The verdict: keep a cheap app, and let RunOctopus do the content
Shopify SEO apps and RunOctopus are different kinds of products. An app is software you install and run: it fixes meta titles, alt text, structured data, broken links and image sizes, and the better ones now write product descriptions or blog posts when you ask. RunOctopus is a done-for-you service that connects to your store. If you want your store to win searches and be named in ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI answers, RunOctopus is the better choice, for four reasons:
- We do the work and publish on our own. Ollie (our AI) and our team research, write, publish and link pages on your Shopify store. Nothing waits on you. You can read anything that went live and ask for changes.
- We know your catalog. Ollie reads your real products and collections first, so buying guides and answers are built around what you sell and link into the product and collection pages that sell it. An app's AI writer starts from whatever prompt you type.
- Proven on real stores. On All Angles Creatures, a reptile-feeder store, weekly Google clicks went from about 600 to about 1,400 between July 28 and October 10, 2026, and ChatGPT named the company on 8 of 8 questions shaped like its own guides. On The Grub Company, a Shopify store that earned 36 to 54 Google clicks a month for thirteen months reached 258 in September after 350 articles. Ads ran in the same weeks, and the study says so.
- Fully automated, and built from real inputs. Ollie does the work automatically from start to finish, and our team keeps watch. Every page is built from real inputs, not generic AI text: your own catalog, your own search data, the real questions buyers ask AI assistants, and facts checked before anything publishes. An AI writer given a keyword produces generic text about that keyword.
Apps are still worth having. Shopify already handles sitemaps, canonical URLs, SSL and a fast CDN, and a free or low-cost app covers most of the rest. The two work side by side.
An SEO app tidies the store you have. RunOctopus adds the pages your store is missing and publishes them for you. Most stores need the first for a few dollars a month and the second if they want to grow. If you are weighing an expert instead, see when a Shopify SEO app stops being enough.
The apps at a glance
Ratings, review counts and prices are from each app's Shopify App Store listing on October 20, 2026.
| App | Rating (reviews) | What it does best | Writes content? | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booster AI SEO + AEO Optimizer | 4.8 (5,477) | Automatic fixes for meta tags, alt text, broken links, structured data, image compression, llms.txt | Alt text and meta tags. No blog posts | Free. Pro $39/mo. Premium $69/mo |
| Plug in SEO | 4.6 (674) | SEO audits, bulk editing, AI keyword research, JSON-LD | AI product titles and descriptions | $29.99 to $79.99/mo |
| StoreSEO | 5.0 (770) | Product SEO, image optimization, schema, llms.txt, indexing requests | AI meta and content, by credits | Free. $14.99, $39.99, $249.99/mo |
| Smart SEO AI & Image Optimizer | 5.0 (958) | Meta tags, alt text, JSON-LD, broken links, IndexNow, llms.txt | Meta tags, alt text, product descriptions | Free. $14.99, $24.99, $49.99/mo |
| SEO Manager (venntov) | 4.6 (488) | SEO scoring, meta control, 404 and redirect management | AI content on the $59 plan | $9, $29, $59/mo |
| Yoast SEO for Shopify | 4.3 (177) | SEO and readability analysis, structured data. AI+ adds AI visibility and citation tracking | AI title and meta suggestions | $19/mo. AI+ $45/mo |
| Shopify Sidekick | Built in | Shopify's own AI assistant in the admin | Blog posts, pages, product descriptions, when you ask | Included with Shopify plans |
| AI blog apps (e.g. Auto Blogs Agent) | 4.6 (130) | AI writes and publishes blog posts on a schedule | Yes, by volume | Free (3 posts). From $12.75/mo |
| RunOctopus (Ollie) | Service, not an App Store app | Researched pages built from your catalog, published and linked on your store, with AI answer reporting | Yes. 50+ pieces at launch. Then 175+ new pieces a month | $497/mo, one plan |
Two layers, two kinds of product
The clearest way to see where each fits is as two layers of the same store.
