Image SEO and alt text Optimize images and alt text with Grok
Optimizing your Shopify images with Grok means chatting on grok.com with StoreSEO added as a custom connector, so Grok can find heavy or unlabelled product images and compress, caption and rename them one at a time without opening Shopify admin.
Last updated: October 2026
Set up Grok for StoreSEO
Skip this if Grok is already connected. The full guide, with the alternatives, is on the Grok page.
- 1
Add a custom connector
Open the connectors page on grok.com, choose New Connector and then Custom. Enter this as the MCP server URL and complete the authentication when it opens.
URLhttps://mcp.storeseo.com/mcp
- 2
Approve your store and check it
Pick your Shopify store in the browser and approve access. Then start a chat with the connector available and ask this to confirm the connection works.
PromptUse StoreSEO to show me my store's SEO score breakdown.
How does this work in Grok?
You are in a Grok conversation on grok.com, with StoreSEO already added from the connectors page as a custom connector. There is no editor and no terminal, so everything happens in the chat. Ask which of your product images have no alt text, or which are the heaviest, and Grok opens a StoreSEO session with storeseo_start, then calls storeseo_list_images. The listing shows compression, alt text and file name for each image, and the default order puts the largest uncompressed files first, so the reply starts with the images that cost your pages the most.
What you get back is a plain-language list: which images are done, which are partly done and which are untouched, with the product each one belongs to. Search by product title scopes it to one product, and Grok should check that every row really belongs to the product you meant, because a title search can also match file names from other resources. Before it starts optimizing, ask it to name the number of images and the kind of spend, since compression draws on the Image Optimizer add-on quota and alt text and file names draw on AI Content Optimizer credit.
Then storeseo_optimize_image runs once per image with the axes you agreed to, and Grok reports applied, already applied, skipped or refused for each. If you dislike a result, ask Grok to restore that image and it calls storeseo_restore_image for the axis you name, bringing back the original file, the earlier alt text or the old file name. Renaming changes the image's storefront URL, which Grok should mention, and a collection or article image can take a couple of minutes because the rename re-uploads it.
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You: Which product images have no alt text?
- storeseo_start read-only
- storeseo_list_images read-only
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Grok: Eleven images have no alt text; six are on Linen Apron. Alt text uses AI credit. Do you want me to write alt text for the six Linen Apron images?
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You: Yes, only alt text for those six.
- storeseo_optimize_image needs approval
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Grok: First Linen Apron image done: alt text written, file name and compression untouched. Five to go, one call each.
What to ask Grok
Use StoreSEO to show my ten heaviest unoptimized product images and tell me what compressing them will cost in quota.
Which product images have no alt text at all? Write alt text for the ones on my best seller after I say yes.
Put back the original alt text on the last image you changed.
- 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 Grok 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 Grok
xAI's connector documentation does not describe a per-tool approval setting, so on grok.com the main check on image changes is StoreSEO's instruction to name the cost and wait for your yes, and that works only if you read the plan before replying. On Grok Business and Enterprise, an admin has to provision the connector in the cloud console first. Image work is one call per image, so a store with hundreds of images means a long chat; scope each request to one product or one batch.
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 Grok write alt text for all my product images at once?
It works through them one image per call, so a large catalog takes many calls in one conversation. Ask for one product or a batch of ten at a time, and expect it to name the AI credit use before it starts.
Can I tell Grok exactly what file name or alt text to use?
No. StoreSEO writes both from the product's own context, and you can only steer the language. If you want specific wording, edit the alt text yourself in Shopify admin.
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 Grok guides