Shopify lets you set up your Refund, Privacy, Terms of Service, Shipping, and other legal policies in one dedicated place, under Settings > Policies. When you save a policy there, Shopify publishes it as a standard policy page at a fixed address, such as yourstore.com/policies/refund-policy. It connects to a store-wide policy object that your checkout, Google, and AI shopping assistants all read from automatically.

This is different from a regular custom page (yourstore.com/pages/refund-policy) that you build yourself. 

How Google and AI agents actually find your policies

Google's crawler and AI shopping agents check a short chain of files: 

1. Your sitemap (/sitemap.xml) points to an agentic discovery file (/sitemap_agentic_discovery.xml), which points to your store's main AI directory file, /agents.md. 
2. Inside /agents.md, your policy links are hardcoded to the standard policy address, for example
   

If your policy lives on a custom page instead, it simply has no entry on this directory board, even though the content still exists somewhere on your site.

Why this matters

1. Shown automatically at checkout. Shopify links your standard policies in the checkout footer by default, which is a requirement in many markets.
2. Listed in your store's AI directory. Since /agents.md only ever lists standard policy addresses, this is what lets ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and similar tools give shoppers accurate answers about your returns, shipping, and privacy terms.
3. Shopify is preparing to roll out Agentic Storefronts, which lets AI shopping agents browse and buy directly from stores. 

1. Read by Google. It supports eligibility for Google's Top Quality Store badge and richer Shopping listings.
   

The risk of non-standard policy pages

1. It will not appear in your checkout footer automatically, which can create a compliance gap in markets that require it.
2. It has no entry in your /agents.md directory, so AI shopping agents cannot see your real terms. If a shopper asks about your returns or shipping, the AI may answer with incorrect information.
3. It can affect how Google Merchant Center reads your store's policy signals, which may reduce your visibility or eligibility on Shopping surfaces. 

How to tell if your policy pages are non-standard

1. You can check manually in Shopify admin: open Settings > Policies. If a policy field is empty there but you have a similar page living under Pages, it is very likely set up as non-standard. 
   

1. For a faster check, our SEO app scans your store automatically and flags any policy that is not published as a standard policy type, so you do not have to go looking for it.
   

1. You can also check your store's Agentic Storefronts readiness panel in Shopify admin, which flags policy compliance directly.
   

How to fix it

Fix it yourself. Go to Settings > Policies, add your existing policy content there, and save.  

Get help from us. Chat with our Customer Success team in-app or connect with us via support@tapita.io and we will help you sort it out.

Sources: Google Merchant Center, return policy setup for Shopify and Shopify Help Center, agentic storefronts and product discovery