Image SEO and alt text Optimize images and alt text with Claude
Optimizing images with Claude means asking Anthropic's chat assistant to find the heaviest and unlabelled images in your Shopify store and having StoreSEO compress them and write alt text and file names, one image per call, with a restore for each change.
Last updated: October 2026
Set up Claude for StoreSEO
Skip this if Claude is already connected. The full guide, with the alternatives, is on the Claude page.
- 1
Add StoreSEO as a custom connector
In Claude, open Customize, then Connectors, choose + Add and then Add custom connector. Name it StoreSEO and paste this URL as the remote MCP server URL.
URLhttps://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp
- 2
Approve your store
Claude opens the StoreSEO sign-in in your browser. Pick your Shopify store and approve access. Then start a new chat and ask this to confirm the connection works.
PromptUse StoreSEO to show me my store's SEO score breakdown.
How does this work in Claude?
You open a chat on claude.ai or in Claude Desktop with the StoreSEO connector switched on and type something like find my heaviest product images and tell me which ones have no alt text. Claude calls storeseo_start first and then storeseo_list_images, which is a read. The listing shows, for every image, whether compression, alt text and file name are done, and by default it puts the largest unoptimized files at the top. Claude turns that into a short table in the chat, with the product each image belongs to, and you can ask it to narrow the list to one product or to images with no alt text at all.
Fixing is a separate step. Claude tells you how many images it plans to touch and what kind of spend that means: compression counts against the Image Optimizer quota, while alt text and file names use AI credit. After your yes it calls storeseo_optimize_image once per image, with the axes you picked, and the connector shows each call in the conversation. The response reports compression, file name and alt text separately, so Claude can say that one image was compressed, got new alt text and was refused on a rename without bundling it all into one vague success. If you dislike a result, you say so in the same chat and Claude calls storeseo_restore_image for that image.
Because the work is one image per call, a bulk run in a chat is a long string of tool calls. That suits Claude well when you keep the batch to a product or a handful of images and read the summary after each. Claude also keeps the earlier listing in context, so you can say do the next five without describing the filter again. Renaming a file changes its storefront URL, and Claude can remind you of that before it starts.
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You: Find my heaviest unoptimized product images, and compress the top three.
- storeseo_start read-only
- storeseo_list_images read-only
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Claude: The three heaviest are on Canvas Tote, Linen Shirt and Ceramic Mug, between 3 and 5 MB each. Compression uses Image Optimizer quota, one unit per image. Shall I compress these three?
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You: Yes, compress those three.
- storeseo_optimize_image needs approval
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Claude: Canvas Tote is compressed. I will run the other two one at a time and report each result.
What to ask Claude
Using StoreSEO, list my ten heaviest unoptimized product images and tell me how much Image Optimizer quota compressing them will use.
Which of my product images have no alt text? Show them grouped by product, then write alt text for the ones on my best seller.
Restore the original alt text on the Canvas Tote image you just changed, and leave its compression as it is.
- 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 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
Claude only calls StoreSEO in a chat where the connector is switched on in the Search and Tools menu, so a missing optimize tool usually means it is toggled off for that conversation. Anthropic advises Allow always only for servers you trust, and for this job it is safer to leave storeseo_optimize_image and storeseo_restore_image on ask: with one call per image, a long run means many prompts, which is the price of an approval you control. A run that renames collection or article images can sit for a couple of minutes per image while StoreSEO re-uploads them, so keep those batches small.
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 Claude compress my Shopify images without the Image Optimizer add-on?
No. Compression needs the Image Optimizer add-on and counts against its monthly quota. Claude can still ask StoreSEO to write alt text and file names, which spend AI Content Optimizer credit instead, and the report for each image shows which part applied and which was refused.
Can I ask Claude to undo an image change?
Yes. Tell Claude which image and which part to revert, and it calls storeseo_restore_image for compression, alt text, file name or any combination. Restoring compression brings back the original file, and restoring a file name points the storefront URL back at the original.
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
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