Optimize meta tags and content with Cursor
Optimizing meta tags and on-page content with Cursor means asking the editor's agent, with your theme project open, to have StoreSEO preview generated meta for a product, reading the draft in the chat panel, and approving only the parts you want applied.
Last updated: October 2026
Set up Cursor for StoreSEO
Skip this if Cursor is already connected. The full guide, with the alternatives, is on the Cursor page.
- 1
Add StoreSEO to mcp.json
Put this in ~/.cursor/mcp.json to use StoreSEO in every project, or in .cursor/mcp.json inside one theme project. In the StoreSEO app's setup guide the same JSON goes into Settings, Tools and MCP, New MCP server.
JSON{ "mcpServers": { "storeseo": { "url": "https://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp" } } } - 2
Sign in to your store
Open Cursor's MCP settings (the Customize page in current versions), find storeseo and sign in when Cursor asks. A browser window opens: pick your Shopify store and approve access.
PromptUse StoreSEO to show me my store's SEO score breakdown.
- 3
Switch off four StoreSEO tools
StoreSEO has 44 tools and Cursor stops at about 40 active ones across all servers. In the storeseo entry in Cursor's MCP settings, turn off at least four you do not need. The four rank and competitor lookups are a good first choice if you are not on Pro.
Promptstoreseo_list_rank_locations storeseo_list_rank_languages storeseo_add_competitors storeseo_delete_competitor
How does this work in Cursor?
You have the theme or storefront project open in Cursor and the storeseo server enabled in its MCP settings. In the agent chat you ask for a product's meta to be improved. Cursor calls storeseo_start, storeseo_get_resource_seo and then storeseo_preview_resource_optimization, and each call shows in the chat with its arguments so you can see which product and which resource type it is acting on. StoreSEO generates the meta title, description, tags, handle, FAQs and AI snippet on its own servers; Cursor shows you the draft and the projected score and does not write the copy itself.
Cursor asks for approval before an MCP tool runs unless your Run Mode lets it go ahead, so the approval you give in the chat panel and the yes you type to the agent are two separate things. The first is Cursor's hard stop on the tool call. The second is the confirmation StoreSEO tells the agent to wait for. For the apply step, keep both: read the payload Cursor shows, check which fields and axes are listed, and have the agent leave out the handle if you do not want a redirect created.
Because the project is open, the editor context is useful. If the preview proposes a new handle, ask Cursor to search the repository for hard-coded links to the old path, or to look at the product template to see whether a hard-coded title tag will override the new meta. The credit rule still applies: every preview spends AI Content Optimizer credit even if you never apply it, so work through products one at a time rather than asking for a whole collection in one message.
-
You: Preview better meta for the merino-beanie product. I know the preview spends credit.
- storeseo_start read-only
- storeseo_get_resource_seo read-only
- storeseo_preview_resource_optimization preview
-
Cursor: The draft takes the score from 33 to 70 with a new title, description, tags and two FAQs. The handle would change from /beanie-2 to /merino-beanie and the old URL would redirect. Apply it all?
-
You: Apply the title and description only.
- storeseo_apply_resource_optimization needs approval
-
Cursor: Applied the meta title and description. The tags, FAQs and handle stay in the draft for about an hour. The score is now 58.
What to ask Cursor
Use StoreSEO to preview new meta for the product merino-beanie. Show me the draft, the score change and the old and new URL, and wait before applying.
Preview meta for my lowest-scoring collection and tell me what the preview will spend. Then search this repo for links to its current handle.
Apply only the meta title and description from that preview and skip the handle and the FAQs.
- Optimize the meta title and description for my five lowest-scoring products. Show me the previews before you apply anything.
- Preview a new meta title, description and FAQ for the collection Summer Dresses, and keep the current URL handle.
- Apply the meta from that preview but skip the FAQ.
- Which of my pages have no meta description? Draft one for each and wait for my approval.
- What does StoreSEO optimize automatically for new products right now?
- Turn on automatic meta and alt text for new products only. Tell me what that will spend first.
What StoreSEO does: meta tags and on-page content
StoreSEO generates the content server-side: meta title and description, tags, a keyword-led URL handle, FAQs and an AI snippet. The agent shows you the draft and the projected score change before anything is saved, then applies all of it or only the parts you approve.
