buttonproduct
an icon button without text, four times on one product page
can an ai shopper find your store?
I tested 34 German Shopify stores the way an AI shopping agent sees them: through Shopify's public catalog that these agents pull their results from, and through the page itself, the way an agent reads it. Measured in October 2026.
10
stores show up in the top 30 results for a normal shopper question.
14
are in the catalog but missing for the shopper question. Their product texts lose to competitors.
10
the agent can't find in the top ten, even by exact product name.
what the agent actually reads.
A shopping agent doesn't see pictures. It gets a list of buttons and links with their names. In 20 of 34 stores it hit at least one button without a usable name. All 34 had a clearly named add-to-cart button.
what it often reads
examples from the test, anonymised.
linkcart
the bin icon in the cart, no name
Removecart
with two items in the cart: which one?
what it should read
the pattern used by stores that get it right.
Show image 2 of 4product
every button says what it does
Remove Hoodie – Black / Mcart
the agent knows exactly which item goes
Add to cartproduct
all 34 stores got this right
three things you can fix yourself.
shopper words in the title
The stores that ranked for shopper questions name what people search for in the product title: product type, motif, occasion. "Plush cat slippers" beats a fantasy name.
every button needs a name
Icon buttons like bins, arrows or image thumbnails need a text label for screen readers (aria-label). People with low vision benefit too.
"remove" with the product name
Many themes can say "Remove Hoodie – Black / M" instead of just "Remove". With two items in the cart, that's the difference between right and guessed.
how it was measured.
Sample: 34 German-language Shopify stores in fashion, merch, gifts and home, small and mid-sized merchants. I don't name them.
Catalog test (22 Oct 2026): one normal shopper question per store, for example "plush cat slippers" for a gift store, sent to Shopify's public catalog for AI agents. Counted: is the store in the top 30? Cross-check with the exact product name.
Page test (19–20 Oct 2026): home page, one product page and the cart with one item, on a phone viewport (390 × 844), read with the same element list browser agents get (open-source script from browser-use). Only the cookie notice and a size were clicked, nothing was ordered.
Limits: one shopper question per store, one day of measurement. Agents and the catalog change all the time. The numbers show a direction, not a ranking.
want me to test your store?
Send me the address. You get the same test for your store, with the spots an agent can't read and suggestions for better product titles. Free, usually within two days.