Welcome

ZS Smart Content is an AI-powered content engine built natively for Shopify. It uses ZSI to generate product descriptions, blog posts, SEO copy, translations, email campaigns, and social media captions — all directly inside your Shopify admin panel.

This guide walks you through everything: installation, your first generation, advanced features, and troubleshooting. If you're new, start with Install on Shopify. If you already have the app installed, jump to Generate your first content.

What's inside

14 ZSI tools covering every content need for a Shopify store:

Install on Shopify

You can install ZS Smart Content from the Shopify App Store with a single click. The install process takes under a minute.

1. Open the Shopify App Store Go to apps.shopify.com or search for "ZS Smart Content" in your Shopify admin's app section.
2. Click "Install app" You'll be redirected to your Shopify admin. Review the permissions requested (we only ask for read_products and write_products) and click Install app.
3. Authenticate Shopify will authenticate the app via OAuth automatically. No code, no API keys, no setup wizard maze.
4. Land in the dashboard You're in. The first thing you'll see is the onboarding wizard — fill it out (or skip and configure later).

Free trial

Every paid plan includes a 7-day free trial. No credit card required upfront. You'll be charged at the end of the trial only if you don't cancel.

First-time setup

After installation, the onboarding wizard walks you through 4 quick steps. This takes about 60 seconds and makes every future generation 10× better.

Step 1 — Store focus

Tell the ZSI what your store mainly sells. Example: Handmade leather wallets and bags. The more specific, the better.

Step 2 — Defaults

Set your default tone (professional, friendly, luxury, etc.), target audience, and language. These will pre-fill every time you open the Generate page — but you can always change them per generation.

Step 3 — Brand voice (highly recommended)

Paste 1-2 of your existing product descriptions you love. The ZSI will mimic this style going forward. This is the single biggest quality booster — don't skip it.

Step 4 — Review & finish

Review your settings and click Finish & start generating. You're now ready to use every feature in the app.

You can change everything later from Settings.

Dashboard overview

The dashboard is your command center. Here's what you see when you open the app:

Top stats

• Total generations — all-time count of ZSI generations
• This month — generations used in the current billing period
• Products updated — how many products you've pushed ZSI content to
• Avg SEO score — average score across all your generations

Quick actions

Cards for the most-used tools: Generate, SEO, Bulk, Image ZSI, Translate, Brand Voice. Click any to jump directly into that tool.

Recent generations

Your last 5 generations. Click any to view the full content. Green badge = pushed to Shopify. Yellow = draft only.

Plan widget (right sidebar)

Shows your current plan, monthly usage, and a progress bar. When you hit 80% of your limit, the bar turns red and you'll get a warning. Upgrade your plan to increase the limit.

Generate content

This is the core feature. Generate product descriptions, SEO titles, meta descriptions, and bullet points — all in one shot.

How to use

1. Open the Generate page Click "Generate" from the dashboard or sidebar.
2. Enter product details Type the product name. Optionally paste features (e.g. "Genuine leather, RFID blocking, 8 card slots, slim design"). The more detail, the better the ZSI output.
3. Pick tone, audience, language These default to your settings but can be overridden per generation. If you have a brand template, select it from the dropdown to apply your saved style.
4. Choose what to generate Check the boxes for SEO Title, Description, Meta Title, Meta Description, and/or Bullet Points. You can generate any combination.
5. Click "Generate with ZSI" Wait 3-10 seconds. Results appear on the right with character counts and SEO scores.
6. Copy or push to Shopify Use the Copy button per field, or click Select product & push to update a real Shopify product directly.

Output limits

SEO score

Each generated field gets an SEO score from 0-100. Scores above 88 are green ("good"). Scores below 88 are yellow ("needs work"). The score considers length, keyword usage, and structure.

