How to Fix Google Merchant Center Policy Violations with AI

Policy violations in Google Merchant Center directly impact revenue by blocking product listings and cutting visibility across Google surfaces. For sellers, these technical infractions immediately translate to lost sales opportunities, but you can use AI tools like ChatGPT to identify, analyze, and rectify these issues before they become a problem.

This guide outlines practical AI implementation strategies to address GMC policy violations, maintain listing compliance, and maximize product visibility without relying on labor-intensive manual interventions.

How AI Can Help with Each Violation Type

ChatGPT can analyze product data to identify policy violations quickly and suggest actionable fixes, saving time and reducing errors in manual reviews. By tailoring its capabilities to specific violation types, your business can streamline the process of maintaining compliance.

Restricted Products

Google prohibits certain products, such as tobacco, CBD oil, or weapons, to maintain a safe and appropriate shopping environment. Violating these restrictions can lead to immediate product disapprovals or account suspensions. AI tools like ChatGPT can help by scanning product data for restricted terms and suggesting compliant alternatives.

How ChatGPT Can Help:

Use targeted prompts to identify problematic terms in product titles or descriptions. For example:

• “Flag any mentions of ‘tobacco,’ ‘CBD,’ or other restricted terms in this dataset.”
• “Analyze this dataset for restricted keywords or phrases that violate Google Merchant Center policies.”

Possible Scenario:

Imagine your product feed includes an item titled “CBD Oil for Relaxation.” This term violates Google’s Dangerous Products policy. 

You can prompt ChatGPT with:

“Identify instances of ‘CBD oil’ in this product feed and suggest compliant alternatives that align with Google Merchant Center policies.”

By addressing restricted terms proactively, your business can avoid costly disapprovals while maintaining compliance across their feeds.

Misleading Claims

Misleading claims in product descriptions—such as unsupported guarantees or exaggerated benefits—violate Google’s transparency policies and can erode customer trust. These issues often arise when businesses use overly promotional language without proper evidence. AI tools like ChatGPT can assist by reviewing descriptions for problematic phrases and suggesting compliant alternatives.

How ChatGPT Can Help:

Use prompts to highlight unsupported claims and generate revised descriptions. For example:

• “Highlight any phrases that might be considered misleading, such as ‘100% guaranteed’ or ‘organic’ without certification.”
• “Review these product descriptions and flag any claims that lack supporting evidence or certifications.”

Possible Scenario:

A product description reads: “Guaranteed to cure insomnia in one night.” This claim is both unverifiable and non-compliant with Google’s advertising policies. 

You can prompt ChatGPT with:

“Rewrite this description: ‘Guaranteed to cure insomnia in one night’ to comply with Google Merchant Center policies.”

By revising misleading claims, your business not only maintain compliance but also build trust with their customers through accurate and transparent messaging.

Missing Attributes

Missing required attributes, such as GTINs, MPNs, or brand names, prevent Google from properly indexing products in its database. This reduces visibility and can lead to product disapprovals. AI tools like ChatGPT can help by identifying blank fields and suggesting actionable next steps to resolve these gaps.

How ChatGPT Can Help:

Use prompts to analyze product data for missing attributes and recommend solutions. For example:

• "Analyze this data and list missing GTINs or MPNs by Product ID."
• "Identify missing attributes like brand names or GTINs that prevent compliance with Google’s policies."

Possible Scenario:

A product feed contains several items missing GTINs, which are required for proper categorization. 

You can prompt ChatGPT with:

"For this product feed, identify missing GTINs and suggest how to obtain them from manufacturer databases."

By filling in these gaps, your business ensure their products meet Google’s requirements and maintain visibility in Shopping ads.

Pricing Mismatches

Pricing discrepancies between your feed data and landing pages create confusion for shoppers and violate Google’s accuracy requirements. This often results in product disapprovals or reduced impressions. AI tools like ChatGPT can help by comparing feed pricing with website pricing and flagging inconsistencies for correction.

How ChatGPT Can Help:

Use prompts to detect mismatches and suggest corrective actions. For example:

• "Compare feed pricing with landing page pricing and flag inconsistencies."
• "Highlight any discrepancies between feed prices and website prices that violate Google’s accuracy requirements."

Possible Scenario:

A product is listed in the feed at $19.99 but appears on the website at $24.99. 

You can prompt ChatGPT with:

"Identify pricing mismatches between this feed data (e.g., $19.99) and these landing page URLs (e.g., $24.99). Suggest which system should be updated to maintain compliance."

By resolving pricing mismatches, you improve customer trust while ensuring compliance with Google policies.

Low-Quality Images

Low-resolution images or those containing watermarks fail to meet Google’s visual standards, reducing product appeal and leading to disapprovals. High-quality images are essential for attracting clicks and maintaining compliance. AI tools like ChatGPT can assist by identifying non-compliant images and suggesting replacements.

How ChatGPT Can Help:

Use prompts to validate image resolution metadata or flag filenames with watermarks. For example:

• "Identify images with resolutions below 800x800 pixels or files containing a watermark."
• "Flag product images that fail to meet Google’s visual standards and suggest replacements."

