Shopify now shares compare-at prices with AI shopping agents

When a shopper looks at your storefront, they see the crossed-out price and know a product is on offer. Until now, the AI shopping agents reading your data did not. Shopify has changed that. Compare-at prices are now shared to agentic channels through Shopify Catalog, so agents can tell when a product has been marked down.

What it is

The update was announced in the Shopify Changelog on 9 October 2026. Shopify now sends your compare-at price to AI shopping agents through Shopify Catalog. Before this change, agents reading Catalog saw only the current price. Any markdown that appeared on your storefront was invisible to them.

In practice, that means an agent can now distinguish a full-price product from one that has been reduced, and can reflect that when it recommends or compares items for a shopper.

How it works and how to access it

You control whether agents can see compare-at prices. In your Shopify admin, open the catalog mapping settings, find the toggle in the Compare-at section, and turn it on or off. Shopify's help documentation on catalog mapping covers the wider settings.

1. Open catalog mapping settings in Shopify admin.
2. Find the toggle in the Compare-at section.
3. Switch it on or off to decide whether AI agents can view compare-at prices.

Limits and caveats

The changelog entry does not say which plans or regions the update applies to, and it lists no limits or known restrictions. Check your own admin to see the setting and its current state before assuming anything about your store.

The bigger caveat is one of data quality rather than product limits. Whatever sits in your compare-at field is now information that agents can read. If those values are stale, inflated or inconsistent with your storefront, they will now travel further than your own site.

What it means for merchants

For fashion, streetwear and sportswear brands that run seasonal reductions and end-of-line sales, this matters. Markdown is often the reason a shopper clicks, and agents that recommend products on a shopper's behalf can now take it into account. Brands that run clean, honest compare-at pricing stand to benefit from that visibility.

It also puts a spotlight on pricing hygiene. Compare-at prices should reflect genuine previous prices, and they should be removed when a sale ends. Because the toggle exists, you can also choose to keep compare-at prices away from agents if that suits your pricing strategy.

What it means for agencies and partners

This is a good prompt for a pricing data audit on client stores. Look at how compare-at values are set, who maintains them, and whether apps or imports write to them. Where several tools touch price fields, the risk of mismatches rises.

It is also a reminder that agentic channels are becoming a real part of the commercial picture. Setting up and reviewing the catalog mapping settings belongs on the standard launch and maintenance checklist, alongside feeds and markets.

How we would approach it

1. Open the catalog mapping settings and check the current state of the Compare-at toggle.
2. Audit compare-at values across the catalogue and fix anything stale, missing or inconsistent with the storefront.
3. Decide deliberately whether agents should see markdowns, based on your pricing and promotion strategy.
4. Document who owns compare-at pricing and which apps or imports can change it.
5. Review again before each sale period, when compare-at values change most.

The short version

Shopify Catalog now passes compare-at prices to AI shopping agents, so they can see when a product is marked down. Before, they saw only the current price. A toggle in the Compare-at section of catalog mapping settings lets you switch this on or off. Shopify has not stated plan or region limits in the announcement, so check your admin. Make sure your compare-at data is accurate, because more places can now read it.

ETTA provides fractional ecommerce leadership for fashion, streetwear and sportswear brands. If you want a senior view on how this affects your store, get in touch.