How Shopify SEO Actually Works in 2026: What to Skip, What to Double Down On

How do you actually do SEO for a Shopify store in 2026? Patrick Rice and Leighton Taylor break down when SEO is worth the investment, how to size up your competition, what legitimate link building looks like today, and how to get your products recommended by AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews. Links Mentioned Ilana's JSON-LD for SEO (Shopify app): https://apps.shopify.com/json-ld-for-seo Shopify's GEO Playbook: https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/blog/generative-engine-optimization Koray Tuğberk Gübür (Topical Authority / Holistic SEO): https://www.holisticseo.digital Kurt Elster — The Unofficial Shopify Podcast: https://unofficialshopifypodcast.com SEMrush: https://www.semrush.com Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com Moz Domain Authority: https://moz.com/domain-authority Craig Lawson — ClickReady Marketing: https://www.clickready.com Patrick Rice's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@patrickriceco Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:20 Does your store even need SEO? 2:34 Niching down: coffee & graphic tee example 6:08 Keyword & competitor research (SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz) 10:09 Link building in 2026: what still works 12:53 Affiliate programs & who to pitch for links 17:23 AI search & getting recommended by ChatGPT 21:11 Topical authority & GEO 24:31 Schema & structured data 27:07 Setting realistic SEO timelines 29:22 SEO wins & disasters 32:55 How Patrick got into SEO 35:43 How to work with Patrick 36:47 Wrapping Up Book a Call Book a Call with Patrick: https://calendly.com/patrickriceco/strategy-call Book a Call with Leighton: https://cal.com/leightontaylor/discovery-call?utm_source=podcast Work With Us Work with Patrick (SEO and Google Ads): https://patrickriceco.com/ Work with Leighton (Shopify Store Builds, Migrations, & Ongoing Support): https://envision.io You may notice that our content sometimes includes affiliate links or sponsored content. We may receive compensation for this type of content, which supports the work we do at no cost to you.