Age verification: protect minors – don’t lock out crawlers
Age checks are mandatory, but implementation decides your visibility: an age gate that hides all page content behind a click overlay, or blocks crawlers outright, makes your catalog invisible to AI systems. Visibility-friendly is verification at checkout or on delivery (ID check), while product information stays publicly readable – keeping you recommendable without compromising compliance.
Vintage, grape, region: the attributes wine is thought in
Wine queries almost always combine several attributes: grape, region, vintage, style, occasion. They belong on the page in structured form – the vintage also in title and schema, because “Riesling 2021” and “Riesling 2022” are different products with different ratings. Silently overwriting the old page at vintage change destroys review references; separate pages per vintage or a clearly flagged change is cleaner.
Make shipping restrictions and mandatory info transparent
Alcohol comes with shipping rules: no parcel lockers, ID check on delivery, some destinations excluded entirely. Such restrictions belong as text on shipping and product pages – otherwise the AI reports them wrongly or not at all, and defaults to the merchant with clear terms. Add the mandatory details (ABV, allergens like sulfites, food business operator) that must be on the page anyway – as text they satisfy law AND visibility.
These checkpoints matter most for Wine & Spirits
Price & availability readable in raw HTML
Age-gate overlays and crawler blocks are this niche’s core risk – the scan shows whether your product data stays readable despite compliance.
Descriptive, unique product titles
Vintage, grape and region in the title (“Dry Riesling 2022, Mosel”) answer half the typical wine query on their own.
Structured shipping & returns info findable
Alcohol shipping rules are complex – answer them publicly and clearly and you get cited as a reliable source.
Frequently asked questions
Does my age gate make the store invisible to ChatGPT?+
Depends on the implementation: an overlay that releases content only after a click, or a crawler block, can do exactly that. The scan checks what AI crawlers actually get to see on your product pages.
How should I handle vintage changes?+
Carry the vintage in title and schema, and work transparently at changeover – a page per vintage or a clearly flagged change. Reviews and recommendations then stay attached to the right wine.
What details do AI assistants expect for wine at minimum?+
Grape, region, vintage, style (dry/off-dry), ABV and sulfite notice – plus pairing suggestions if you want to appear for “goes with…” questions.
What does the check cost?+
Nothing – 60 seconds, no sign-up, score plus concrete deficits.
Check your wine store – free
Enter your URL and see in 60 seconds whether vintage, region and shipping rules are readable to AI assistants – despite the age gate.