Image SEO and alt text Optimize images and alt text with Claude Cowork
Doing image SEO with Claude Cowork means delegating the image review to Anthropic's task agent, which reads your Shopify image statuses through StoreSEO and hands back a worklist, while the compression, alt text and file name changes wait for a task where you are present to say yes.
Last updated: October 2026
Set up Claude Cowork for StoreSEO
Skip this if Claude Cowork is already connected. The full guide, with the alternatives, is on the Claude Cowork page.
- 1
Add StoreSEO as a custom connector
In Cowork, open Customize, then Connectors, choose + Add and then Add custom connector. If you already added StoreSEO to your Claude account, look for it in that list first. Use this URL.
URLhttps://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp
- 2
Approve your store and check it
Sign in when the browser opens: pick your Shopify store and approve access. Then start a task and ask this first, so you know the connector works before you delegate real work.
PromptUse StoreSEO to show me my store's SEO score breakdown.
How does this work in Claude Cowork?
In Cowork you do not chat turn by turn; you describe a task and let Claude work through it. For images that might be review every product image in my store, group the ones with no alt text by product and rank the heaviest unoptimized files. Cowork uses the StoreSEO custom connector you added under Customize, Connectors, calls storeseo_start and then storeseo_list_images, which are reads, and returns a document or summary you review afterwards. The listing already tells it which of compression, alt text and file name are done, so the report can say exactly what is outstanding on each product.
Fixing the images is a different kind of task. storeseo_optimize_image compresses against the Image Optimizer quota and writes alt text and file names against AI credit, so StoreSEO tells the agent to name the spend and wait for your yes before it runs one. Cowork's value is that you can hand off long work, but a yes needs you in the conversation, so run the fixing task while you are watching, in small batches, and read each per-image report as it comes back. If something is wrong, ask for storeseo_restore_image on that image and the axes you want reverted.
Cowork can also run scheduled tasks, which suits the read half of this job well. A weekly task can list unoptimized images, count the ones with no alt text and write you a short summary, so you know when it is worth starting a fixing session. It does not need to change anything to do that.
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You: Review my product images and tell me what needs work. Report only.
- storeseo_start read-only
- storeseo_list_images read-only
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Claude Cowork: I found 42 images with no alt text across 15 products, and the five heaviest unoptimized files are listed in the summary. I did not change anything. Do you want me to start on the first product's images now, with you here to confirm?
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You: Yes, start with the Canvas Tote, alt text only.
- storeseo_optimize_image needs approval
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Claude Cowork: Alt text applied on the first Canvas Tote image. Two more to go; I will report each one.
What to ask Claude Cowork
Review all my product images with StoreSEO, group those with no alt text by product, and write a ranked list of the heaviest unoptimized files. Do not change anything.
Every Monday, use StoreSEO to count images with no alt text and list the five heaviest unoptimized images. Report only: do not optimize, rename or restore anything.
I am here now: compress and write alt text for the images on my Linen Shirt product, one at a time, and show me each report.
- Find my ten heaviest unoptimized product images and compress them. Tell me the quota it will use first.
- Which product images have no alt text at all? Write alt text for the ones on my best seller.
- Optimize every image on the product Canvas Tote: compression, alt text and file name.
- Restore the original alt text on the last image you changed.
- Give my collection images descriptive file names, and warn me which URLs will change.
What StoreSEO does: image seo and alt text
StoreSEO tracks three things per image: file-size compression, alt text and file name. The agent finds the heaviest or unlabelled images, optimizes them one call per image, and can restore any of the three if you do not like the result.
Requires: Compression needs the Image Optimizer add-on and counts against its monthly quota; alt text and file names spend AI Content Optimizer credit.
- 1
Find the images
The agent lists product, collection or article images, heaviest unoptimized first by default. It can filter to images with no alt text, or scope the list to one product by title.
- 2
Check what it found
A title search can also match image file names from other resources, so the agent checks each row belongs to the product you meant.
- 3
Agree the scope and cost
Compression uses image quota and alt text and file names use AI credit, so the agent confirms before working through many images.
- 4
Optimize one image per call
Each call takes the axes you want: compression, alt text, file name or all three. The axes always run compression, then file name, then alt text, and the response reports each one separately.
- 5
Report or restore
The agent reports what applied, what was already done and what was refused. If a result is wrong, the restore tool brings back the original file, alt text or name.
Image SEO and alt text reference
| Axes per image | Compression, alt text, file name |
|---|---|
| Image sources | Products, collections and articles (pages have no images) |
| Batching | One image per call; never two calls on the same image at once |
| Compression | Image Optimizer add-on and its monthly quota; an already compressed image is reported as already applied |
| Alt text and file name | AI Content Optimizer credit; both together are billed as one generation |
| File name change | Renames the file on Shopify and changes the image's storefront URL |
| Collection and article renames | Re-upload the image, so the call can take a couple of minutes |
| Restore | Reverts compression, alt text or file name per axis |
| Score impact | Alt text and file names count on products, collections and articles; compression counts on products |
Rules Claude Cowork follows
- The agent confirms the number of images and the kind of spend before a bulk run.
- One image per call, all wanted axes together; never parallel calls on the same image.
- A renamed image has a new URL, so the agent tells you, because anything that hard-coded the old URL keeps serving the old file.
- If a response is lost, the agent re-lists the image instead of retrying, because a retry regenerates and spends again.
- A refused axis, for example compression without the add-on, is reported as such while the other axes still apply.
In Claude Cowork
A scheduled Cowork task runs without you in the conversation, so nobody is there to give the yes that storeseo_optimize_image and storeseo_restore_image wait for. Keep scheduled image tasks to reading statuses and writing a report, and say in plain words that it must not optimize, rename or restore anything. Run the actual fixing as a task you start and watch, because compression spends Image Optimizer quota and alt text and file names spend AI credit, and a rename changes the image's storefront URL.
What runs without asking. Reads such as SEO scores, store listings, settings and Google reports run straight away. Generating a preview spends AI credit but writes nothing, and StoreSEO tells the agent to say what a generation will cost before it runs one. Applying content, optimizing images, changing settings, publishing llms.txt or agents.md, writing a product description and deleting anything wait for your yes in the conversation. That yes is an instruction the agent follows, not a lock on the server, so your client's own tool-approval setting is the hard stop.
Questions
Can a scheduled Claude Cowork task optimize my images on its own?
It should not. A scheduled task runs without you present, so there is no one to say the yes StoreSEO tells the agent to wait for. Use scheduled tasks to list images and report what is unoptimized, and start fixing yourself when you are there.
Where do I add StoreSEO for Cowork?
Under Customize, then Connectors, inside Cowork. If StoreSEO does not appear there, add it in that list rather than assuming a connector added elsewhere carried over, then sign in and pick your Shopify store.
Can the agent compress images without the Image Optimizer add-on?
No. Compression needs the Image Optimizer add-on and counts against its monthly quota. Alt text and file names work without it and spend AI Content Optimizer credit instead.
Can I undo an image optimization?
Yes. The restore tool reverts compression, alt text or file name for one image, per axis. Restoring compression brings back the original file.
Why did my image URL change?
Giving an image a new file name renames the file on Shopify and re-points its storefront URL. Pages that use the image through Shopify keep working, but anything that hard-coded the old URL keeps the old file.
Can I write my own file name or alt text through the agent?
No. StoreSEO writes the alt text and file name from the resource's own context. You can steer the language, and you can always edit alt text yourself in Shopify admin.
Keep going
Image SEO and alt text with other agents
More Claude Cowork guides