Merivirta AI Optimizer On the Shopify App Store AI Optimizer FAQ and support
Merivirta AI Optimizer writes better product and collection titles, descriptions, SEO titles and meta descriptions with AI, and applies only what you approve. Below are the most common questions, fixes for typical messages and how to reach us. New to the app? Start with the setup guide.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an AI account or API key? No. AI is included in every plan. Proposals are written by Anthropic Claude, run by Merivirta. You only allow AI processing once in Settings.
Who pays for the AI usage? It is included in your plan. Each plan has a number of AI proposals per month, billed by Shopify as part of the plan. There are no separate AI charges. Extra proposals are optional: turn them on in Plans and each one costs $0.02 on your next Shopify bill, within a monthly limit you choose or with no limit. Before a run that goes past your plan, the app shows the estimated cost and the run starts only after you approve it.
What is sent to the AI? Only the text of the products and collections you choose: title, description, SEO fields, URL handle, vendor, product type, category, tags, options and variant names, collections, product fields with text or measurements, image file names and alt text, and for collections sample product titles, plus your keywords, brand voice and notes. Prices and the images themselves are not sent. No customer or order data is sent. Anthropic does not train its models on this data. See the privacy policy.
What does the app change in my store? Only the changes you approve for the products and collections you choose: title, description, SEO title and meta description, and, if you tick them, the URL handle (with a redirect from the old URL by default), image alt text, and a short summary and key highlights saved in product fields. Prices, inventory, variants, tags, the images themselves and collection rules are never changed.
Can I edit a proposal before applying it? Yes. Compare the current and proposed text side by side, edit any field and choose which fields to apply. The product page preview and the search result preview show how the result will look.
Can I undo an applied change? Yes. Open the applied proposal and select Revert to original, revert several proposals at once in Proposals, or undo a whole bulk apply in Jobs with Undo batch. If the field was edited in Shopify after the change was applied, the app keeps your newer edit.
What if I edit a product in Shopify while a proposal is waiting? Before writing, the app checks that each field still has the value the proposal was based on. If it changed, the proposal is marked Needs attention and nothing is overwritten. Generate a new proposal for the current content.
Does the AI make things up? The AI is asked to use only facts from your product data, and proposals that reference facts not found there are rejected. AI output can still be wrong, so review every proposal before you apply it.
Does it help with AI assistants, not just Google? Proposals are written for both search engines and AI assistants (generative engine optimisation): clear product facts, the words shoppers actually use and your target keywords, without keyword stuffing. No app can guarantee rankings or traffic.
Which languages are supported? Proposals can be written in the language of your current content or in English, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Estonian, Polish or Portuguese. The app’s own interface is in English.
How do I start from the Shopify admin or Sidekick? Use More actions → Optimize with AI on a product or collection page, or select products in the product list and choose Optimize with AI. You can also ask Sidekick, for example to optimize the products of a collection for a keyword. The app opens with the selection and keywords filled in, and you start the job.
What counts towards my plan? Each AI proposal for one product or collection counts as one. The count resets on the first day of each month in your store’s time zone. Failed items don’t count. When the month’s proposals are used up, new proposals stop until next month or until you upgrade, unless you approve extra proposals ($0.02 each). Existing proposals can still be reviewed, applied and reverted.
How do I change my plan? Open Plans in the app and choose a plan. Billing is handled by Shopify and appears on your Shopify bill.
What happens to my data when I uninstall? Running jobs stop immediately. All data for your store in the app (proposals, jobs, settings and the activity log) is deleted 48 hours after uninstall, when Shopify sends its shop redaction request. Changes you already applied stay in your store.
Troubleshooting
| Message or problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| “Allow Merivirta to process your product content with Anthropic Claude in Settings first” | In Settings → AI processing, tick the checkbox and save. |
| “Store updates are turned off” | Open Settings → Store updates and select Turn on store updates. |
| “This would go over the AI proposals included in your plan this month” | Select fewer items, wait for next month, or choose a larger plan in Plans. |
| “You’ve used all AI proposals included in your plan this month” | Upgrade in Plans and resume the job, or resume it after the monthly reset. |
| “AI is temporarily unavailable” | The AI service is paused on our side, and nothing was counted against your plan. Resume the job in Jobs a little later. If it continues, contact us. |
| “Update permissions” next to alt text or URL redirects | These options need an extra permission. Select Update permissions and approve it in Shopify. Everything else works without it. |
| The Product highlights block shows nothing | Apply the short summary and highlights in a proposal first, then add the Product highlights block to the product page in the theme editor and save. |
| A job is slow or paused | Jobs run in the background, one job per store at a time, and rate limits are retried automatically. Pause, resume, cancel or retry failed items in Jobs. |
Contact us
- In the app: open Help to ask Virta, our AI assistant. Select Ask a person and a person from Merivirta replies by email.
- Email: jere@merivirta.com
- Response time: within one business day, Monday to Friday, Finnish time (EET/EEST).
- Languages: English and Finnish.
To help us answer quickly, include your store’s myshopify domain (for example your-store.myshopify.com), the product, collection or job your question is about, and what you expected to happen. Never send us your Shopify password.
