Google has rolled out two new Merchant Center features that promise to reshape how retailers appear in AI‑driven shopping experiences. Announced during the company’s Google Marketing Live 2026 event, the updates—AI Performance Insights and Conversational Attributes—give brands a clearer view of their performance across AI surfaces and a way to fine‑tune product data for more natural, conversational search queries.
What Are Google’s New Merchant Center Tools?
Merchant Center is Google’s hub for managing product listings that appear in Shopping ads, Google Search, Maps, and the emerging AI‑powered interfaces such as Gemini and AI Mode. The two new tools build on that foundation:
- AI Performance Insights is a reporting dashboard that compares a brand’s share of voice against similar competitors on AI surfaces.
- Conversational Attributes lets merchants add structured data that reflects how shoppers naturally phrase their queries, helping Google’s AI match products to conversational searches.
Both features are designed to keep pace with the rapid expansion of AI‑enhanced shopping, where users no longer type exact product names but ask questions like “What’s the best budget laptop for graphic design?” or “Show me a waterproof hiking jacket for 2026.”
How AI Performance Insights Enhances Brand Visibility
AI Performance Insights provides a real‑time snapshot of how a brand’s products are performing in AI‑driven discovery. The dashboard shows:
- Share of Voice (SOV) – the percentage of AI search impressions your brand receives compared to competitors.
- Discovery Metrics – impressions, clicks, and conversion rates on AI surfaces such as Gemini, AI Mode, and conversational search.
- Competitive Benchmarking – side‑by‑side comparisons with similar brands, highlighting gaps and opportunities.
Retailers can use this data to spot trends, identify underperforming product categories, and adjust bids or product data to capture more AI traffic. Because AI surfaces often surface products based on
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