Push to Shopify

After generating content, you can push it directly to any product in your store. Here's how it works:

1. Click "Select product & push" Opens Shopify's product picker (native UI).
2. Pick a product Search or scroll through your products. Click the one to update.
3. Review confirmation A modal shows exactly what will be updated (title, description, meta fields). Read carefully — this overwrites existing content.
4. Click "Confirm & push" The app updates the product via Shopify's API. You'll see a success toast.

What gets updated

• Title — replaces the product title
• Description — replaces the product description (converted to HTML paragraphs)
• SEO meta title — sets the SEO title under "Search engine listing preview"
• SEO meta description — sets the SEO description

History & restore

Every generation is automatically saved. The History page lets you search, filter, view, and delete past generations.

Search & filter

• Search by product name
• Filter by type — Single, Bulk, Image, Blog, Email, etc.
• Filter by status — Pushed to Shopify, or Draft

View a generation

Click View on any row to see the full content in a modal, including SEO score, tokens used, and timestamp.

Regenerate

Click Regenerate to open the Generate page with the product name pre-filled. Useful if the first version wasn't quite right.

Restore

If you pushed content and want to roll back, find the original product in History and click Restore. The product reverts to its pre-push state (we saved a snapshot at push time).

History retention

Brand voice templates

Brand voice templates let you save your brand's writing style once, then apply it to every generation. This is the most powerful retention feature in the app.

Why use templates

Without a template, the ZSI generates generic e-commerce copy. With a template, it sounds like you. Templates teach the ZSI:

• Your tone (formal, playful, technical, etc.)
• Words you always use (e.g. "handcrafted", "free shipping")
• Words you never use (e.g. "cheap", "amazing")
• Your sentence structure and rhythm
• Keywords you target for SEO

Create a template

1. Go to Brand Voice From the sidebar, click "Brand Voice".
2. Click "New template" Top right of the page.
3. Name it E.g. "Summer collection style" or "Default voice".
4. Paste 1-3 example descriptions Your best existing product descriptions. The more varied, the better.
5. Add guidelines (optional) Write rules like "Never say cheap", "Always mention free shipping", "Avoid superlatives".
6. Add keywords (optional) Comma-separated SEO keywords to weave in naturally.
7. Set as default (optional) The default template auto-applies on the Generate page.
8. Save

Template limits by plan

SEO toolkit

Paste any content and get a detailed SEO analysis. No AI cost for analysis. Optional AI suggestions cost 1 generation credit.

What's analyzed

• Length checks — title, meta title, meta description, body length
• Flesch readability score — how easy is your content to read
• Keyword density — if you provide a target keyword
• Power words — detection of high-CTR words (best, new, exclusive, etc.)
• Sentence structure — average sentence length
• Paragraph structure — is content properly broken up

ZSI suggestions

After analyzing, click Get ZSI suggestions. The ZSI rewrites your content addressing every issue identified, suggests related keywords, and explains what improvements were made. Apply with one click.

Bulk generation Pro

Generate content for up to 50 products at once. The job runs in the background — you can close the browser and come back later.

How it works

1. Pick products from Shopify Use the product picker to select up to 50 products.
2. Configure settings Apply a brand template, or set tone/audience/language. These apply to all products in the batch.
3. Click "Start bulk generation" The job kicks off immediately.
4. Watch live progress Progress bar updates every 2 seconds. Shows completed, failed, remaining.
5. Close the browser if you want The job continues server-side. Come back any time to check status.
6. Review results When complete, each generated item appears in your History.

Image → ZSI description (Vision) Pro

Upload a product image and ZSI Vision analyzes it. It writes complete content — title, description, SEO, bullets, even an alt text — based on what it sees.

How to use

1. Go to Image ZSI From the sidebar.
2. Upload an image Drag and drop or click. Max 5MB. JPG, PNG, WebP supported.
3. Add context (optional) Product name, price range, brand, target use. Helps ZSI be more accurate.
4. Pick tone/audience/language
5. Click "Analyze & generate" Takes 5-15 seconds. Vision is slower than text-only.
6. Push to Shopify Pick a product and apply the generated content.

