Guide · Shopify · AI shopping

Why AI shoppers can’t see your return policy (and the 2-minute fix)

When someone asks an AI assistant “can I return this if it doesn’t fit?”, the assistant needs your return policy. On Shopify, it looks for it in one specific place. If that place is empty, the answer is “I don’t know”, even if your store has a perfectly good returns page.

Updated October 2026 · 4-minute read

Where AI shoppers look

AI shopping assistants can now search and shop Shopify stores through Shopify’s AI shopping connection (the Universal Commerce Protocol). When an assistant builds a cart there, Shopify hands it links to the store’s policies, and those links come from Settings → Policies in your Shopify admin.

If the Return and refund policy there is empty, there’s nothing to link to. The assistant can’t tell a shopper whether returns are possible, and a shopper who cares about returns may well go with a store it can answer for.

Why it catches well-run stores

Lots of stores do have a return policy: on a custom “Returns” page, in an FAQ, or in the footer. Those pages work for people. They just aren’t where Shopify’s AI shopping connection looks.

When we checked 109 Shopify stores through their AI shopping connection in September and October 2026, this was the real problem we found most often. And in some of those stores, a return policy existed — just not in that setting. (A small sample, but a clear pattern.)

Check your store in 30 seconds

Open this address in your browser, with your own store’s domain:

https://yourstore.com/policies/refund-policy

The 2-minute fix

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Policies.
2. Open Return and refund policy.
3. Paste in your returns wording: the same text as your Returns page or FAQ. No written policy yet? Shopify can start you from a template; edit it so it matches what you actually do.
4. Save, then open yourstore.com/policies/refund-policy again. It should now show your policy.

Keep your existing Returns page. This doesn’t replace it; it just puts the same policy where AI shoppers look. If you change your returns rules later, update both.

What a good return policy answers

Shoppers ask, and AI assistants try to answer from your text, so write it in plain sentences. A vague policy turns into a vague answer.

• How long do I have to return something (for example, 30 days from delivery)?
• What condition does it need to be in?
• Who pays for return shipping?
• What can’t be returned (final sale, personalised or hygiene items)?
• How do I start a return?
• Refund or exchange, and how long until the money is back?

While you’re there: your shipping policy

The same setting page has a Shipping policy. It answers the other question shoppers ask before buying, “how long will it take to arrive?”. If it’s empty, filling it in is worth another two minutes.