Set up your store with an AI assistant

Many people now ask an AI to write their product list. That works well, until the assistant guesses the column names or pastes links to web pages instead of photos. This prompt teaches it our sheet and the image rules, then asks you what you sell and returns a table you paste straight into the template.

1. Copy the prompt

Open in ChatGPT Open in Claude Open in Perplexity

Gemini, Copilot, Mistral Le Chat, Grok, DeepSeek and others: copy the prompt and paste it as your first message.

You are helping me build the product catalogue for my online store on SpreadFront (spreadfront.com), a platform that turns a Google Sheet into a store. Prices are in my store currency. Write product texts in the language the merchant writes in.

Output the table as CSV inside a single code block (comma-separated, one product per line, quote any cell that contains a comma or a line break). Then, below the code block, list any cells you left empty and why.

COLUMN RULES
- Name (REQUIRED): Product title, up to 200 characters. Rows without a name are skipped. Example: Soy wax candle "Forest"
- Price (REQUIRED): Plain number in the store currency, no currency symbol needed. "12.90" and "12,90" both work. Rows without a valid price are skipped. Example: 12.90
- Discounted Price: Sale price; must be lower than Price or it is ignored. Shown with the regular price struck through. Example: 9.90
- Description: Shown on the product page. Plain text keeps its line breaks; Markdown (**bold**, lists, links) is supported. Up to 5000 characters. Example: Hand-poured, 40 h burn time. Scent: pine, cedar.
- Category: One category per product; becomes a filter chip on the store home page. Example: Candles
- Brand: Optional brand; a brand filter appears when more than one brand exists. Example: Maja Home
- Tag: Small badge on the product photo, e.g. "New", "Bestseller", "-20%". Example: New
- Availability: Leave empty for available. "Sold Out" keeps the product visible but not buyable; "Hidden" hides it from the store.
- Stock: Units in stock; 0 marks the product sold out automatically. Leave empty for unlimited. Example: 25
- Thumbnail: Main photo as a LINK TO AN IMAGE FILE (ends in .jpg, .png or .webp), pasted as text. See the image rules. Example: https://example.com/photos/candle-forest.jpg
- Image1: Extra gallery photo, same rules as Thumbnail. Up to Image4. Example: https://example.com/photos/candle-forest-2.jpg
- Image2: Gallery photo.
- Image3: Gallery photo.
- Image4: Gallery photo.
- Options: Choices the buyer picks before adding to cart. Format: "Group: value, value | Group2: value, value" - up to 3 groups, 12 values each. Price is the same for every choice. Example: Size: S, M, L | Colour: Red, Blue
- SKU: Your internal product code. Example: CND-FOREST-200
- SEO Title: Overrides the page title shown by search engines.
- SEO Description: Overrides the search-engine snippet, up to 300 characters.
- File: Exact file name of a digital product uploaded in the dashboard (PDF, ZIP, MP3…). Makes the product a paid download. Leave empty for physical goods. Example: guide.pdf
- Interval: "weekly", "monthly" or "yearly" turns the product into a subscription (card payments only). Leave empty for one-time products.
- Payment Link: This product's own pay-by-link URL (Stripe Payment Link, PayPal.me…), only when the merchant uses the "pay online via links" method.

IMAGE RULES (most mistakes happen here)
- Image cells hold a LINK, pasted as text. Pictures inserted into a cell (Insert → Image) are invisible to the store.
- The link must point at the image FILE itself, typically ending in .jpg, .png or .webp. A page that merely shows a picture (a Wikimedia "File:" page, a Flickr or Pinterest page, a Google Images result, a stock-photo page) is HTML and will not display.
- Allowed sources: the merchant's own uploads in the SpreadFront dashboard (Files & images gives a link to paste), Google Drive share links ("Anyone with the link", converted automatically), Dropbox share links (converted automatically), Wikimedia Commons File pages (converted automatically), any direct image URL on a site the merchant may use.
- Use the merchant's own photos or photos they have the right to use. Do not hotlink other shops' product photos.
- Square photos around 800×800 px look best in the grid. Short .mp4 / .webm clips are accepted in image cells too.
- If you cannot find a correct image link, leave the cell EMPTY rather than guessing; the merchant can upload the photo in the dashboard later.

GENERAL RULES
- Never invent prices, stock or photos; ask me for anything you do not know. Placeholder text is fine only if I say so.
- Keep descriptions honest and short (two to five sentences); Markdown **bold** and lists are allowed.
- One category per product, consistent spelling across rows.
- Do not add columns the schema does not list.
- Prices as plain numbers (12.90), no currency symbols, no thousands separators.

WHEN WE ARE DONE
Remind me to: (1) paste the table into my sheet starting at cell A1, (2) share the sheet as "Anyone with the link - Viewer", (3) paste the sheet link into the "Create a store" form at app.spreadfront.com, (4) upload any missing photos under Files & images and paste their links into the Thumbnail / Image cells.

If you want the full reference, read https://spreadfront.com/ai/sheet-schema.json and https://spreadfront.com/manual.

Start by asking me what I sell and for the products I already have (names, prices, and photo links if any).

2. Paste the table into the template

Copy the SpreadFront template sheet into your Google Drive (button on spreadfront.com/guide) or create a Google Sheet with the columns below.
Fill one row per product. Name and Price are required; everything else is optional.
Share the sheet: Share → General access → "Anyone with the link", role Viewer. SpreadFront only ever reads this public view link; it never gets access to your Google account or Drive.
Sign in at app.spreadfront.com (Google one-click or an emailed link; free, no card), press "Create a store", paste the sheet link, pick a store name and address.
The store is live at <address>.spreadfront.com within a minute. Later edits to the sheet appear within about a minute; no re-import.
In the dashboard: pick currency, theme and language; switch on payment methods (cash on delivery works at once; Stripe, PayPal, crypto or a bank card gateway need the merchant's own account); upload photos under Files & images and paste their links into the sheet.

The image rules, in short

Image cells hold a LINK, pasted as text. Pictures inserted into a cell (Insert → Image) are invisible to the store.
The link must point at the image FILE itself, typically ending in .jpg, .png or .webp. A page that merely shows a picture (a Wikimedia "File:" page, a Flickr or Pinterest page, a Google Images result, a stock-photo page) is HTML and will not display.
Allowed sources: the merchant's own uploads in the SpreadFront dashboard (Files & images gives a link to paste), Google Drive share links ("Anyone with the link", converted automatically), Dropbox share links (converted automatically), Wikimedia Commons File pages (converted automatically), any direct image URL on a site the merchant may use.
Use the merchant's own photos or photos they have the right to use. Do not hotlink other shops' product photos.
Square photos around 800×800 px look best in the grid. Short .mp4 / .webm clips are accepted in image cells too.
If you cannot find a correct image link, leave the cell EMPTY rather than guessing; the merchant can upload the photo in the dashboard later.

For assistants and agents