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SalesChef gets your product data ready for AI shopping agents.

Google and OpenAI each publish a product data specification, and both ask for the same core facts: an identifier, title, description, link, image, price, availability and brand. Neither publishes how it picks products to show. This guide lists the fields exactly as the sources name them.

By SalesChef · Reviewed October 17, 2026

Google Merchant Center: the required fields.

Google’s product data specification lists these attributes as required. Field names are quoted exactly. Google says title and description must match the landing page, and price must match it too.

id: A unique identifier, up to 50 characters. Google says to use the SKU where possible.
title: The product name in plain text, up to 150 characters.
description: An accurate description, up to 5000 characters.
link: The landing page URL on your verified domain.
image_link: The main product image URL, crawlable by Google.
price: A number plus an ISO 4217 currency, such as 15.00 USD.
availability: One of in_stock, out_of_stock, preorder or backorder.
brand: Required for new products except movies, books and musical recordings.
gtin, mpn, condition: gtin (the Global Trade Item Number) is strongly recommended where one exists, numeric only. mpn is required only if the product has no manufacturer-assigned number. condition is required for used or refurbished products and optional for new.
Also named in the specification: google_product_category, product_type, additional_image_link, color, size, age_group, gender, material, pattern, item_group_id, sale_price, product_highlight, product_detail, and weight and size attributes. Some are required for certain categories such as apparel or multi-color products.

OpenAI: the product feed specification.

OpenAI’s feed specification says it covers discovery in ChatGPT. Its Agentic Commerce documentation says to start an integration by sharing a structured product feed, sent by file upload to an SFTP server or through an API. Ads and checkout have separate requirements.

Required for discovery: item_id, title, description, url, brand, seller_name, image_url, availability and price.
Required for variants: group_id, listing_has_variations and variant_dict.
Required for checkout: is_eligible_checkout, seller_privacy_policy and seller_tos. Setting is_eligible_checkout alone does not complete onboarding.
Optional identifiers and attributes: gtin, mpn, condition, product_category, material, color, size, gender, age_group, dimensions, weight, additional_image_urls and sale_price.
Optional policies and reviews: accepts_returns, return_deadline_in_days, return_policy, review_count and star_rating.
Format rules: price uses the form 79.99 USD. availability is one of in_stock, out_of_stock, pre_order, backorder or unknown. gtin must be 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits with a valid check digit. URLs must be publicly accessible.

schema.org and Google structured data on the page.

schema.org describes properties. It does not mark any Product property as required. Google sets its own requirements for rich results, and says structured data is not required to appear in its AI features.

Google merchant listings: required: Product: name, image and offers. Offer: price (or priceSpecification.price) and priceCurrency (or priceSpecification.priceCurrency).
Google merchant listings: recommended: Product: aggregateRating, brand.name, category, color, description, gtin (or gtin8, gtin12, gtin13, gtin14, isbn), material, mpn, pattern, review, size, sku. Offer: availability, hasMerchantReturnPolicy, itemCondition, priceValidUntil, shippingDetails, url.
Google product snippets: required: Product: name, plus one of review, aggregateRating or offers.
schema.org properties: Product defines name, brand, gtin13, mpn, sku, image, description, offers, aggregateRating, review, color and model. Offer defines price, priceCurrency, availability, itemCondition, priceValidUntil and seller.

The same fact has three names.

Each source names the same fact differently, and the allowed values differ. Map your own product record once, then check each output.

Identifier: Google: id. OpenAI: item_id. schema.org: sku.
Product name: Google: title. OpenAI: title. schema.org: name.
Link: Google: link. OpenAI: url. schema.org: Offer url.
Image: Google: image_link. OpenAI: image_url. schema.org: image.
Price: Google: price. OpenAI: price. schema.org: Offer price with priceCurrency.
Stock: Google: availability, with preorder. OpenAI: availability, with pre_order. schema.org: Offer availability.

What is not published.

Neither Google nor OpenAI publishes how it picks which products to show. OpenAI says eligibility does not guarantee display, and its feed specification sets no fixed refresh schedule: it says to update price and availability whenever they change. Google says indexing and serving are not guaranteed. This guide reports only what those documents say. A complete, accurate record is the part you control.

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Your questions, answered.

What product data do AI shopping agents need?

At minimum, the fields each platform lists as required. Google Merchant Center requires id, title, description, link, image_link, price, availability and brand. OpenAI’s feed requires item_id, title, description, url, brand, seller_name, image_url, availability and price.

Do I need a Global Trade Item Number?

Google calls the gtin field (the Global Trade Item Number) strongly recommended where one exists, and requires mpn when a product has none from the manufacturer. OpenAI lists that field and mpn as optional. Either way, a correct number helps systems match your product to the same product elsewhere.

Is schema.org markup required?

schema.org does not mark any Product property as required. Google does for its rich results: name, image and offers for merchant listings. Google also says structured data is not required to appear in its AI features.

Does a complete feed guarantee my products appear?

No. OpenAI’s specification says eligibility does not guarantee display, and Google says indexing and serving are not guaranteed. Neither publishes the full selection criteria.