---
title: "AEO & GEO"
description: How the storefront makes itself legible to AI answer engines and generative search, with built-in content negotiation, structured data, and discovery surfaces.
url: "https://shop-docs.labs.vercel.dev/docs/anatomy/aeo-geo"
docs_index: /llms.txt
lastUpdated: 2026-09-16
type: guide
---

> For an index of all documentation, see [/llms.txt](/llms.txt).

**Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)** and **Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)** help AI services understand and cite your storefront. The template provides machine-readable product and collection content without changing the pages shoppers visit.

## Make storefront content readable to AI

The home page, product, collection, and search URLs return structured Markdown when a client requests `text/markdown`. Normal browser requests continue to receive HTML from the same URLs. No setup is required.

The storefront also publishes `/llms.txt`, a concise index for AI agents. It links to search, up to 50 collections, the sitemap, crawl guidance, and the storefront's UCP profile rather than duplicating the full catalog. The [sitemap](/docs/anatomy/sitemap) remains the complete URL inventory.

Markdown explains a product; it does not sell it. Live per-variant availability, cart, and checkout for agents come from Shopify's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) endpoints, which the storefront forwards at `/.well-known/ucp` and `/api/ucp/mcp`. Product Markdown points agents there instead of repeating per-variant stock.

Markdown content uses the deployment's configured Shopify country and language. If you add [Shopify Markets](/docs/skills/enable-shopify-markets), make sure AI-readable content uses the same market as the corresponding shopper page.

## Included discovery surfaces

| Surface                          | Outcome                                                                        |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Markdown responses               | Gives AI clients clean product, collection, and search content                 |
| Schema.org data                  | Describes products, breadcrumbs, and the organization                          |
| [Sitemap](/docs/anatomy/sitemap) | Lists storefront content for crawlers                                          |
| Crawl guidance                   | Points crawlers to the sitemap and blocks faceted collection URLs              |
| `/llms.txt`                      | Gives AI agents a concise storefront index                                     |
| Social metadata                  | Supplies route-specific titles, descriptions, images, prices, and availability |

Markdown responses include the facts needed to interpret each page:

- **Products** — brand, category, a one-line summary, price or price range with compare-at price, product-level availability, description, options, images, and links to the shopper page and UCP profile.
- **Collections** — description, active and available filters, products, pagination, image, and SEO metadata.
- **Search** — query, collection scope, filters, products, and pagination.

## What’s next

Keep `/llms.txt` concise and use the sitemap for exhaustive discovery. Common extensions include Markdown responses for additional page types, localized discovery content, and public metaobject content. Include only facts an agent needs to identify, compare, or link to that content.

---

For a semantic overview of all documentation, see [/sitemap.md](/sitemap.md)

For an index of all available documentation, see [/llms.txt](/llms.txt)

For agent-facing discovery, including API and MCP surfaces, see [/agents.md](/agents.md)