Shopify AI Product Recommendations: Set Up Related Products
Shopify’s AI product recommendations are built in: every product gets an automatically generated list of related products, based on what is commonly bought together, products with a similar description, and products in related collections. You show them with the theme’s Related products section, and in the free Search & Discovery app you can add up to 10 hand-picked complementary products and 10 related products per product. A recommendation app is only needed for things Shopify does not do, such as bundles at checkout or recommendations per visitor across the whole store.
How the recommendations are generated and shown is described in Shopify’s Help Center pages on product recommendations in Search & Discovery and on adding product recommendations to a theme, read on October 23, 2026.
How Shopify picks related products
Shopify uses three built-in strategies, each with its own requirement:
- Purchase history: products commonly bought together. The product needs previous sales.
- Product description: products with a similar description. Only for stores with an English storefront.
- Related collections: used when the first two are not available.
The recommendations become more accurate as more orders and product information come in, and they change frequently: a shopper may see different products on the same page a day later. You cannot edit the generated list, but you can add your own picks next to it.
Two types are worth keeping apart. Related products are similar products, possible substitutes (“you may also like”). Complementary products are add-ons bought in addition to the product (“pairs well with”). Shopify generates related products automatically; complementary products are the ones you choose.
Add the related products section
- In the admin go to Online Store, find your theme and click Edit theme.
- Use the menu at the top to select Products > Default product.
- If the template has a Related products section, click it; if not, click + Add section and choose Related products.
- Set what each recommendation shows (title, price, vendor, a short description) and how many products appear.
- Click Save.
A product page can have only one related products section. The heading and layout come from your theme. To hide the section without deleting it, click the eye icon. From the theme editor you can also ask Sidekick to change how the section looks or to hide it.
For complementary products, your theme needs a Complementary products block, added inside the product information section with + Add block. Not every theme has one, so check your theme before planning add-ons.
Hand-pick recommendations in Search & Discovery
- Go to Apps > Search & Discovery.
- Click Product recommendations, then Add recommendations.
- Select the product you want to customize.
- Choose up to 10 Complementary products.
- Choose up to 10 Related products, and decide whether the page shows only your picks or your picks together with the automatic ones.
- Click Save.
Shopify’s own advice for choosing them:
- Complementary products should be good add-ons, at the same price or cheaper than the product (a case for a phone, polish for boots).
- Keep the automatic related products switched on next to yours. They follow changes in your catalog and customer activity, and they fill the gap when your hand-picked products sell out or are unpublished.
- Check your theme’s setting for how many recommendations it shows.
Start with your 20 best-selling products. Those pages have the traffic, so the add-ons you choose there are seen the most.
Why a recommended product does not show
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Not sold out | Related products can still show if Continue selling when out of stock is on; complementary products need stock above 0 |
| Not Unlisted | Unlisted products never appear as recommendations |
| Price above $0.00 | Free samples will not be recommended |
| Not a gift card | Gift cards are excluded |
| Published to the Online Store | Check the product’s sales channels |
| Not already in the visitor’s cart | Shopify skips what they already chose |
| Status Active | Draft and archived products do not show |
If a whole section is empty, check the theme first: the section must be added to the product template, and the theme must support the type of recommendation you set up. If you sell combined listings, Search & Discovery’s Settings decide whether recommendations show child products (the default), parent products or both.
When a recommendation app is worth it
Shopify’s recommendations work per product page. Consider an app when you want:
- Recommendations in the cart or after checkout, such as a cart drawer upsell or a post-purchase offer.
- Bundles with a combined price, or “buy these three together” discounts.
- Personalization per visitor across the homepage and collections, based on what each shopper browsed.
- Rules at scale, such as “always recommend the matching size of accessory” across thousands of products.
Check each app’s listing for its pricing unit and whether it uses Shopify’s own recommendation data. Apps for raising order value more broadly are compared in apps that raise order value, and storefront search in Shopify AI search. Wider personalization is covered in personalization on Shopify, and more in the running a store hub.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shopify have AI product recommendations? Yes. Shopify automatically generates related product recommendations for every product, using purchase history, similar product descriptions (on English storefronts) and related collections. Your theme shows them in its related products section.
Can I choose which products are recommended on Shopify? Yes, in the free Search & Discovery app. Under Product recommendations you can add up to 10 complementary and 10 related products for any product, and decide whether they replace or join the automatic recommendations.
Why are no product recommendations showing on my Shopify store? Check first whether the section is missing from the product template, or the recommended products break a display rule: sold out, unlisted, priced at $0.00, a gift card, not published to the Online Store, already in the cart, or not Active.