The technical apps
Booster AI SEO + AEO Optimizer
Booster is the category leader by a wide margin, with 5,477 reviews at 4.8 stars and the "Built for Shopify" badge. It scans the store and fixes issues automatically: meta titles and descriptions, alt text, broken links, structured data, sitemap submission and image compression. The free plan covers the basics. Pro is $39 a month and Premium $69, and both add AI search readiness such as llms.txt. It does not write blog posts or guides.
Plug in SEO
Plug in SEO (674 reviews, 4.6 stars) is an audit-and-fix tool: page scans, bulk editing of titles, descriptions and alt text, JSON-LD, broken-link redirects, and AI keyword research. It can write product titles and descriptions from that research, with you approving each change. Plans are $29.99, $49.99 and $79.99 a month, and Standard includes a 30-minute call with an SEO expert.
StoreSEO
StoreSEO (770 reviews, 5.0 stars) covers product SEO, image optimization, JSON-LD and FAQ schema, local SEO, sitemaps, llms.txt and Google Search Console data, plus a connector for managing SEO through ChatGPT or Claude. It has a free plan for 25 products and paid plans at $14.99, $39.99 and $249.99 a month, priced by product count.
Smart SEO AI & Image Optimizer
Smart SEO (958 reviews, 5.0 stars) generates meta tags, alt text and product descriptions, adds JSON-LD, finds broken links, and pushes IndexNow and llms.txt. There is a free plan, and paid plans are $14.99, $24.99 and $49.99 a month.
SEO Manager
SEO Manager by venntov (488 reviews, 4.6 stars) scores pages, controls meta tags and structured data, and manages 404s and redirects. Plans are $9, $29 and $59 a month, and AI content generation is on the $59 plan.
Yoast SEO for Shopify
Yoast brings its well-known SEO and readability checks to Shopify for $19 a month. Its AI+ plan, $45 a month, adds AI visibility and sentiment analysis, competitor benchmarking and citation tracking, which makes it the cheapest way to watch AI answers from inside Shopify. You still write the content yourself.
The content apps
Shopify Sidekick
Sidekick is Shopify's built-in AI assistant, and it took over the old Shopify Magic text tools. It writes blog posts, store pages and product descriptions from the admin, and it is included with your Shopify plan. For a quick product description it is the first thing to try. It writes one piece when you ask, and you decide what to write, review it and publish.
AI blog apps
A group of App Store apps now write and publish blog posts on a schedule. Auto Blogs Agent, for example, has 130 reviews at 4.6 stars, a free plan with three posts a month and paid plans from $12.75. They are cheap and they do publish. What you get is volume from a prompt. What they do not do is research the questions your buyers and AI answers are asking, build pages from your actual catalog, or report on whether AI names your store.
BlogHandy
BlogHandy is a blog builder rather than a writer: templates, scheduling, related posts, product embeds and an SEO score. It has a free plan for five posts and paid plans from $19 a month, and no reviews yet. Useful if you write your own posts and want a nicer blog.
What RunOctopus does that an app does not
RunOctopus is not competing with Booster on alt text. It does the content layer for you. Ollie and our team study your catalog and the questions your buyers ask Google and AI assistants, then write and publish buying guides, answers and collection-level pages on your store, each linked into the products and collections that sell. It publishes on its own, with no approval queue. We also report on where ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini name your business. If you want to understand why those AI answers matter as much as Google now, our guide to AI search optimization for ecommerce walks through it, and what an AI search optimization service includes covers the service side. For a wider look at writing tools, see our roundup of AI content tools for Shopify.
Who should stick with apps alone
If you want to do the writing yourself, or you only need the technical basics fixed, an app is the right buy. Booster's free plan or Smart SEO's free plan covers most stores. Plug in SEO suits owners who like to audit and edit by hand. Yoast AI+ is the low-cost way to watch AI answers. Sidekick or an AI blog app is fine for the occasional post. If you want the content researched, written, published and linked for you, that is RunOctopus. For the bigger question of whether you need an app at all, read what a Shopify SEO plugin can and cannot do.
Install one good technical app, Booster or Smart SEO for most stores, and stop there on apps. For the part that wins searches and AI answers, RunOctopus is the better choice: we do the work and publish on our own, we build from your real catalog, every page comes from real inputs rather than generic AI text, and our client results are published, misses included.