symptom	first_evidence	likely_layers	next_check	do_not_assume
Product page is not indexed	URL Inspection indexed result and live test	Landing page canonical robots access and quality	Check 200 response canonical noindex robots rendered content and internal links	An image filename or alt-text change will make the page indexable
Product page is indexed but no image appears	Rendered HTML and loaded-resource list	HTML discovery public asset and preferred metadata	Confirm standard img src public 200 response relevant page context and preferred image metadata	The missing preview is caused by image quality alone
Image appears in Google Images but not for useful queries	Image-search query and page data plus rendered context	Alt text filename nearby text title and product schema	Compare approved product facts with alt context title caption and schema	Keyword stuffing will improve relevance
Wrong variant image appears	Exact variant URL visible image and ProductGroup markup	Variant preselection schema and canonical handling	Open the addressable variant URL and reconcile image SKU price availability and cart	Google selected the wrong image randomly
Old image remains visible	Indexed page timestamp public URL and release record	Caching stable URL sitemap and recrawl state	Confirm whether bytes changed behind the same URL and inspect the indexed version	A live-page refresh means Google has recrawled it
SEO audit says alt text is blank	Rendered img element at the affected template	Theme output admin field mapping and decorative-image policy	Inspect the exact rendered element on product collection and quick-view templates	A populated Shopify admin field reaches every theme surface
Hero is slow or causes layout shift	Mobile network transfer LCP CLS and declared dimensions	Responsive delivery dimensions loading priority and app transforms	Compare encoded bytes intrinsic size srcset selection and above-the-fold loading	A newer format fixes an oversized or incorrectly prioritized hero by itself
Structured-data test shows a different image	Rendered JSON-LD visible selected variant and canonical URL	Product schema theme app and variant data	Identify which system writes schema and reconcile the exact image URL and identifiers	Passing markup guarantees a rich result or ranking
Sitemap omits an expected gallery image	Fetched Shopify sitemap and product HTML	Automatic sitemap scope primary image and HTML discovery	Confirm the primary image and product URL are present; expose useful gallery images in crawlable HTML	Every gallery image must appear in Shopify sitemap XML
Search Console shows image impressions but no sales	Non-brand image-search pages and landing-session funnel	Intent landing relevance product truth offer and measurement	Join landing page to exact-variant actions contribution and matured returns	Image-search clicks caused or should cause revenue