# StoreConnect Support This topic explains how AI-powered answer engines and chatbots discover, cite, and represent your store, and which StoreConnect features support that. AI-powered search and chat tools such as ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Claude increasingly answer shopping questions directly, sometimes without a customer visiting a website at all. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), also known as Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), is the practice of improving your store's chance of being the source these tools cite. See [SEO and site data](seo-and-site-data) for the traditional search-ranking counterpart. ## Start from your SEO foundation Most answer engines build their visibility on top of standard search fundamentals rather than a separate AI-specific ranking system. Before adding anything AI-specific, confirm the basics are in place: - Page, product, and article titles and meta descriptions are set to accurate, specific values. See [SEO and site data](seo-and-site-data). - Product pages render valid structured data. See [Structured data for products](product-structured-data). - Your sitemap and canonical URLs are current and accurate. See [Manage the sitemap for your store](sitemap-file). These are the same fundamentals search engines use for ranking, and they are also what most answer engines rely on to find and correctly represent your content. There is no separate, dedicated GEO ranking system to configure instead. ## Serve custom feeds for AI tools and answer engines The most direct AEO/GEO lever StoreConnect exposes is `llms.txt`: a plain-text file giving AI tools structured context about your store, served through a content page rather than a dedicated feature. It is not limited to catalog data: a typical `llms.txt` also covers store policies, shipping and returns, and customer support, alongside your products and categories. See [Generate an llms.txt file for your site](llms-txt-for-stores) for setup. `llms.txt` uses the same underlying mechanism as any other [content page](content-pages) with a file extension in its Path field: the page renders raw, Liquid-processed content instead of themed HTML. This mechanism is not specific to `llms.txt`. You can use the same Page-based approach to serve any other on-demand feed a particular AI tool or answer engine expects, in whatever format it requires, without waiting for a dedicated StoreConnect feature for that tool. You are not limited to a single feed. Each feed is an independent Page record with its own Path and Content Body, so you can create as many as you need, for example: - A short `llms.txt` index at your store root, alongside a more complete companion file such as `llms-full.txt`. This matches how the `llms.txt` standard is commonly used in practice, and both can render from Liquid rather than being maintained as separate static files. - A topic-specific feed for any aspect of your store, not only products: `products.txt` for your catalog, `articles.txt` for your blog and help content, or a feed for policies, FAQs, or store information, if a single combined file becomes too large or general. - A differently-formatted feed for a specific AI tool that expects its own file name or structure, such as a JSON feed served through a `.json` Path, without changing your general `llms.txt`. Link between them the same way you would link any other content, for example referencing `llms-full.txt` from within `llms.txt`. ## AI crawler access An answer engine can only cite your store if it can reach your content. Confirm your [robots.txt configuration](robots-txt) allows the crawlers below, if you want your store to be discoverable by that tool. | Answer engine | Crawler / user agent | Purpose | Control | |---|---|---|---| | ChatGPT (OpenAI) | `OAI-SearchBot` | Surfaces your store in ChatGPT search results | Allow or disallow in robots.txt | | ChatGPT (OpenAI) | `GPTBot` | Crawls content to train OpenAI's models | Allow or disallow in robots.txt | | ChatGPT (OpenAI) | `ChatGPT-User` | Visits a page when a customer's own ChatGPT session asks it to | User-initiated; robots.txt rules may not apply | | Google (AI Overviews, AI Mode) | `Googlebot` | Standard Google crawling and indexing; no separate AI-specific bot | Allow or disallow in robots.txt, same as regular Google Search | | Claude (Anthropic) | `ClaudeBot` | Crawls content to train Anthropic's models | Allow or disallow in robots.txt | | Claude (Anthropic) | `Claude-User` | Visits a page when a customer's own Claude session asks it to | User-initiated; Anthropic states it respects robots.txt | | Claude (Anthropic) | `Claude-SearchBot` | Indexes content to improve Claude's search results | Allow or disallow in robots.txt | | Grok (xAI) | `xAI-Bot` | Web access for Grok | Allow or disallow in robots.txt; see the note below on limited documentation | Anthropic documents three separate crawlers (`ClaudeBot`, `Claude-User`, and `Claude-SearchBot`), each controllable individually in `robots.txt`, and states that all three respect `robots.txt` directives. xAI publishes less webmaster-facing detail for Grok, and reported behavior is inconsistent, so confirm the current guidance in xAI's own documentation rather than relying on this row alone. Because vendor crawler details change, treat the official links below as the source of truth over this table. Official vendor documentation, for the current details behind this table: [OpenAI's bots](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots), [Google's AI optimization guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide), [Anthropic's web crawlers](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler), and [xAI's web search tool](https://docs.x.ai/developers/tools/web-search). :::note Google's own AI-optimization guidance states that no special `llms.txt` file or AI-specific markup is required for AI visibility; it treats AI visibility as substantially a byproduct of standard SEO and content-quality fundamentals. Treat structured data and `llms.txt` as helpful, supplementary levers on top of that foundation, not as a checklist of mandatory requirements. ::: ## Verify your store's AI visibility There is no built-in StoreConnect report for AI referral traffic or answer-engine citations. To check your progress: - Ask the target AI tool a specific question a customer might ask about your store or products, and check whether it cites your store. - If your team has visibility into your domain's request logs, for example through your DNS or CDN provider, check for the crawler user agents listed above to confirm they are reaching your store. --- ## Follow StoreConnect - [Email Newsletter](https://getstoreconnect.com/c/lp-newsletter) - [LinkedIn Newsletter](https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7444956928444862464) - [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCngKdP2x8l1wcbAKW3tvU8g) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/storeconnect) - [X / Twitter](https://x.com/storeconnecthq) ## Popular Links - [Partners](https://getstoreconnect.com/partners) - [News](https://getstoreconnect.com/articles/news) - [Events](https://getstoreconnect.com/articles/events) - [Feature Comparison](https://getstoreconnect.com/how-we-compare) - [Download a free trial](https://appexchange.salesforce.com/appxListingDetail?listingId=a0N3A00000FMkeKUAT) - [Book a Demo](https://getstoreconnect.com/contact) ## Documentation - [Help documentation](https://support.storeconnect.com/help-documentation) - [Videos & tutorials](https://support.storeconnect.com/videos-tutorials) - [Developer reference](https://support.storeconnect.com/developer-reference) - [Release notes](https://support.storeconnect.com/release-notes) - [Troubleshooting](https://support.storeconnect.com/troubleshooting) - [Trust Center](https://trust.getstoreconnect.com/) - [Status Page](https://status.storeconnect.com/) ## Contact - info@getstoreconnect.com - US +1 415 745 3230 - AUS +61 2 8365 2308 100 S Ashley Dr, Suite 600-2461 Tampa FL 33602-600 USA Level 22, Sydney Place 180 George Street Sydney, NSW, 2000, AUS --- StoreConnect Support — https://support.storeconnect.com