Methodology · verified 13 July 2026
What CatalogVigil checks—and what it cannot know.
Short answer: CatalogVigil applies deterministic CSV structure checks, current and legacy Shopify product-header rules, documented field dependencies, and conservative data-quality advisories. It cannot see your store state, confirm remote images, validate product references, predict app behavior, or guarantee Shopify will accept a file.
How are findings classified?
| Level | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Blocker | A documented format/dependency problem or parse failure that prevents reliable validation and is likely to fail or mis-map. |
| Warning | A plausible catalogue risk requiring human review, such as duplicate SKUs, formula-like text, or non-contiguous product rows. |
| Advisory | A compatibility or normalisation note that does not by itself make the file invalid. |
Which sources define the rules?
Shopify-documented findings link to the current product CSV description or common import problems. CatalogVigil advisories link back to this methodology. The audit export records the app and rule versions so a result can be reproduced against the same rule set.
Why are fixes deliberately limited?
Whitespace, case, price punctuation, option structure, handles, tags, and descriptions can carry business meaning. CatalogVigil therefore offers only narrowly reversible normalisations: current header names for recognised legacy headers, outer header whitespace, canonical status/boolean case, and standard UTF-8 comma/LF serialisation. It never overwrites the original and does not auto-fix prices, handles, HTML, variants, images, or catalogue text.
What must a human still review?
- Shopify's import preview and overwrite selection.
- A current catalogue backup or export before a bulk update.
- Product references, metafield types, existing variants and IDs, inventory locations, fulfillment services, market configuration, and app dependencies.
- Whether duplicate SKUs/barcodes and compare-at prices are intentional.
- Remote image availability, dimensions, licensing, and content.
How is AEO accuracy maintained?
Each question-shaped reference starts with a direct qualified answer, uses consistent Shopify field names, identifies its source and verification date, and separates documented behavior from CatalogVigil advice. Pages are canonical, included in the sitemap, and written for humans first. Structured data reflects only visible content. Google states that its AI search features use the same foundational indexing and snippet requirements as Search; no citation or rich result is promised.
Rule version: shopify-products-2026-07-13.1 · App version: 1.0.0 · Last human source review: 2026-07-13.