EU AI Act labels in Google Merchant Center and Google Shopping

Key facts

• Merchant Center requirement: IPTC DigitalSourceType = TrainedAlgorithmicMedia in every image created with generative AI (help page 14743464).
• This applies to the image_link, additional_image_link and lifestyle_image_link attributes.
• AI-generated titles and descriptions belong in structured_title and structured_description with digital_source_type trained_algorithmic_media.
• According to Google, your own AI labels in images do not violate the overlay and watermark rules (help page 17231950, Ads policy change log of 9 July 2026).
• Keep labels away from the very corners and edges: Google may crop images depending on the format.
• When Google detects an AI label, automatic image improvements do not run. Google says the feature does not ensure legal compliance.

What Google requires for AI images

Google handles AI images in Merchant Center through file metadata. According to help page 14743464, every image created with generative AI must carry metadata identifying it as AI-generated: the IPTC entry DigitalSourceType with the value TrainedAlgorithmicMedia. This applies to the feed attributes image_link, additional_image_link and lifestyle_image_link.

Google names two more values that should be preserved: CompositeSynthetic (a composite with synthetic elements) and AlgorithmicMedia (created purely by an algorithm). You must not remove embedded metadata. Google expressly includes images from its own tools such as Product Studio.

The right value for photos only partly changed with AI, for example with a new background, is not settled. Google Search supports compositeWithTrainedAlgorithmicMedia for this; Merchant Center does not mention it. If you want to be sure the feed recognises the entry, you can choose compositeSynthetic. The values are explained in C2PA, IPTC and metadata.

AI text: structured_title and structured_description

Google also has dedicated attributes for AI-generated product titles and descriptions. Instead of, or alongside, title and description, you use structured_title and structured_description. Each has two sub-attributes: digital_source_type set to trained_algorithmic_media, and content with the text. This is a Google requirement. Under the Article 50 guidelines, ordinary product descriptions fall outside the text labelling duty, except for claims on topics such as health, consumer safety or sustainability (para. 131).

Overlays and watermarks: an apparent contradiction

Merchant Center's general image specification (help page 6324350) still lists overlays and watermarks as reasons for disapproval, without an express exception for AI labels. The newer help page 17231950 says that your own AI labels in ads and listings do not violate the policies on text overlays and watermarks. The Google Ads policy change log of 9 July 2026 says the same: since July 2026, text or image labels in AI creatives are allowed.

Read them together: the newer, more specific page governs AI labels. Other overlays and watermarks remain a reason for disapproval under the image specification. So keep the label plain and clearly recognisable as an AI notice: the “AI” mark, optionally with a short text, and no marketing message.

The AI label setting in Merchant Center

Independently of any label in the image, you can mark an asset in Merchant Center as created or edited with AI. The setting is in the product details under “Manage images”: select the image, open the three-dot menu in the top right, choose “Manage AI label”, pick the option, apply and save. The same setting exists for Product Studio and video assets. Google describes the effect as follows:

• Marked assets get a disclosure in the “How this ad was made” section of My Ad Center.
• For campaigns targeting the EU, India or New York, labelled assets get a visible overlay on the ad.
• When Google detects an AI label, automatic improvements such as overlay removal do not run.
• Google may label assets itself, for example where the law requires it or other platforms send signals. Such labels cannot be overwritten.
• Labelling may affect whether content appears in some experiences.

Important: Google writes that the feature does not ensure compliance with certain regulations and advises seeking legal guidance. Under the guidelines, deployers may rely on the labelling tools of very large online platforms within those platforms (para. 126). How far that carries for Google's setting is unclear. We recommend both: Google's setting and a visible label in the image if the image is a deep fake.

Placement in the image: avoid the corners

Google warns that labels in the very corners and along the edges may be trimmed depending on the ad format, and that it cannot rule this out entirely. Our recommendation for a feed version with a burned-in label: keep at least 5 % of the image width from the edge, and make the mark about 8 % of the shorter image side tall. These are our own values; neither Google nor the Code gives sizes. How the label should look is covered in label design. You can create an image copy with a label in your browser with the label tool.

Shopify: does the metadata reach the feed?

Your product feed points to the image file your store delivers. On Shopify, that is an address on Shopify's CDN. A Shopify Community thread reported that this CDN stripped XMP metadata. Shopify staff wrote on 27 July and 4 September 2026 that the issue should be fixed. There is no official changelog entry. In our own test on 3 October 2026, one file kept its entry in the original, resized and as WebP. Check your own images: open an image address from your feed in the metadata checker.

Two common reasons for missing entries happen before Shopify: background removal and re-exports. Both write a new file, often without metadata.

Step by step: labelled in the store, clean in the feed, metadata intact

1. Classify. For each AI image, establish whether it is a deep fake, for example with the labelling check. Record the result and citation.
2. Use the original file with its metadata. Upload the file from the AI tool, not a screenshot or re-export.
3. Add IPTC where it is missing. Add DigitalSourceType with the IPTC tool if the file has no C2PA manifest. Do not write to files with C2PA; the manifest would become invalid.
4. Label visibly in the store. Add the label as an overlay on every surface where the image appears (see AI labels in online stores). An overlay does not change the file, so the feed receives the original with its metadata.
5. Check the delivered file. Open the image address from your feed in the metadata checker and confirm the IPTC entry.
6. Set the AI label setting. In Merchant Center, use “Manage AI label” to mark each AI image as created or edited.
7. Decide whether the feed needs a burned-in label. For deep fakes we also recommend a feed version with a visible label, away from the corners. Copy the metadata into the new file.
8. Check the preview. After the next fetch, check in Merchant Center that the label is fully visible and the image was not disapproved.
9. Document. Record which feed images carry which version.

Not legal advice. This content explains the law based on primary sources; it does not replace an assessment of your individual case.