Possible Scenario:

 A product image has a resolution of 600x600 pixels, which violates Google’s minimum requirements. 

You can prompt ChatGPT with:

"Analyze this list of image URLs and flag any below 800x800 resolution. Suggest compliant replacements for non-compliant images."

By replacing flagged images with high-quality alternatives, your business ensure their products meet Google’s standards and attract more clicks.

Tax and Shipping Errors

Missing or incorrect tax rates or shipping costs create inconsistencies that frustrate shoppers and lead to disapprovals from Google Merchant Center. Accurate tax and shipping information is critical for compliance and customer satisfaction. AI tools like ChatGPT can help by detecting gaps in this data and recommending updates based on regional requirements.

How ChatGPT Can Help:

Use prompts to analyze tax/shipping data for inconsistencies or missing values. For example:

• "Check for missing shipping rates for these states and flag any gaps."
• "Analyze tax and shipping data for regional inconsistencies that violate Google Merchant Center policies."

Possible Scenario:

A feed is missing shipping rates for California, resulting in disapprovals for affected products. 

You can prompt ChatGPT with:

"Identify missing shipping rates in this feed for California and suggest how to update them based on standard rates in the region."

By addressing tax and shipping errors proactively, your business reduce disapprovals while improving customer experience.

Misaligned Landing Page Content

Discrepancies between your feed data and landing pages—such as mismatched stock statuses—create confusion for shoppers and lead to product disapprovals from Google Merchant Center. AI tools like ChatGPT can help by comparing feed data with landing pages to ensure consistency across stock status, pricing, and product details.

How ChatGPT Can Help:

Use prompts to identify mismatches between feeds and landing pages. For example:

• "Flag products where the feed lists ‘In Stock,’ but the landing page shows ‘Out of Stock.’"
• "Analyze discrepancies between feed data and landing page content for compliance issues."

Possible Scenario:

A product is listed as “In Stock” in the feed but shows “Out of Stock” on the landing page due to inventory sync delays. 

You can prompt ChatGPT with:

"Compare stock statuses between this feed (e.g., ‘In Stock’) and these landing pages (e.g., ‘Out of Stock’) and recommend corrections."

By ensuring consistency between feeds and landing pages, your business maintain compliance while improving shopper trust.

Prohibited Keywords in Titles/Descriptions

Using restricted terms like “weight loss” in titles or descriptions violates Google’s advertising guidelines, leading to immediate disapprovals of affected products. AI tools like ChatGPT can help by scanning product data for prohibited keywords and suggesting compliant alternatives.

How ChatGPT Can Help: 

Use prompts to identify restricted terms in titles/descriptions and rewrite them appropriately. For example: 

• "Highlight prohibited keywords like 'weight loss' in these product titles/descriptions." 
• "Rewrite flagged titles/descriptions to remove restricted terms while maintaining relevance for shoppers."

Possible Scenario: 

A description reads “Weight loss supplement,” which violates health-related content policies. 

You can prompt ChatGPT with: 

"Identify prohibited terms like 'weight loss' in this description and rewrite it to comply with Google’s policies."

Incorrect Categorization 

Misclassified products reduce relevance in search results, leading to fewer impressions or clicks due to poor targeting accuracy. AI tools like ChatGPT can assist by suggesting appropriate Google Product Categories (GPC) based on product attributes.

How ChatGPT Can Help: 

Use prompts tailored to reclassification needs based on descriptions or features of products. For example: 

• "Recommend GPC codes for these products based on their titles/descriptions." 
• "Identify misclassified products and suggest categories aligned with Google's taxonomy."

Possible Scenario: 

A smartwatch is incorrectly categorized under “Home Appliances,” reducing its visibility among relevant searches for electronics. 

You can prompt ChatGPT with: 

"Suggest an appropriate GPC code for a smartwatch currently categorized under 'Home Appliances.'"

Expired Product Feeds 

Outdated feeds fail to meet Google’s recency requirements, leading to automatic suspensions of affected products until updates are made. AI tools like ChatGPT can help by identifying expired feeds that need immediate attention.

How ChatGPT Can Help: 

Use prompts designed to flag outdated feeds based on last update timestamps or expiration dates provided by platforms like GMC APIs. For example: 

• "Flag feeds older than 30 days for immediate updates." 

Possible Scenario: 

A product feed hasn’t been updated in over six weeks due to manual oversight, causing suspensions across multiple listings. 

You can prompt ChatGPT with: 

"Identify expired feeds older than 30 days in this dataset and recommend actions to update them promptly."

From Violations to Domination

Policy violations in Google Merchant Center transform from operational headaches into strategic opportunities when approached systematically. While most teams react to disapprovals, forward-thinking ecommerce operations implement preventative compliance frameworks that maintain continuous visibility while competitors face disruption.

For sophisticated ecommerce operations, GMC policy compliance delivers substantial competitive advantage. When technical violations sideline competitors during peak shopping periods, compliant catalogs capture additional market share through continuous visibility.

Rather than viewing Google's policies as arbitrary limitations, successful ecommerce teams recognize them as technical specifications that—when properly implemented—deliver predictable, scalable performance.