# Alt text that tells AI and Google what the picture shows.

Sphen.ai finds product and collection images without alt text, drafts a description that names the product, its material and what is visible, and writes it to Shopify only when you apply it.

Canonical: https://sphen.ai/features/image-alt-text/

## Does Sphen.ai write alt text for Shopify images?

Yes. Sphen.ai flags product and collection images with missing or placeholder alt text, drafts a description of what the picture shows in your brand voice, and writes it to the image in Shopify when you apply the recommendation. Applied alt text can be reverted from the history.

## What do you see in the app?

- **Alt-text findings in Recommendations**: Missing alt text appears as its own recommendation type on the product or collection. The card shows the current value, often empty or a file name, and the proposed description.
- **Drafts that describe, not stuff**: The draft states what is visible: the product, its material, colour and setting. It does not repeat keywords or add claims the image cannot support.
- **Writeback and history**: Apply updates the featured image's alt text or the collection image's alt text in Shopify. The History tab lists it with the previous value and a Revert action.

## The problem

An image without alt text is invisible to everything that cannot see.

- **Image search skips you**: Google Images and AI assistants that read pages rely on alt text to know what a product photo shows. Empty alt means the image does not count.
- **Accessibility gaps**: Screen-reader users hear the file name. A catalog full of IMG_2041.jpg is a store nobody can shop by ear.
- **Nobody writes 400 of them**: Alt text is quick per image and endless per catalog, so it stays empty.

## How it works

1. **The audit flags empty alt text**: Every product's featured image and every collection image is checked. Missing or placeholder alt text becomes an open recommendation.
2. **A draft that describes the picture**: The draft names the product, what is visible and the material or colour, in your brand voice, without keyword stuffing.
3. **You apply it to Shopify**: Apply writes the alt text to the file in Shopify. The history keeps the old value, so you can revert it.

## You stay in control

- Alt text is written only when you press Apply.
- Edit or refine every draft before it goes live.
- Reverted alt text restores the previous value from the history.

## Questions

### Which images get alt text?

The featured image of every product and the image of every collection. Additional product images are planned.

### Does the draft see the image?

Yes. The description is based on the image together with the product title, type and vendor, so it names what is actually shown.

### Will alt text help AI assistants recommend my products?

It helps them and Google understand what a product looks like. Whether an assistant recommends you depends on many signals; AI visibility scans measure that separately.

### Can I write my own alt text instead?

Yes. Edit the draft before applying, or dismiss the recommendation and set the alt text in Shopify yourself.

### Does alt text count against a quota?

No. Alt-text drafts are part of the recommendations your product audits produce and have no separate allowance.