Sidekick Surface Optimization SSO: Rank in Shopify’s Conversational App Recommendations

What changed on September 17, 2025

Shopify shifted app discovery into Sidekick inside the admin. Merchants can ask for apps, see standardized cards sourced from App Store listings, compare options, and begin installation directly in chat. Guided search and comparison views in the App Store are being retired. For the product change details, review Shopify’s announcement on find, compare, and install apps. Recommendations are context aware and update in real time.

Why Sidekick Surface Optimization matters

Sidekick sits at high intent moments in admin, which compresses the journey from need to install.
Earning Built for Shopify strengthens trust signals on app cards and can influence search ranking and eligibility across merchant surfaces. See Built for Shopify benefits and badge.

SSO scorecard: be Sidekick visible in 14 days

Built for Shopify eligibility in motion and category requirements mapped with owners and deadlines.
App listing content structured for Sidekick cards and comparisons.
Shopify managed installation enabled so install from chat is fast and avoids redirects.
Latest App Bridge with an embedded admin experience for primary workflows.

Step 1: Engineer a Sidekick visible listing

A. Earn and signal Built for Shopify

Map every requirement by category and plan your review window.
Prioritize benefits that matter for Sidekick outcomes: search ranking boost, badge on cards, and eligibility on key surfaces.

B. Structure your listing for retrieval and rendering

Name and tagline: include the primary job to be done and the category phrase merchants actually type. Example pattern: Post purchase upsells that increase AOV.
Highlights: write 3 to 5 benefit bullets in merchant language that Sidekick can quote. Make each bullet one outcome.
Integrations: name the exact Shopify primitives and channels you touch. Example: Checkout UI extensions, Bundles, POS, Shop channel.
Compatibility: set install requirements and regions precisely so Sidekick can filter by merchant context.
Pricing and visuals: keep starting price, free plan, and trial clear. Add one explainer graphic that mirrors your top two bullets.

C. Enable Shopify managed installation

Turn on Shopify managed installation so scopes are requested by Shopify and installation from chat is streamlined. Avoid legacy flows and verify your framework flags.

D. Admin embedded experience

Use the latest App Bridge and embed primary workflows. This is expected for Built for Shopify and improves trust when Sidekick opens your app post install.

Step 2: Map merchant intent prompts that summon your category

A. Build an intent library

Collect 25 to 50 prompts merchants actually say. Use Verb + outcome + constraint.

Upsell: Set post purchase offers to raise AOV for US orders only
Reviews: Help me collect photo reviews with auto approved first review
Subscriptions: Let customers swap items in prepaid subscriptions
Shipping: Show estimated delivery dates on product pages
Analytics: Identify products with declining conversion rate this week

B. Design 3 test stores that mirror Sidekick context

Small starter store on Basic plan with 20 products and no apps
Scaling store on Advanced plan with international shipping and POS
Plus store with checkout customizations and B2B

C. Run a prompt summoning sprint

For each store profile, run your prompt set across three sessions and log:

Did your app appear in the first three cards
Which competitor titles and bullets were quoted
Whether Install from chat appeared
Any hallucinated features to correct in your listing

D. Iterate your listing language

Reflect competitor phrasing that Sidekick frequently quotes if it accurately describes your features.
Move the most summoned jobs to your first two highlight bullets and to the first screenshot caption.

Step 3: Interim attribution until official Sidekick install tracking ships

A. What we know today

Shopify staff have acknowledged demand for Sidekick install attribution and indicated more visibility is planned. Treat current tracking as incomplete.

B. Low friction attribution loop you can ship this week

First run pulse: on first open after install, ask one click How did you start install and include Sidekick inside admin.
Referrer fingerprint: log document.referrer on first app load. Classify admin.shopify.com as Admin surfaced and apps.shopify.com as App Store surfaced. This is a proxy and not perfect for Sidekick.
Time boxed prompts to installs: during your summoning sprint, timestamp prompts and watch for install spikes within two hours. Label those installs as likely Sidekick.
Onboarding self report: add a subtle footer link I installed from Sidekick that pings an attribution endpoint.
Merchant interview loop: on day 3 for new installs that did not complete onboarding, ask whether Sidekick compared your app to named competitors.

C. Analysis cadence and thresholds

Weekly: cut new installs by referrer class, Built for Shopify status, and test store segment if you install on your own test stores.
Success threshold: your app appears top 3 in 60 percent of core prompts and Sidekick sourced installs reach 15 percent of new installs in your primary region.

Step 4: QA and risk controls

Hallucinated feature risk: if Sidekick attributes the wrong features to your app, harden your highlights and documentation to reduce ambiguity and report issues in the developer forum thread.
Built for Shopify volatility: brief status hiccups can occur. Keep core quality and embedded standards in place so you recover quickly if status blips.
Managed install regressions: monitor reinstall paths from Admin Settings. Keep a fallback and watch framework release notes.

Step 5: 60 day execution plan

Days 0 to 7

Enable Shopify managed installation and verify scopes
Rewrite listing highlights to job to be done bullets
Produce one explainer visual and update screenshots
Draft the 25 to 50 prompt library and create three test stores

Days 8 to 21

Run the summoning sprint and log rankings
Ship first run pulse, referrer logging, and self report link
File Built for Shopify application if prerequisites are met and close gaps

Days 22 to 45

Iterate listing copy based on Sidekick quotes and misses
Address hallucination reports and close feature wording gaps
Repeat the summoning sprint after each major iteration

Days 46 to 60

Lock a category prompt win list where you index top 3 reliably
Scale prompts into paid and lifecycle content that mirrors Sidekick phrasing
Prepare a Sidekick install channel report with proxy methods and confidence bands

Templates you can copy

Listing bullet template: Outcome for audience in surface with proof. Example: Raise AOV with post purchase offers in Checkout Extensibility with one click templates.
Prompt sheet columns: Store profile - Prompt - Your rank - Competitors shown - Copy Sidekick quoted - Hallucination notes - Install button shown - Next action
Attribution log fields: shop_id - created_at - referrer_class - sidekick_self_report - first_open_ms - region - plan - bfs_status_at_install

What great looks like

Your listing reads like Sidekick answers because you wrote it for merchant questions.
You pass Built for Shopify and use Shopify managed installation so install from chat feels instant.
You know which prompts summon your category and where you land top 3. Your weekly report shows Sidekick as a measurable share of net new installs and rising.

Related playbooks

See the Assistant Default Optimization Playbook to align with assistant ranking signals.
Use Session Engine Optimization for discovery when modeling cross surface journeys.
Strengthen knowledge assets with Private Graph AEO strategy to improve answer quality across assistants.