Holiday returns, order-by dates and gift questions: write FAQs AI shoppers can quote

How AI shoppers look up your policies

An AI shopper is an assistant, like ChatGPT or an agent built into a browser, that shops on someone's behalf. When a shopper asks it about returns or delivery, it needs your answer, not a general guess.

On Shopify, there's now a direct route. Shopify's developer changelog (August 5, 2026) says WebMCP tools are live on every Liquid storefront, with nothing to install. WebMCP is a proposed web standard that lets a page offer "tools," meaning actions an AI agent can call. One of Shopify's tools is search_shop_policies_and_faqs. Shopify's docs say it answers questions about the store's policies and services, "such as returns, shipping, and hours of operation," using the store's own content.

Two limits are worth knowing. Shopify says agent support is currently limited to Chromium-based browsers (Chrome and browsers built on it) through an origin trial, which is an early test. And Shopify doesn't spell out exactly which pages or settings the tool reads. So the safe plan is to make every place your policies live clear and consistent.

AI search tools read your public pages too. OpenAI says sites that block its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers. Your FAQ and policy pages should be public and crawlable.

For the basics (policy pages that load, are linked in your footer and state cutoffs in plain text), see Where's my order? Getting AI shoppers ready for BFCM. This guide is about what to write.

Shopify's Knowledge Base app: FAQs written for AI agents

Shopify offers a free app called Knowledge Base. Shopify says it's a first-party app (made by Shopify itself) available on all plans. It lets you view and edit the FAQs that AI shopping agents use to answer questions about your store.

What Shopify says it does:

• Builds FAQs from your settings. It generates facts from your language settings, customer account settings, shipping and delivery settings, and return rules.
• Lets you add your own. Go to Apps > Knowledge Base > Add FAQ. Shopify asks for "a brief 1-2 sentence answer."
• Shows what people ask. A Top unanswered questions section lists real questions you haven't answered yet.
• Lets you test. Test your knowledge base shows which content matched a question, or "Unanswered" if nothing did.

Two catches. These FAQs aren't displayed on your storefront. They're a data source for AI platforms, so human shoppers still need a public FAQ page. And Shopify says the app improves the accuracy of AI answers but doesn't change how often your store appears in AI results.

To change an auto-generated FAQ, you either fix the setting it came from or click Override. You can't delete generated FAQs. Fixing the source setting is usually better, because then your checkout, policies and FAQs all agree.

Write holiday return rules that can't be misread

"Extended holiday returns!" sounds great to a person. To an AI agent, it's a puzzle. Extended from when? Until when? For which orders?

Write it like this instead: "Orders placed between [date] and [date] can be returned until [date]. All other orders: [number] days from delivery."

Then make sure your Shopify settings can actually keep that promise. Shopify's return rules let you pick a window of 14, 30 or 90 days, unlimited, or a custom number of days. It counts from delivery, either of each item or of the last item in the order. That's a count of days, not a fixed calendar date. So a "return by [date]" promise may need a longer custom window, or manual handling. Check this before you publish the wording.

Other return-rule details that matter at the holidays:

• Changes apply only to future orders. Shopify says this plainly. If you lengthen the window in late November, earlier orders keep the old window.
• "Extend to account for weekends or holidays" only pushes a window that ends on a weekend or holiday to the next business day. It isn't a holiday season extension.
• Overrides give specific products or collections their own window. If an item is in more than one override, the shortest wins.
• Final sale items can't be returned at all. Name them in your FAQ.

The gift questions your FAQ should answer

Shoppers buying gifts ask different questions. Answer each one in its own FAQ entry, in one or two sentences:

1. Can the person who receives a gift return or exchange it? Do they need the order number?
2. Who gets the refund, the buyer or the recipient? Is it money back or store credit?
3. Does the receipt or packing slip show prices?
4. Can I ship to a different address than my billing address?
5. Do you offer gift wrap or gift messages?
6. Do you sell gift cards, and how are they delivered?
7. What's the last day to order for delivery before [holiday], by shipping method?
8. Are any items final sale over the holidays?

If the honest answer is "no," say "no." A clear "We don't offer gift wrap" is better than silence. Silence leaves the agent guessing.

Holiday FAQ checklist

• Every holiday promise has real dates, not "extended" or "soon."
• Return window wording matches your Shopify return rules (or WooCommerce policy page).
• Final sale items and exceptions are named.
• Each gift question above has its own one-to-two-sentence answer.
• Order-by dates are listed per shipping method and match your shipping policy.
• Shopify: Knowledge Base installed, generated FAQs reviewed, top unanswered questions answered.
• Shopify: 5 holiday questions tested in Test your knowledge base.
• Public FAQ page exists for humans, linked from your footer.
• Policy and FAQ pages aren't blocked to OAI-SearchBot.
• Old holiday answers are removed or updated in January.

FAQ

Do I need FAQ schema markup for Google? Not for rich results. Google's documentation updates say the FAQ rich result stopped appearing in Google Search from May 7, 2026. Write good FAQs for people and AI agents, not for a search feature that's gone.

Is Shopify's Knowledge Base app the same as my FAQ page? No. Shopify says Knowledge Base FAQs aren't displayed on your storefront. Keep a public FAQ page too, and make the answers match.

What about WooCommerce? WooCommerce adds a draft "Refund and Returns Policy" page when you install it. It's only a sample, and it stays a draft until you edit and publish it. WooCommerce suggests covering who pays return shipping, what form a refund takes and how long refunds take. It recommends linking the page in your menu or footer.

Can an AI agent start a return or check an order for a shopper? Not from your FAQ. On Shopify, the manage_orders tool takes the shopper to their order history, and asks them to log in first if they aren't. Your FAQ's job is to answer the policy question clearly.

How often should I update holiday FAQs? Whenever a date or rule changes, and again after the season ends. Stale holiday answers in January cause the same confusion as missing ones in December.

Related guides

• WebMCP for Shopify explains the tools AI agents can call on your storefront.
• Is your product data telling AI shoppers the wrong things? covers product facts and return markup. You can also run a free product-data check.

See what we'd flag on your store

Want to know how your policies and FAQs read to an AI shopper? Look at a sample report first. It's an example, not a real store. Questions? Email hello@convertwebmcp.com.

See a sample report