Overview

The AI Product Finder uses your product catalogue as its knowledge base to search, filter, and recommend products to customers in real time. This article walks you through how to connect your product catalogue to charles — either via a Shopify integration or a URL import — and how to activate it as an AI Knowledge Base.

Connect Your Product Catalogue

To get started, choose the connection method that fits your setup:

Shopify Integration — for Shopify store owners
URL Import — for any store with a dynamic product catalogue URL (CSV or XML)

💡 Tip: Once your connection is complete, your products will appear under Commerce > Products.

Option A: Shopify Knowledge Base

If you are using Shopify, connect your store directly to charles. The product catalogue will be pulled automatically from your Shopify store.

👉 For full setup instructions, refer to the Shopify Integration article.

Option B: URL Import Knowledge Base

Most product catalogue hosting tools offer the option to generate a dynamic CSV or XML URL. Use this URL to connect your product catalogue to charles.

How to Set Up the URL Import

Navigate to Integrations > Marketplace > Import from URL > Add Instant and follow the 5 setup steps below:

Step 1: Initial Configuration

Name your import. Use a clear, recognisable naming convention — this name will appear in your AI Knowledge Base overview.

Step 2: General

Insert your Source URL. Accepted formats are CSV or XML files.

Step 3: Data Format

Set the delimiter used in your CSV/XML file.
Available delimiters: |,TAB;None

Step 4: Mapping

Map your product catalogue attributes to charles fields. There are required fields and optional fields. See overview below.

Step 5: Scheduling

Your knowledge base can be synced daily, weekly, or monthly
✅ Recommendation: Set your sync to daily to keep your product data up to date

Attribute Definition:

💡 Mapping Best Practice

The guiding principle: if a column contains data the AI agent needs to find products for user search queries, it must be imported to charles and mapped to attributes in the URL import mapping step.

#	Charles’ field name	Description	Comments
1	SKU	The ID of the product
2	Title	The name of the product
3	Summary	The description of the product	If there are multiple ones, select the one that’s most consistently maintained
4	External Link	The link to the product page
5	Asset Title Image URL	The link to the image shown to the user	If there are multiple ones, select the one that’s most consistently maintained
6*	Price	The price to show to the user	Not strictly mandatory, but it is strongly suggested to be added. If there are multiple ones, select the one that should be used for filter products based on price criteria. Usually the sale_price
7*	Parent SKU	The parent id of the variant product	Not strictly mandatory, but needs to be added if products with different sizes need to be merged. See details in Product Hierarchy above.
8**	Video Link	The link to the video shown to the user	It’s not mandatory for all companies, only mandatory when the videos should be shown to users in the results

#	Example: expected user queries	Required fields from catalogue
1	Do you have `maxi` `dresses` in `white`?	`dress length`, `product_type` ,`color`need to exist in the catalogue and be imported to charles
2	Do you have `men`’s `perfume` that has `wood scents`	`gender` ,`product_type`, `note (scent)`need to exist in the catalogue and be imported to charles

Attribute Examples by Industry

Use the tables below as a reference when mapping your catalogue attributes. The more relevant attributes you include, the more accurately the AI can match customer search queries.

👗 Fashion

Field Name	Example Value
product type	shoes > sneaker
gender	female, male, unisex
size	X,M,L,34,36
color	white, grey
material	cashmere, cotton
pattern	striped, floral
brand	Nike, Adidas
age group	kids, adults
dress length	mini, midi, maxi
neck style	v-neck, round-neck
fit	slim-fit, regular-fit, relaxed-fit
occasion	festive, work, casual

💄 Beauty

Field Name	Example value
product type	eye cream, cleanser
product usage	cleansing
skin concerns / purpose of use	reduction of redness
age group	kids, adults
gender	male, female, unisex
size	60ml
packaging type	tube, jar
perfume note (scent)	wooden, floral
compatibility features	alcohol free, fragrance free
ingredients

Important Data Format Requirements

Before importing, make sure your catalogue meets the following requirements:

✅ Use a supported format: Ensure your catalogue is in CSV or XML format and only includes relevant, in-stock products. Use a dedicated field (e.g., used_for_AI = true or age_group = kids) to flag or filter out products to exclude.
✅ Include all mandatory fields without empty values: Every product entry must contain SKU, Title, Summary, External Link, Asset Title Image URL, and ideally a Price field.
✅ Add sector-specific attribute fields: Include fields that customers are likely to search by (e.g., color, size, gender, product type for fashion; skin concern, product usage, scent notes for beauty).
✅ Set up product hierarchy for variants: If the same product exists in multiple sizes or variants, use a Parent SKU to group variants together and prevent duplicate suggestions in search results.