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Getting your Shopify return policy in front of Google

Google can show your return policy next to your products. Here are the two ways to give it one, which takes priority, and what to write.

Updated 18 October 2026 · 4 minute read

Google says it can use your return policy to display it alongside your products and in knowledge panels in search results. Free returns or a long return window is a reason to choose you, so it's worth making sure Google has it.

Two ways to tell Google, and which one wins

Google lists the sources it uses, strongest first:

  1. Settings in Merchant Center or Search Console. Google says that when both exist, it uses only the information from Search Console.
  2. Store-wide markup on your site, describing your standard policy once.
  3. Product-level markup, for products that have a different policy.

For most small stores the simplest route to Google is the first one: enter your policy in Merchant Center or Search Console. Page markup is still worth having, because Google isn't the only thing reading your product pages.

What a clear policy says

  • How many days customers have to return something
  • Whether returns are free, or who pays the postage
  • What condition items need to be in, and any exceptions (sale items, personalised products)
  • Whether you refund, exchange or give store credit

In Shopify, publish it in Settings, then Policies, and add the refund policy link to your footer menu. Keep it consistent with what you tell Google, because the two should match.

Adding it to your product data

On the page, the return policy goes in your product structured data as hasMerchantReturnPolicy: the return window, how returns are made, and the fees. Google recommends one policy for your whole business and product-level policies only where a product differs. The snippet we install in the Agent-Ready Setup adds it from two settings, the return window and who pays for returns.

The AI shopping angle

AI assistants that compare stores can only weigh a return policy they can read. Our inspection checks for it in your product data and for a refund policy link on the page. Whether that changes what assistants recommend isn't proven, but it removes one reason to pick a store whose policy is clearer.

Your next step

Run the free inspection on one of your product pages. It checks seven other things AI assistants and Google read, and tells you what to fix in plain English. If you'd rather not do it yourself, we can do it all with the Agent-Ready Setup ($595).

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