September 2024 by Jeremy Howard (fast.ai / Answer.AI), it is now supported by ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and — as of May 2026 — Google Chrome Lighthouse audits for its presence.

Think of it as robots.txt for AI models. While robots.txt controls which bots can crawl your site, llms.txt tells AI what is worth citing and recommending. AI assistants have limited context windows — without llms.txt, they crawl your site blindly and may miss your most important product pages.

How do AI assistants actually find and recommend products?

When a consumer asks ChatGPT "Find me wireless headphones under $100," the AI goes through a 5-step process:

Step 1 — Intent Detection: AI identifies this as a product search query.
Step 2 — Store Retrieval: AI searches its index for relevant stores, prioritizing those with llms.txt and product schema.
Step 3 — API Query: AI calls the store's API endpoint to search products matching the criteria (category, price, keywords).
Step 4 — Filtering: Results are filtered by price, availability, and relevance.
Step 5 — Citation: AI returns cited recommendations to the consumer, with links to product pages.

Stores without an AI-accessible API can only appear in static results, missing dynamic queries entirely. That's why Shop2LLM sets up all three pieces automatically.

How soon will AI assistants start citing my products?

After installing Shop2LLM, your llms.txt and product schema are available immediately. AI crawlers may take 1-4 weeks to discover newly opened sites and fully index your catalog. With Pro, the always-on cloud connection ensures your product data is available 24/7, which accelerates discovery. You can monitor exactly when AI crawlers visit your store through the dashboard in real time.

Pricing & Plans

How much does Shop2LLM cost?

Two simple plans: Free at $0/month with 2 AI tools (search + product detail), AI-readable catalog with llms.txt, 1 store connection, and ChatGPT crawler detection. Pro at $9/month with all 5 AI shopping tools (search, detail, cart, checkout, orders), revenue tracking by AI platform, conversion funnel analytics, always-on cloud connection, and support for all 10+ e-commerce platforms. One license per store. No hidden fees.

Is there a free trial?

The Free plan is permanently free with no time limit. It includes AI search and product detail tools, auto-generated llms.txt and product schema, 1 store connection, and ChatGPT crawler detection. You can use it for as long as you want before upgrading to Pro — no credit card required.

Which e-commerce platforms are supported?

Shop2LLM supports 10+ platforms: WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento / Adobe Commerce, PrestaShop, Shopware, Wix, EC-CUBE, Nuvemshop, Cafe24, and OpenCart. The Free plan supports WooCommerce only. The Pro plan ($9/month) supports all platforms.

Can I cancel my Pro subscription anytime?

Yes. You can cancel at any time. Your Pro license remains active until the end of the current billing period. After cancellation, you can continue using the Free plan features — your store won't lose basic AI visibility.

What happens if my store server goes offline?

With the Pro plan, Shop2LLM's always-on cloud connection keeps your product data available to AI assistants 24/7 — even when your store server is offline. This matters because AI assistants may query product data at any time, not just when a consumer is actively browsing. Without cloud connection, your products become temporarily invisible to AI whenever your server experiences downtime.

Setup & Maintenance

How fast can I get set up?

Installation takes under 60 seconds. Install the plugin from your platform's marketplace, activate it, and Shop2LLM automatically generates your llms.txt, adds product schema (JSON-LD) to every page, and sets up your AI-accessible API endpoint. No configuration, no coding, no manual work.

The Hard Way vs. The Easy Way

✕ Manual Setup

  • Write llms.txt manually — format, host, maintain
  • Fix product schema on every page — edit theme templates
  • Build a custom REST API — register endpoints, handle auth
  • Test with each AI platform individually
  • Monitor for breakage — schema, APIs, product changes
  • Time: 10–20 hours initially
  • Ongoing: 2–4 hours/month

✓ Shop2LLM

  • llms.txt auto-generated and always current
  • Product schema auto-added to every page
  • API endpoint auto-configured and hosted
  • Works with all AI platforms out of the box
  • Auto-updates when products change
  • Time: 60 seconds initially
  • Ongoing: 0 hours/month

Do I need technical knowledge to use Shop2LLM?

No. Everything is automatic — product schema (JSON-LD) is auto-added to every page, llms.txt is auto-generated, AI crawler rules are automatically configured, and the API endpoint is set up without any coding. Installation takes under 2 minutes on any supported platform. Shop2LLM was designed for store owners, not developers.

Do I need to update anything after installation?

Shop2LLM handles everything automatically. When you add, update, or remove products, your llms.txt, product schema, and API endpoint update instantly. Zero ongoing maintenance required. Compare this to manual setup which requires 2-4 hours per month to keep schema current, update APIs, test with AI platforms, and monitor for breakage.

Troubleshooting

My llms.txt isn't showing up. What should I do?

It may take up to 5 minutes for the file to be generated after installation. Verify by visiting https://yourstore.com/llms.txt in a browser — you should see a Markdown file listing your store's core pages. If it still doesn't appear, check that your platform's URL rewriting is enabled (WordPress permalinks, Shopify app proxy, etc.) and contact support.

AI bots aren't visiting my store. Why?

First, check your robots.txt at https://yourstore.com/robots.txt. Ensure it doesn't block AI crawlers like GPTBot, ClaudeBot, or Google-Extended. Shop2LLM automatically fixes this, but some security plugins or hosting providers may override the settings. Even with correct configuration, AI crawlers may take 1-4 weeks to discover newly opened sites. Pro users can monitor crawler visits in real time through the dashboard.

My products aren't being cited in AI answers. What can I do?

AI assistants favor products with descriptive titles, detailed descriptions with specifications, clear pricing, and high-quality images. Ensure your product data is complete and structured. Use Shop2LLM's search query insights (Pro feature) to see exactly what terms consumers use when asking AI for recommendations, then optimize your product titles and descriptions accordingly.

According to Princeton University's GEO research (Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024), content with specific data points and named citations achieves 30-40% higher AI visibility than unoptimized content.

How do I contact support?

Email [email protected]. Pro users get priority email support. Free plan users receive community support.