Product feeds for AI shopping: new Merchant Center attributes and what's available outside the US
In 2026 Google is preparing stores for AI shopping: the open UCP protocol, agentic checkout in AI Mode and six new Merchant Center attributes — Q&A, related products, manuals. Here's what's available everywhere, what's US-only and how to prepare your feed.
What did Google change in January 2026?
On 11 January 2026 Google introduced the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard for agentic commerce across the shopping journey, from discovery to post-purchase support. It was co-developed with Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart and endorsed by more than 20 companies, including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe and Zalando. UCP will power checkout directly in AI Mode and the Gemini app, with the retailer remaining the seller of record. Google also launched Business Agent, a branded assistant shoppers can chat with on Search, and announced dozens of new Merchant Center attributes.
Which new feed attributes appeared?
At Google Marketing Live in May 2026, six so-called conversational attributes arrived; according to Productsup, they are: question_and_answer, up to 30 pairs per product; document_link, up to 5 PDFs such as manuals or certificates; related_product, up to 30 links such as accessory, required part or substitute; item_group_title and variant_option, the shared model name and what distinguishes variants (colour, size); and popularity_rank, a product's rank within the catalogue. They're optional and don't affect product approval.
What's available outside the US?
According to Google, as quoted by Productsup, retailers globally can use conversational attributes, so stores outside the US can use them too. Agentic checkout and Business Agent, however, launched for eligible US retailers only; Google promises expansion to other countries in the coming months but gives no dates. So for most stores the priority now is good product data, not new payment buttons.
How do you prepare your feed now?
Add the attributes through a supplemental feed or the Merchant API so your primary feed stays untouched. Take questions and answers from real customer questions: support chat, calls and reviews. Link products to accessories and substitutes. Group variants of the same model. Add PDF manuals for technical products. And don't duplicate what's already in the description or product details; practitioners report this is Google's guidance.
What to do now
- Collect the 5–10 most common questions about key products from chat, calls and reviews and add them as question_and_answer.
- Link products to accessories and substitutes with related_product.
- Group variants of one model with a shared group title and options such as colour and size.
- Add PDF manuals for electronics and products with complex care.
- Do it in a supplemental feed so you don't break the primary one.
Metriverra shows Merchant Center products alongside feed health and sales, so it's easy to find items that are missing data.
In short
- UCP (11 Jan 2026) is an open standard for shopping through AI agents.
- Checkout in AI Mode and Gemini and Business Agent are US-only for now.
- Six conversational attributes in Merchant Center are for retailers worldwide.
- The attributes are optional and don't affect approval.
- The priority now is complete, accurate product data.
Sources: Google — New tech and tools for retailers to succeed in an agentic shopping era (11.01.2026) · Productsup — Google introduces 6 conversational attributes in Merchant Center (09.06.2026)
