Conversational attributes
Conversational attributes are six optional Merchant Center attributes that add product facts, several meant primarily for conversational search like AI Mode.
How it works
In May 2026 Google added six conversational attributes to the Merchant API. All six are optional. Google says three of them are meant primarily for conversational experiences such as AI Mode in Google Search: question_and_answer, document_link and popularity_rank.
| Attribute | What it holds |
|---|---|
| question_and_answer | Questions and answers about the product: up to 30 pairs, 1,000 characters per question or answer, 10,000 in total |
| document_link | Links to PDF documents such as manuals and assembly instructions |
| related_product | Another product, by GTIN or item ID, and how it relates: accessory, substitute, often bought with and others |
| item_group_title | One title for all variants of a product, used with item_group_id |
| variant_option | Each property that tells variants apart, as a name and a value, such as size and XL |
| popularity_rank | How well the product sells compared with the rest of your catalogue, from 0.0 to 100.0 |
The data can come from what a store already keeps: product page FAQs, manufacturer PDFs, variant lists, sales history. Our guide to conversational attributes for AI Mode covers which fields to fill first.
Example
Example store, not client data.
The tableware shop ranks its 3,000 products by units sold. Google gives no formula, so the shop sets each rank as the share of the catalogue a product outsells. A mug that outsells 2,850 products gets popularity_rank = 2,850 ÷ 3,000 × 100 = 95.0, and a plate that outsells 300 gets 10.0. When sales shift noticeably, the shop updates the values through a supplemental feed.
Not to be confused with
- Product highlight — a general attribute: bullet points with the product’s most relevant features. Google asks that question_and_answer not repeat the product highlight, title, description or product detail.
- Structured title — an attribute for AI-generated titles. The Merchant API lists it with the general attributes, not the conversational ones.
Right and wrong readings
- Wrong: “Questions and answers are a place for keywords and the current price.” Right: Google asks you not to list keywords or search terms, and to keep prices and dates in their own attributes.
- Wrong: “Give every product a popularity_rank of 100.” Right: the rank compares each product with the rest of your catalogue and should reflect how well it sells. If every product scores 100, the field ranks nothing.
Sources
- Latest updates — the six attributes, May 2026. Checked 2 October 2026.
- ProductAttributes — fields, limits, relationship types. Checked 2 October 2026.
- Question and answer [question_and_answer] — purpose and content rules. Checked 2 October 2026.
- Popularity rank [popularity_rank] — purpose, ranking, updates. Checked 2 October 2026.