Image alt text generator

Bulk-generate SEO-friendly alt text for product images. Critical for SEO and accessibility.

How to use

1. Open Alt Text from sidebar The app auto-loads your product images.
2. Filter "Missing alt text" See only images that need attention.
3. Select images Multi-select or "Select all visible".
4. Click "Generate" ZSI reads each image and writes alt text. Pushed to Shopify automatically.

Each image counts as 1/10 of a regular generation against your limit.

Multi-language translator Pro

Translate any content into 15+ languages in a single API call. Perfect for Shopify Markets and international stores.

Supported languages

English · Bengali (বাংলা) · Hindi (हिन्दी) · Spanish · French · German · Italian · Portuguese · Dutch · Arabic · Chinese · Japanese · Korean · Russian · Turkish

How to use

1. Paste source content Title + body. Pick the source language.
2. Pick target languages Select any number — all translated in one shot for one credit.
3. Toggle "Preserve SEO keywords" Keeps brand names and technical terms in original form.
4. Click translate Each language appears as a card with copy buttons.

Blog post forge

Generate full SEO-optimized blog posts. Perfect for content marketing and ranking on Google.

Post types

• How-to / Tutorial — Step-by-step practical guide
• Comparison — Compare 2-3 options with pros/cons
• Listicle — Numbered list with brief explanations
• Buyer's guide — Help readers choose with criteria
• Story / Brand — Narrative-driven content
• Trends & insights — Industry analysis
• FAQ-style — Question-answer format

Configurations

• Target keywords — Comma-separated, woven in naturally
• Products to mention — ZSI references them subtly
• Length — Short (300-500), Medium (600-900), Long (1200-1800)
• Tone & audience

Output

You get: SEO title, meta title, meta description, excerpt, full HTML content with H2/H3 headings, suggested tags, and estimated read time. Toggle between Preview and HTML view.

Credit cost

Email lab Pro

Generate email marketing copy with 3 variations per campaign — perfect for A/B testing.

Email types

• Product launch / announcement
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Promotional / sale
• Welcome / onboarding
• Re-engagement
• Post-purchase / thank you
• Product restock
• Review request

What you get

For each of the 3 variations:

• Subject line (under 50 chars)
• Preheader (under 90 chars)
• Full email body in HTML
• CTA button text

Each variation has a distinct angle (emotional vs rational, short vs detailed). Pick your favorite or run A/B tests with 2.

Social media captions Pro

Generate platform-specific captions for 6 social networks in one click.

Platforms supported

• 📸 Instagram — 125-150 chars optimal, 30 hashtags max
• 📘 Facebook — 40-80 chars optimal, 5 hashtags
• 🎵 TikTok — 100-150 chars + trending hashtags
• 🐦 X (Twitter) — 280 chars max
• 💼 LinkedIn — Professional tone, 150-300 chars
• 📌 Pinterest — Keyword-rich, 100-300 chars

Each platform gets a distinct caption — not copy-paste across platforms. Captions are tuned to each platform's algorithm and audience.

Style options

• Include emojis (yes/no)
• Include hashtags (yes/no)
• Include call-to-action (yes/no)

Collection descriptions

Generate descriptions for your Shopify collection pages. Push directly to Shopify with one click.

How to use

1. Pick a collection From the Shopify collection picker.
2. List sample products (optional) Helps ZSI write more specific copy.
3. Pick length Short (80-120), Medium (150-200), Long (250-350 words).
4. Generate You get: optimized title, description, meta title, meta description.
5. Push to Shopify Updates the collection page directly via API.

FAQ generator

Generate customer-style Q&A from product details. Includes ready-to-paste JSON-LD schema markup for Google rich snippets.

