Shopify: review your store’s answers before AI uses them

A customer asks an AI assistant whether your store offers gift wrapping or how to return an order. The answer needs to match your current terms. Shopify's built-in Knowledge base lets you review which store facts become available to AI agents and link them to the right source.

On October 26, Shopify moved the feature into its admin. For a store answering recurring questions about delivery, returns, and gifts, a useful first task is to check those answers rather than publish everything at once.

Source: Shopify: Knowledge base is now built into your admin.

Open the knowledge base and check what is already published

In Shopify admin, go to Sales channels > Agentic. Under Sources, choose Knowledge Base. The menu labels here follow the English documentation. The knowledge base contains store information beyond product details, such as contact channels, return terms, and gift services.

Distinguish between two types of information:

• Facts Shopify drafts by scanning your public storefront remain unpublished until you publish them.
• Facts linked to your admin, such as policies and contact details, are published when Shopify creates them.

Published facts are public through Storefront MCP, an interface that lets AI agents retrieve information from your store. This does not mean every AI assistant will use the facts or repeat them word for word. Only add information that belongs on a public customer page.

Source: Shopify Help Center: sources, publication, and AI retrieval.

Checklist: prepare your store's common answers for AI

Carry out these steps yourself in Shopify. This is our suggested review routine, not an instruction for an agent.

1. Choose the customer questions. Start with questions you actually receive, such as how to start a return, which delivery options you offer, and whether gift wrapping is available. Find the corresponding knowledge base fields.
2. Open the source. Click the number of references or the field's source icon. Compare the fact with the current policy or customer page. Check exceptions, fees, and time limits. If the storefront page is wrong, it needs correcting too.
3. Correct the right place. Update the underlying page or setting when that is the source. If you need to write your own answer, change the field's source to Manual and save. This removes references provided by the previous source; references you added yourself remain. Check the links again. For a manual field, add a public reference through references > Add, then Save.
4. Publish the reviewed answer. For an individual field, hover over Unpublished, choose Publish, and click Save. If an already published answer is wrong, choose Unpublish from Published while correcting it. Do not use Publish all until you have reviewed every affected field.
5. Read it back and record the owner. Check the answer, reference, and publication status after saving. Note who checked the fact and which change to your store's terms should trigger another review.

Source for features and controls: Shopify Help Center: review facts, change sources, and publish.

Follow up on changed terms without rewriting everything

Shopify regularly scans your storefront and may display a Suggested update when information changes. Read the proposal, choose Approve & publish if it is correct, and click Save. Reject incorrect suggestions. Manually edited content can receive suggested updates too.

After a substantial change, you can select Request rescan. A rescan can take up to 48 hours. Work from what the knowledge base actually displays rather than assuming one click immediately updates every answer.

Source: Shopify Help Center: suggested changes and rescanning.

If you used the old app

The standalone Knowledge Base app will no longer be available after January 15, 2027. Shopify has moved and published written or edited facts for stores below its stated migration threshold. Larger knowledge bases need separate handling; check Shopify's notice to your store. Do not assume everything starts unpublished simply because the admin page is new.

Source: Shopify: migration from the Knowledge Base app.

Custom storefronts and stores on the Agentic plan can only add Additional facts. If the store is password-protected, Shopify cannot scan its storefront pages; the knowledge base only displays information from the admin. Check these conditions before planning your work around automatically drafted answers.

Source: Shopify Help Center: knowledge base limitations.