How to set up AuthorRank

Use this guide to add author bios, schema, custom authors, ownership tools, and readiness scoring to a Shopify blog.

Install Theme setup Optimize authors Schema Custom authors Ownership Readiness Troubleshooting

1. Install AuthorRank

  1. Open the AuthorRank listing on the Shopify App Store and click Install. The listing name is Author Schema Blog Bios | SEO.
  2. Approve the Shopify permissions shown during install.
  3. Open the app from Shopify Admin.
  4. Review the dashboard checklist to see what setup steps remain.

Growth is the only plan. Start the 7-day free trial from the app's pricing page after install; Shopify bills $19.99/month after the trial unless the subscription is canceled first.

AuthorRank reads Shopify blog and article data so it can identify authors, count posts, and write the author metafields used by the storefront widget.

2. Enable the storefront bio display

  1. Open AuthorRank settings.
  2. Use the theme setup link to open the Shopify theme editor.
  3. Enable the AuthorRank app embed or add the AuthorRank bio block to your article template, depending on your theme setup.
  4. Save the theme.
  5. Return to AuthorRank and refresh the setup check.

The bio widget should render on article pages when an author has profile details available and the theme block is enabled.

3. Optimize your active Shopify authors

An optimized author is an existing Shopify blog author with enriched public details, such as title, profile image, bio, website, email, or social links.

  1. Open the Authors tab.
  2. Select an author who appears on published or draft blog posts.
  3. Add a clear role or expertise area.
  4. Add a short bio that explains why the author is qualified to write about the topic.
  5. Add a headshot and relevant links when available.
  6. Save changes.

Growth allows unlimited existing author optimizations. Stores without an active Growth trial can prepare a limited number of setup profiles before starting the subscription.

4. Choose schema settings

Schema settings are controlled manually by the merchant. Turn on only the schema types you want AuthorRank to output.

If your theme or another SEO app already outputs Article schema, validate the page source before enabling duplicate Article schema.

5. Create custom expert authors with Growth

Growth unlocks custom authors. A custom author is not a Shopify staff user. Use custom authors when you want a public subject-matter expert to appear on blog posts.

  1. Open Authors.
  2. Select Create custom author.
  3. Add the expert's display name, role, bio, headshot, and links.
  4. Save the author.
  5. Assign the custom author to one or more blog posts.

Custom author display names are required because there is no Shopify staff name to fall back to.

6. Change blog post ownership

Growth lets you set which author appears publicly in AuthorRank's visible bio and schema output.

  1. Open an author profile.
  2. Go to the author's blog posts section.
  3. Search for a post or choose a blog/category bulk action.
  4. Confirm bulk actions before applying them.
  5. Use undo for supported bulk updates if the result is not what you intended.

This changes AuthorRank's public author output for selected posts. Always review the storefront after large bulk changes.

7. Review GEO readiness

  1. Open Insights.
  2. Review the average GEO readiness score.
  3. Open any author with missing credentials, bio depth, links, images, schema, or post ownership.
  4. Save profile improvements, then return to Insights.
  5. Use the score as a checklist; it does not guarantee rankings or AI visibility.

Readiness scoring helps you find weak author profiles before they become the public byline and schema source for a blog post.

8. Troubleshooting checklist