Shopify stores win AI citations the same way anyone else does: by answering the questions buyers ask before they are ready to buy. Cituna writes those answers from your own search data and posts them to a blog in your store. You connect with a small private app scoped to a single permission, pick which blog receives the posts, and choose whether articles arrive hidden for review or go straight to the storefront. Because the articles carry proper headings, an FAQ block and structured data, they are built to be quoted by answer engines rather than to pad a category page. This guide covers creating the app, the scope, and what to do when your theme does not show the blog.
What this assumes
1. Create an app in the Dev Dashboard
In Shopify admin, go to Settings → Apps → Develop apps, then click Build apps in Dev Dashboard. Create an app and name it something you will recognise, such as Cituna.
Since January 2026 this is where new store apps are made. The app is private to your organization: nothing is listed publicly and no Shopify review is involved.
2. Give it write_content, and nothing else
In the app, create a version, add the write_content scope, leave the App URL as Shopify suggests, and release the version. That single scope covers creating and updating blog articles.
Do not grant more. A publishing integration has no business reading orders or customers, and an app that can only touch content can only ever break content.
3. Install the app and copy its credentials
Install the app on your store, then open the app settings in the Dev Dashboard and copy the Client ID and the Client secret.
Cituna trades them for an access token that Shopify keeps valid for 24 hours, and fetches a new one by itself whenever it needs to. If you rotate the secret, reconnect with the new one.
4. Connect the store in Cituna and pick a blog
Open Integrations → Shopify, paste your store domain (yourstore.myshopify.com), the client ID and the client secret, then choose which blog receives the posts. Most stores have one, called News; if you keep several, pick the one your theme actually links to.
Cituna checks the credentials and the scope before saving, so a Connected badge means it works right now.
5. Choose hidden or visible, then turn the daily article on
In AutoSEO, select Shopify under "Deliver articles to" and pick a publishing workflow. Review in Cituna holds the editable article until you approve it. Send as a destination draft creates the Shopify article hidden, so it sits in Blog posts until you make it visible. Publish automatically puts it on the storefront immediately.
Back in AutoSEO, pick the Shopify tile in step 1, answer step 2, then switch on "Write articles every day" in step 3. Connecting a destination does not start anything by itself.
Troubleshooting
Shopify says the app cannot be used on this store.
An app can only fetch tokens for stores in its own Shopify organization. Build it from the admin of the store you publish to (Settings → Apps → Develop apps → Build apps in Dev Dashboard) rather than from a separate developer account, install it on that store, then connect again.
I already have a custom app made in Shopify admin. Do I need a new one?
No. Custom apps made in the admin before 2026 keep working. Under the connect form, choose Use an Admin API token instead and paste the Admin API access token of that app. It needs the same write_content scope.
The article exists in Shopify but I cannot find it on my store.
Either it was created hidden, which is the default and correct behaviour for review mode, or your theme does not link to that blog. Check Online Store → Blog posts for its visibility, then confirm your theme has a link to the blog you chose.
Will updating an article un-publish it?
No. When Cituna updates an article it already created, it deliberately sends no visibility field at all, so a live post stays live. Visibility is read back from Shopify afterwards rather than assumed, which is why a published article never gets relabelled as a draft in your history.
Shopify is rate limiting the connection.
Shopify allows two API calls a second per store. Cituna retries once, honouring the Retry-After header, and then reports honestly rather than hammering your store. It resolves on its own within a minute; a busy import running at the same time is the usual cause.
Can I publish to Shopify pages instead of blog articles?
No. Pages are for evergreen store furniture like shipping and returns, and mixing generated articles into them tends to bury both. If you need a different destination shape, the webhook destination hands you the article and lets you place it yourself.
Drafted with AI assistance from our own research and Search Console data, and reviewed by Rahul A before publishing. Rules and prices change; check the linked official source before you act.