Requires: Generating a preview spends AI Content Optimizer credit; applying a preview is free.
- 1
Read the current state
The agent reads the resource's SEO record so it knows which fields exist, which fail and what the preview will add.
- 2
Generate a preview
StoreSEO writes the meta title, description, tags, URL handle, FAQs and AI snippet and projects the new SEO score, plus the GEO score for products. Nothing is saved yet. Preview spends credit whether or not you apply it.
- 3
Show you the draft
The agent presents the generated text and the score change. When the handle changes it shows the old and new URL and tells you a redirect will be created.
- 4
Apply what you approve
After your yes it applies everything, or only the parts you chose, for example the meta but not the FAQs. Skipped fields stay available from the same draft for an hour.
- 5
Report the new score
The apply call returns the recomputed score and the remaining checklist, so the agent tells you what changed and offers the next most useful fix.
Meta tags and on-page content reference
| Generated fields | Meta title, meta description, tags, URL handle, FAQs, AI snippet |
|---|---|
| Resource types | Products, collections, pages and articles (collections have no meta tags or tags axis in auto settings) |
| Who writes the copy | StoreSEO, server-side. The agent never authors meta, FAQs or handles itself |
| Cost | Preview spends AI Content Optimizer credit; apply is free; a new preview spends again |
| Draft lifetime | One hour after the preview |
| URL handle | Applying a new handle changes the live URL and creates a redirect from the old one; a handle already in use is dropped automatically |
| Partial apply | Apply a subset of axes, or skip individual fields such as the handle |
| Auto optimization | Optional settings that generate content for newly synced resources; only future syncs, nothing is backfilled |
| Auto settings plan | Configurable on any plan; switching an auto toggle on needs a paid plan and no active trial |
Rules Cursor follows
- The agent previews first and applies only after you confirm the previewed content.
- When a handle changes, you see the old URL and the new URL before the apply call, because applying creates a redirect.
- A request like optimize my worst five products authorizes the previews; the agent should remind you that previews spend credit even if you do not apply them.
- Turning on auto optimization spends credit on every future sync, so the agent proposes the exact sections and waits for your yes.
- Product title, focus keyword and description body are not written by this job; the description has its own tool in the AI search job.
In Cursor
StoreSEO has 44 tools and Cursor stops at about 40 active tools across all servers, so a preview or apply tool may be one you switched off to make room. This job needs storeseo_get_resource_seo, storeseo_preview_resource_optimization and storeseo_apply_resource_optimization enabled; if Cursor says it cannot find one, open the storeseo entry in the MCP settings and turn it back on, switching off something unrelated such as a rank tracking lookup instead. If you set the apply tool to run without asking, the agent's own confirmation is all that is left, so keep it on ask.
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
Cursor says it cannot preview the optimization. Why?
The most likely cause is the tool cap. Cursor allows about 40 active tools across all servers and StoreSEO has 44, so the preview tool may be switched off. Enable storeseo_preview_resource_optimization in the storeseo entry of the MCP settings and turn off tools this job does not need.
Does Cursor write the meta text itself?
No. StoreSEO generates the meta title, description, tags, FAQs and handle on its servers. Cursor presents the draft and passes your decision back, which is why the score change in the preview comes from StoreSEO and not from the model in the editor.
Does previewing an optimization change my product?
No. A preview generates the content and projects the score without saving anything. It does spend AI Content Optimizer credit, and applying the draft afterwards is free.
What happens to the old URL when the handle changes?
Applying a new URL handle updates the live URL and StoreSEO creates a redirect from the old one, so existing links keep working. The agent should show you both URLs before it applies the change.
Can I apply only part of a preview?
Yes. The apply step takes the axes you approved, and individual content fields such as the URL handle can be skipped. Skipped parts stay available from the same draft for one hour.
Does auto optimization fix my existing products?
No. Auto optimization only acts on resources synced or updated after you turn it on. Existing products are fixed with the preview and apply steps in this job.
Will StoreSEO change my product title?
No. This job writes the SEO meta title, not the storefront product title. The product title is edited in Shopify admin.
Keep going
Meta tags and on-page content with other agents
More Cursor guides