Product catalog best practices

Direct answer

The best product catalog for Interlinked is accurate, consistent, and descriptive. Include the required fields, add useful attributes, keep stock and prices current, and review the Products table after every upload or manual change.

Use clear product names

Product names should be specific enough for customers and staff to recognize. Avoid vague names such as “Item 1” or “Promo product” unless they are expanded with category, variant, or description fields.

Good names help table search, AI product search, order review, and customer conversations.

Add descriptions

A description column is one of the most useful improvements you can make. Keep descriptions concise, factual, and focused on information customers may ask about.

Strong descriptions can include:

• What the product is.
• Important features or materials.
• Size, flavor, presentation, or compatibility.
• Use cases or fit.
• Care, shipping, or return notes when relevant.

Avoid unsupported medical, legal, or regulated-product claims. Products must comply with applicable laws and Interlinked’s usage policies.

Keep attributes consistent

Use consistent values for fields such as category, color, size, material, flavor, brand, and compatibility.

For example, choose one value style for a size field and use it consistently. Mixing M, Medium, and Med. can make the catalog harder to review and search.

Keep prices and stock current

The live AI agent can reference product prices and stock during customer conversations. Incorrect values can create poor customer experiences.

Review:

• Prices after promotions or supplier changes.
• Stock after inventory updates.
• SKU consistency after adding variants.
• Any products that imported with stock marked as 0.

Choose the right update method

Situation	Best action
One urgent product needs to be added	Add products manually
The entire catalog was updated in a spreadsheet	Replace catalog
You are setting up products for the first time	Upload a product catalog
You want to remove all products	Clear catalog

Remember that all product changes apply immediately to the live AI agent. Keep a backup before replacing or clearing your catalog.

Review after every import

After uploading or replacing a catalog, check:

• Product count looks expected.
• Names, prices, stock, and SKUs are correct.
• Important extra columns were imported.
• Search finds representative products by name, SKU, and attributes.
• The AI has had a few minutes to prepare semantic search before broad testing.

For upload rules and field mapping details, see Upload a product catalog.