Online Stores

Turn On Store Tracking#

Store tracking turns on when your site type is Online Store. TDC Signal sets it during setup when it detects a store. You can change it in the Site type field under Brand & Competitors in Settings, then Tracking.

With the Online Store site type, you get:

• A Products screen in the app sidebar.
• A Connect Catalog step in setup and a Catalog Sources section in Tracking settings.
• A Product Issue alert type and a Products CSV export.
• A Product Page fix draft kind, once you have products.

Also turn on ChatGPT Searches and Shopping in Tracking settings. It collects the products ChatGPT shows, and product tracking needs it. TDC Signal turns it on by default for stores.

Connect a Catalog#

A catalog tells TDC Signal what you sell, at what price, and whether it's in stock. You don't need to enter any credentials: every source reads your public product data.

1. 1

   Open Catalog Sources

   During setup, use the Connect Catalog step. After setup, open Settings, then Tracking, and scroll to Catalog Sources.

2. 2

   Pick a source

   Choose Shopify, Google Merchant Feed or WooCommerce.

3. 3

   Enter the address

   For Shopify and WooCommerce, enter your Store URL, such as yourstore.com. For a Google Merchant feed, enter the full Feed URL, such as https://yourstore.com/feed.xml.

4. 4

   Connect

   Select Connect Catalog. The import starts at once. The source shows Importing, then Synced with the number of products.

You can connect up to 5 catalogs. Each catalog imports up to 5,000 products.

Which Source to Use#

• Shopify reads your public product list. It takes the lowest variant price. A product counts as in stock when any variant is available. Shopify doesn't share ratings.
• WooCommerce reads your store's public product list, including ratings for products with reviews.
• Google Merchant Feed reads a product feed in Google Merchant format. It uses the sale price when there is one, and reads availability and ratings from the feed.

Keep Your Catalog Current#

TDC Signal refreshes each catalog about once a day. To refresh it now, select Resync. Products missing from the latest import count as discontinued.

To stop tracking a catalog, select Remove. This deletes the products it imported.

How Products Are Matched#

When an answer shows a product card or names a product, TDC Signal compares the product name with your catalog. It matches when most words of your product name appear, including any model number. Names shorter than 4 characters don't match from answer text.

Products that don't match your catalog appear as Competitor Products.

The Products Screen#

Products shows these cards for the selected date range, engine and location:

• Catalog Sources: each connected source, its product count and sync status. Select Manage Sources to open Tracking settings.
• Recommended Products: your products that AI engines named, with mentions, questions, engines, best position, the price shown and any issues.
• Competitor Products: products outside your catalog that AI engines recommend, with their brand.
• Share of Recommendations: your product mentions out of all product mentions, per catalog category.
• Price & Stock Issues: the latest 50 answers that show a wrong price or rating, or recommend a product you can't sell. Select View Answer to read one.

Price and Stock Issues#

TDC Signal compares what an answer shows with your latest catalog data:

Price and rating issues need a product card with a price or rating. A product named only in the answer text can get the Out of Stock or Discontinued issue.

To hear about new issues, add a Product Issue rule on the Alerts screen.

Get More Products Into Answers#

If AI engines don't recommend your products yet, add category questions, such as "best waterproof boots under $200". Answers to category questions name more products. You can also draft a Product Page fix for a product. See Improving Visibility.