lululemon added context to its listings. Google’s AI Mode used it half the time.
Google says lululemon’s conversational attributes showed up in 50% of relevant AI Mode recommendations in testing. Here is what they are, all six, and how to add them.
A feed written for filters says “black, size M.” A shopper asking AI says “leggings for hot yoga that won’t go see-through.” The first answers a checkbox. The second needs a reason.
The 50% number
In its Sep 16 holiday commerce update, Google said that during testing with lululemon, conversational attributes submitted by the brand were used 50% of the time in relevant product recommendations in AI Mode.
That is one brand, in Google’s own testing, so read it as a signal, not a promise. But the signal is clear: when a brand gives AI more to say, AI says it.
What conversational attributes are
Google describes them as attributes that help AI systems and conversational agents understand your products’ specific nuances. They are optional, and they sit next to your normal Merchant Center product data. Google says adding them won’t affect the approval of your existing products.
All six, in plain words
Google lists six. Most of them are marked as made mainly for conversational experiences such as AI Mode in Search.
Start with questions and answers
The question and answer attribute lets you put your FAQs into the feed. Each question or answer can be up to 1,000 characters, and up to 10,000 characters in total per product. That is room for the real questions shoppers ask about sizing, care, fit and use.
Manuals count too. A document link can point to a PDF of up to 50 MB, such as a user guide or assembly instructions, as long as Googlebot can reach it with no robots.txt block.
Filters vs questions
So the question is not “is my feed approved?” It is “does my feed give AI a reason to pick me?”
The rest of the update
The same Google update said merchants who follow core Merchant Center feed best practices see a 5% increase in conversions the following month, on average. It also made AI performance insights in Merchant Center available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India, so brands can compare their share of voice with other brands across AI Mode and AI Overviews.
Add them this week
Google recommends adding them through a supplemental data source, so your main feed stays as it is. Five steps.
How Shopthru.ai helps
Shopthru.ai is an AI agents team for consumer brands. It asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI, Perplexity and Copilot what your shoppers ask, finds where AI gets your products, prices or policies wrong, and drafts each fix, including the missing context, into an approval inbox. It ships only on your yes, then checks again. Instagram and Amazon are next.