Sitemaps and indexing

Manage sitemaps and indexing with Grok

Managing sitemaps and indexing with Grok means asking xAI's chat assistant, through the StoreSEO connector on grok.com, which of your Shopify products, collections, pages and articles are noindex, nofollow or left out of the sitemap, and having it fix them one resource at a time.

Jump to the prompts Connect Grok

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.
URL

https://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.
Prompt

Use StoreSEO to show me my store's SEO score breakdown.

How does this work in Grok?

You sit in an ordinary Grok chat with the StoreSEO connector available and ask in plain words, for example whether any of your blog posts are set to nofollow. Grok opens a StoreSEO session with storeseo_start, then calls storeseo_list_resource_sitemaps with the resource type article and a filter on the nofollow flag. What comes back is a list of titles with their three flags, which Grok turns into a short answer. Nothing here needs a terminal or a config file, and the questions work on a phone as well as on a desktop, so checking a page before you send a link is quick.

For a change, the conversation is the control point. A noindex flag removes the page from search results, so StoreSEO tells the agent to name the resource and the flag and wait for your yes before it calls storeseo_update_resource_sitemap. xAI's connector documentation describes no separate per-tool approval setting, so your own reading of the proposal is the check: confirm the product title and which of the three flags it will set. Once the write returns, ask Grok to re-list that resource, because the flags can also change in the StoreSEO app and the first listing may be out of date.

The HTML sitemap works the same way. Grok reads storeseo_get_html_sitemap_settings, generates the page with storeseo_update_html_sitemap after your yes, and then lists your navigation menus with storeseo_list_sitemap_menus so you know which one to edit. You add the sitemap link in Shopify admin yourself, and then Grok can mark setup complete. Every sitemap tool works on any active plan, including the free one.

Grok + StoreSEO Illustrative session

You: Are any of my blog posts set to nofollow?
storeseo_start read-only
storeseo_list_resource_sitemaps read-only
Grok: Two articles have nofollow on: Spring Care Guide and Fabric Glossary. Neither is noindex. Do you want me to turn nofollow off for Fabric Glossary?
You: Yes, just that one.
storeseo_update_resource_sitemap needs approval
storeseo_list_resource_sitemaps read-only
Grok: Fabric Glossary now shows nofollow off. Spring Care Guide is unchanged.

What to ask Grok

Prompt 1

Which products in my store are excluded from the sitemap or set to noindex? List them with their flags.

Prompt 2

Set the page Old Shipping Policy to noindex and leave it in the sitemap. Show me what you will change first.

Prompt 3

Do I have an HTML sitemap yet? If not, set one up and tell me which menu to add it to.

Which of my products are set to noindex or excluded from the sitemap?
Exclude the product Gift Card Test from the sitemap and set it to noindex.
Set up an HTML sitemap for my store and tell me which menu to add it to.
Are any of my blog posts set to nofollow?
Remove noindex from the page About Us.

What StoreSEO does: sitemaps and indexing

StoreSEO controls two things here: per-resource sitemap flags (left out of the XML sitemap, noindex, nofollow) and an HTML sitemap page. The agent lists flags, changes them one resource at a time and walks you through the HTML sitemap setup.

1

List the flags

The agent lists products, collections, pages or articles with their sitemap, noindex and nofollow flags, filtered as you ask.
2

Change one resource

After your yes it sets the flags on one resource, which writes the matching Shopify metafields.
3

Re-read before reporting

Flags can also change in the StoreSEO app, so the agent re-lists before telling you the current state.
4

Create the HTML sitemap

It reads the HTML sitemap settings, then generates and enables the page.
5

Add it to a menu

It lists your navigation menus with their edit links; you add the sitemap link to a menu in Shopify admin, then the agent marks setup complete.

storeseo_list_resource_sitemapsstoreseo_update_resource_sitemapstoreseo_get_html_sitemap_settingsstoreseo_update_html_sitemapstoreseo_list_sitemap_menus

Sitemaps and indexing reference

Flags per resource	Excluded from sitemap, noindex, nofollow
Resource types	Products, collections, pages and articles
Where flags live	Shopify metafields on the resource
HTML sitemap steps	Generate and enable, add the link to a menu yourself, mark complete
HTML sitemap settings	Replaced wholesale on update; read first
Menus	Listed with edit links; the menu you choose is not stored
Plan	Every active plan

Rules Grok follows

A noindex flag removes a page from search results, so the agent names the resource and waits for your yes.
The agent re-lists flags in the same turn before telling you their current state.
Adding the sitemap link to a menu is a step you do in Shopify admin; no tool does it.
HTML sitemap settings are read before every update, because an update replaces them.

In Grok

xAI's connector documentation does not describe a per-tool approval setting, so the only stop in a Grok chat is your reading of what it proposes. For this job that means checking the exact title and which flag before you say yes, because noindex takes a page out of search results and a similar product name is easy to confuse. On Grok Business and Enterprise a team admin has to provision the StoreSEO connector in the cloud console before members can use it, so the sitemap tools will not appear until that is done.

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 set noindex on a Shopify page through StoreSEO?

Yes, one resource per call. StoreSEO tells Grok to name the page and the flag and wait for your yes, and xAI's documentation describes no separate approval setting, so check the title before you agree.

Does a Grok chat need my computer to be online for the sitemap tools?

No. Grok reaches the StoreSEO server over the public internet, so nothing on your machine needs to be reachable. The sign-in only has to finish once in a browser.

What is the difference between excluding a page from the sitemap and noindex?

Excluding a resource leaves it out of your XML sitemap, so crawlers are not pointed at it. Noindex tells search engines not to show the page in results even if they find it. StoreSEO sets each flag separately per resource.

Can the agent add the HTML sitemap to my menu?

No. The agent generates the HTML sitemap and lists your menus with their edit links, and you add the sitemap link to a menu in Shopify admin. Then the agent can mark setup complete.

Do sitemap tools need a paid plan?

No. The sitemap tools work on every active StoreSEO plan.

Why does the agent check the flags again before answering?

Sitemap flags can also be changed in the StoreSEO app outside the conversation, so an earlier listing may be stale. Re-reading in the same turn keeps the answer accurate.