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Your product feed is what AI systems read when they decide whether to surface your products in response to a user’s query. If the feed is missing fields, has stale availability, or uses the wrong price format for the target platform, AI agents either skip your products entirely or show incorrect information — both of which kill conversion. Feed quality directly affects your Readiness Score: catalog issues account for 25% of the total score.

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Feed formats

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JSON (preferred for UCP and ACP)

Use JSON for any programmatic UCP or ACP catalog endpoint: 
{
  "products": [
    {
      "id": "prod_123",
      "title": "Running Shoes",
      "description": "High-performance running shoes for trail and road. Available in sizes 7-13.",
      "link": "https://yourstore.com/products/running-shoes",
      "image_link": "https://yourstore.com/images/running-shoes.jpg",
      "price": "129.99",
      "currency": "USD",
      "availability": "in_stock",
      "brand": "YourBrand",
      "gtin": "0123456789012",
      "product_type": "Apparel & Accessories > Shoes > Athletic Shoes"
    }
  ]
}

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XML (Google Merchant Center)

For Google Merchant Center submission: 
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:g="http://base.google.com/ns/1.0">
  <channel>
    <item>
      <g:id>prod_123</g:id>
      <g:title>Running Shoes</g:title>
      <g:description>High-performance running shoes for trail and road.</g:description>
      <g:link>https://yourstore.com/products/running-shoes</g:link>
      <g:image_link>https://yourstore.com/images/running-shoes.jpg</g:image_link>
      <g:price>129.99 USD</g:price>
      <g:availability>in stock</g:availability>
      <g:brand>YourBrand</g:brand>
      <g:gtin>0123456789012</g:gtin>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

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JSON-LD (on-page structured data)

Add Product schema to every product page for AEO and GEO coverage: 
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "Running Shoes",
  "description": "High-performance running shoes for trail and road.",
  "image": "https://yourstore.com/images/running-shoes.jpg",
  "brand": { "@type": "Brand", "name": "YourBrand" },
  "offers": {
    "@type": "Offer",
    "price": "129.99",
    "priceCurrency": "USD",
    "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock"
  }
}
</script>

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Required vs optional fields

FieldUCPACPGoogle MCNotes
idRequiredRequiredRequiredStable, unique per product
title / nameRequiredRequiredRequiredClear, descriptive — no keyword stuffing
descriptionRequiredRequiredRequiredUse at least 150 characters for AI comprehension
link——RequiredCanonical product URL
image_linkRequiredRequiredRequiredAbsolute HTTPS URL
priceRequiredRequiredRequiredSee price formatting rules below
availabilityRequiredRequiredRequiredSee availability values below
brandRecommendedRecommendedRequired (most categories)—
gtin——RecommendedImproves match quality
variantsRequired (if applicable)Required (if applicable)RequiredSee variant handling below

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Variant handling in feeds

Each variant must be its own item in the feed with its own id. Use the item_group_id field to group variants of the same base product: 
{
  "products": [
    {
      "id": "prod_123_10_black",
      "item_group_id": "prod_123",
      "title": "Running Shoes — Size 10, Black",
      "color": "Black",
      "size": "10",
      "availability": "in_stock",
      "price": "129.99",
      "currency": "USD",
      "image_link": "https://yourstore.com/images/running-shoes-black.jpg"
    },
    {
      "id": "prod_123_11_black",
      "item_group_id": "prod_123",
      "title": "Running Shoes — Size 11, Black",
      "color": "Black",
      "size": "11",
      "availability": "out_of_stock",
      "price": "129.99",
      "currency": "USD",
      "image_link": "https://yourstore.com/images/running-shoes-black.jpg"
    }
  ]
}
ACP agents select a specific variant when a user specifies size, color, or other options. If variants are collapsed into a single product entry, the agent cannot resolve the user’s selection to a purchasable SKU.

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Price and availability rules

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Price formatting

PlatformFormatExample
UCP / ACP endpointsDecimal string, no currency code"129.99" with a separate "currency": "USD" field
Google Merchant CenterDecimal string + currency code"129.99 USD"
Mixing these formats is the most common feed error. The wrong format causes Google to reject feed items or ACP agents to misread prices.

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Availability values

UCP / ACPGoogle Merchant CenterMeaning
in_stockin stockAvailable to purchase now
out_of_stockout of stockNot available
preorderpreorderNot yet released — include availability_date
backorderbackorderAvailable for backorder
Update availability within 5 minutes of inventory changes. Stale availability is the leading cause of AI-to-purchase conversion failures — an agent that shows an out-of-stock item as available loses the customer’s trust immediately.

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Submission paths

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UCP (Google path)

  1. Submit your feed via Google Merchant Center (Content API or scheduled fetch)
  2. Ensure the feed URL is in a supported format (RSS/XML or Content API JSON)
  3. Publish your /.well-known/ucp manifest pointing to your catalog endpoint
  4. Validate with the Readiness Score

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UCP (Shopify)

Shopify exposes your product catalog automatically when UCP is enabled. Ensure your product data in Shopify is complete — descriptions, images, and availability — before enabling the feature. See the Shopify UCP Guide.

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UCP (Custom / Headless)

Host a feed JSON endpoint and reference it in your manifest: 
{
  "capabilities": {
    "product_catalog": {
      "endpoint": "https://yourstore.com/api/ucp/products",
      "format": "json"
    }
  }
}
Use the Manifest Generator to build the full manifest, or call the Manifest API directly.

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ACP

ACP agents consume your catalog through the search_products tool endpoint. That endpoint must return well-structured product objects with all required fields including variant data. See ACP Getting Started.

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Formatting best practices

Never use session-based, timestamp-based, or auto-incremented IDs that change on reimport. Stable IDs let agents re-reference products across sessions. If an agent caches prod_123 and you reimport with a new ID, the agent’s product reference becomes a dead link.
UCP/ACP: decimal string in major currency units ("129.99") with a separate currency field. Google Merchant Center: decimal string plus currency code ("129.99 USD"). Mixing these is the most common feed formatting error.
Images must be absolute HTTPS URLs. Relative paths (/images/shoe.jpg) do not work in feeds. Images should be at least 400×400 pixels, ideally 1000×1000 pixels.
Update availability within 5 minutes of inventory changes. Stale availability is the leading cause of AI-to-purchase conversion failures.
AI systems use product descriptions to match user queries. Short descriptions (“Running shoes. Size 7-13.”) give the model almost no signal. Write full, natural-language descriptions that describe use cases, materials, and fit.

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Feed validation

Run the Asva audit API to check your catalog, feed format, and schema in one call: 
curl -X POST https://asva-ai.com/api/audit \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ASVA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"domain": "yourstore.com", "checks": ["catalog", "feed", "schema"]}'

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Pre-submission checklist

  • Feed URL is publicly reachable (no authentication required)
  • All required fields are present and non-empty
  • Prices are in the correct format for the target platform
  • Images are absolute HTTPS URLs and accessible
  • /.well-known/ucp manifest references the feed endpoint
  • ACP endpoints validated with the ACP Validator
  • JSON-LD Product schema is present on all product pages