Categories

Pick which categories to cover:

• 💬 General questions
• 🚚 Shipping
• ↩️ Returns & refunds
• 📏 Sizing & fit
• 🧼 Care & maintenance
• 🧵 Materials
• 📖 How to use
• 🛡️ Warranty

Output formats

• Preview — Collapsible Q&A UI you can browse
• HTML — Native <details> tags, paste into product description
• Schema — JSON-LD FAQ schema for Google rich snippets, paste in your page's <head>

Plans & billing

Four plans. All include the core ZSI engine. Upgrade only when you need bulk, vision, or multi-language.

Plans overview

Annual discount

Save 20% by paying annually. Switch from monthly to annual any time from the Billing page.

How billing works

All charges go through Shopify's billing API. The charge appears on your regular Shopify invoice. We never see your card details — Shopify handles everything.

Cancel anytime

Cancel from the Billing page or your Shopify admin. You keep access until the end of the current billing period.

Settings

Configure global defaults that apply to every generation.

Generation defaults

• Default tone — Pre-fills the tone selector
• Default audience — Pre-fills the audience selector
• Default language — Pre-fills the language selector

Brand guidelines

Free-form rules the ZSI reads on every generation. Different from brand templates (which are saved profiles). Use this for store-wide rules like "Always mention 30-day returns".

Automation Pro

Auto-push to Shopify — When enabled, generated content is automatically pushed to the linked product, skipping the review step. Faster but riskier — only enable if you trust the AI quality.

Notifications

• Email notifications on/off
• Notification email address

Usage limits

Each plan has a monthly generation limit. When you hit 80%, the dashboard shows a warning. At 100%, generation is blocked until next billing cycle (or you upgrade).

Credit costs

When credits reset

On the 1st of each month at midnight UTC. Unused credits do not roll over.

Troubleshooting

"Generation failed" error

Usually a temporary ZS Smart Content AI API issue. Wait 10-30 seconds and try again. If it keeps failing:

• Check your monthly limit isn't reached
• Refresh the page
• Try a different product (the prompt might have been too long)
• Contact support if it persists

Bulk job stuck

Bulk jobs auto-resume if the server restarts. If a job is stuck for >10 minutes:

• Click Cancel on the current job
• Start a new bulk job with fewer products (10-20 max)

Push to Shopify fails

Common causes:

• Product was deleted — refresh and pick a different product
• Permissions revoked — reinstall the app from Shopify admin
• Rate limit — wait 1 minute and try again

AI output quality is bad

Three things to check:

1. Are you providing enough product details? "Premium leather wallet" → bad. "Premium leather wallet, RFID blocking, 8 card slots, slim design, vegetable-tanned" → good.
2. Are you using a brand voice template? Without one, output is generic.
3. Try a different tone — sometimes "casual" works better than "professional" for your audience.

Frequently asked questions

Will ZSI replace my copywriter?

No — it makes them 10× faster. Most stores use ZSI for first drafts and bulk catalog work, then humans polish high-value pages. Best of both worlds.

Is the ZSI content unique?

Yes. Each generation is unique to your input. The ZSI doesn't paste from a database. Two stores entering the same product name will get different output (tone, brand voice, settings differ).

Will Google penalize ZSI content?

No, as long as it's helpful. Google's policy (updated 2024) is that ZSI-generated content is fine if it serves the user. Our output is original, factually grounded in your product details, and follows SEO best practices.

Can I edit ZSI output before pushing?

Yes. Use the copy buttons to grab content, edit in your favorite editor, then paste into Shopify directly. Or push and edit in Shopify afterward.

Does the app slow down my store?

Not at all. The app runs in the Shopify admin only. No code is injected into your storefront. Zero performance impact.

What languages can I generate in?

15+ languages including English, Bengali, Hindi, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and more. Multi-language is a Pro feature.

Can I use my own ZS Smart Content AI API key?

Not currently. We may add Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) on the Unlimited plan in the future. Vote for it on our roadmap.

Is my data safe?

Yes. We're fully GDPR compliant. We never share your data with third parties. If you uninstall the app, all your data is permanently deleted within 48 hours.

Contact support

Stuck on something? We're here to help.