To make the cut you need clean product data, prices that make sense for your category, clear policies, and a brand people already know. None of that is new. Muse just checks it faster than a person does, and it doesn't give you a second look. Below is what I found after a few weeks digging into how it works, and the checklist we're now using with MILQ clients.

What Muse is

Meta launched Muse in the US on 8 September 2026, and in Canada 10 days later. It isn't a chatbot. You give it a job and it does it: books appointments, sends emails, fills in forms and shops.

Shopping took off fast. On Meta's earnings call on 21 October, Mark Zuckerberg said Muse has passed 10 million users. More than a quarter of them have used it to shop, and the average purchase is over US$200. People are trusting it with real money, not just asking it questions.

How a purchase works

A shopper types something like "waterproof hiking jacket under $250 that ships this week". Muse searches, filters, and shows a short list. If the shopper likes one, Muse prepares the order and shows an approval card. Nothing is bought until they tap approve.

Products get into that short list in one of three ways:

Two things happened in September that matter for Shopify brands. Shopify's CEO Tobi Lütke announced that Muse can check out with Shop Pay on all Shopify stores. And Amazon blocked Muse from Amazon.com, saying it never gave permission.

So when a Muse shopper asks for something you sell, Amazon isn't in the results. You can be.

Why Australian brands should start now

Meta hasn't announced a date for Australia. I'd still start now, for a few practical reasons.

1. You may already be live. Shopify's rules for selling on Meta are based on where your customers are, not where your business is. If you ship to the US, Canada or Mexico and your store policies are filled in, Muse can probably find and sell your products today. Plenty of Australian beauty and fashion brands fit that description and don't know it.

2. You won't get a warning. Shopify says that when its AI partners open new countries, stores will be ready by default. There's no launch day to prepare for. Your products just start showing up, or don't.

3. Muse is one agent among several. ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Microsoft Copilot are all building the same kind of shopping. Google already lists Australian stores as eligible for its channel, though checkout there is still rolling out. The work below helps with all of them.

How Muse picks products

Meta hasn't said how Muse ranks products. But in late September, AI visibility company Profound said it had pulled Muse's shopping instructions, and PPC Land published the details. Meta hasn't commented, and the rules may have changed since, so treat this as a strong hint rather than fact.

According to that report, Muse:

• puts well-known merchants first. The instructions call it "imperative" that the top five products come from them

• drops products priced well above or well below the normal range for that category

• shows the brand's own store first when a shopper names a brand, and prefers brands that sell direct over resellers

• checks only up to three websites per search

• throws out any page that doesn't show stock, a working add to cart and a real product photo

• only lets shoppers buy inside Muse if the product is in Meta's catalogue. Everything else goes through your own checkout

• asks for size, fit or device details instead of guessing

If the agent favours brands it recognises, then brand is now a ranking factor inside the agent, not just a marketing goal. Being in the catalogue gets you considered. It doesn't get you to the top.

The checklist we're using with clients

Here's what we're working through with MILQ clients, roughly in this order. The first three take an afternoon. The rest take longer.

1. Check your Agentic settings in Shopify

In your Shopify admin, go to Sales channels > Agentic > Meta AI and Muse. See whether Shopify Catalog access and direct checkout are on. Then check that your terms, privacy policy and refund policy are filled in under Settings > Policies. Shopify requires them for selling on Meta.

My advice for most brands: leave direct checkout on, and look at the orders after 30 days.

2. Know what direct checkout can't sell

Shopify doesn't support subscriptions, bundles, customisable products or B2B only products in Meta's checkout. Local delivery and click and collect don't work either. If your best seller is a bundle, list the single items as separate products as well, so the agent has something simple to sell.

3. Keep your Meta catalogue clean

If you run shoppable ads, keep the Facebook and Instagram channel connected with product sync on. Shopify says your product data and return policy must match your website. For smaller brands this matters more than anything else on the list, because it's the only way to be bought inside Muse.

4. Write contextual product data for both users, crawlers and LLMs tools machine

An agent can't see your campaign photos or feel your brand. It reads text. For each product, check you have:

• a title that says what it is, for example "Women's merino crew neck jumper, navy", not just a product name

• a description that answers real buyer questions: material, size, fit, care, what's in the box

• size and colour set up as proper variants, not written into the title

• a GTIN or barcode if you have one

• at least one clean product photo, not only lifestyle shots

• any legal wording in the first 6,000 characters of the description, as Shopify advises

5. Sort out measurement

Orders through Meta's checkout show in Shopify, tagged as Meta. But Shopify confirms Google Analytics and custom pixels don't fire on that checkout. And when Muse browses your site, it reportedly doesn't identify itself, so it looks like normal traffic.

Set up channel reporting in Shopify, add server side tracking where you can, and keep a simple monthly view of AI channel sales. Otherwise you'll see sales you can't explain and conversion rates that look wrong.

9. Get your team ready

You're still the merchant of record, so fulfilment, returns and customer service stay with you. Muse purchases paid with Link come with purchase protection on eligible items, so expect confident returns. Make sure your return policy is clear and the same everywhere. And let your customer service team know some customers won't remember visiting your site, because they never did.

Where I'd start

Agentic shopping is early. Muse is only a few weeks old and the rules will change. But nothing on this list is wasted. Good product data, fair pricing and clear policies help with Google, marketplaces and real people too.

What we don't know yet

• When Muse will launch in Australia.

• What "well-known" means to Muse. It could be Meta's own data, signals from the web, or what the AI model already knows.

• How Muse picks the three websites it checks. If you're not one of them, you're never compared.

• Meta's long term business model for Muse. For now, Shopify says there are no extra fees for merchants beyond normal payment processing.

I'll update this page as Meta and Shopify share more.

FAQs

What is Meta Muse?

Muse is Meta's personal AI agent, launched on 8 September 2026. Unlike a chatbot, it does tasks for you, including shopping. It always asks for your approval before it spends money.

Is Meta Muse available in Australia?

Not yet. It's available in the US and Canada, and Meta hasn't announced an Australian date. Australian brands that sell to the US, Canada or Mexico can still be found and bought in Muse through Shopify.

Do Shopify merchants need to sign up to sell on Muse?

No. Eligible products are shared with Meta through Shopify Catalog by default, and direct checkout is on by default for eligible stores. You can check or turn these off under Sales channels > Agentic > Meta AI and Muse.

Does selling through Muse cost extra?

Shopify says there are no fees for selling through Meta's checkout. You only pay your normal payment processing fees.

How does Muse decide which products to recommend?

Meta hasn't published its rules. Reported instructions suggest it favours well-known merchants, brands that sell direct, prices within a normal range, and product pages that clearly show stock, price and a real photo.

Can I stop Muse from selling my products?

Yes. You can turn off direct checkout or Shopify Catalog access for Meta. Your products may still be found through normal web crawling, so this reduces your exposure rather than removing it.

Will I see Muse sales in Google Analytics?

Not for orders through Meta's checkout. They show up in Shopify, tagged as Meta, but Google Analytics and custom pixels don't fire there.

Need a hand?

MILQ is a Shopify Premier Partner. If you'd like us to check how ready your store is for AI shopping agents, we'll review your settings, product data, pages, pricing and tracking, and give you a clear list of what to fix first. Get in touch.