To prevent certain products from being suggested in our recommended AI endpoints, you have the option to assign a specific product tag to the product(s) in Shopify. This will enable the exclusion of those products from the recommendations. The 'exclude_rebuy' tag not only removes products from the recommended AI endpoints but also affects other Rebuy widgets, ensuring broader control of product visibility in your store.
Additionally, exclusion filters offer another method for controlling product visibility by specifying rules at a data source level. This combination of tags and filters ensures a more customizable and targeted shopping experience.
NOTE: Adding the exclude_rebuy tag will only stop the item from being shown when using the AI/ Top Sellers Endpoint(s). If you hand pick the product or it's in a collection you choose to return, it will still show.
An alternative to using the 'exclude_rebuy' tag is applying exclusion filters, which work at the data source level to define product visibility rules more broadly.
These filters support broader exclusions when applied to Data Sources, ensuring irrelevant or redundant products are specified accurately for removal.
How Rebuy Handles Product Status
Rebuy evaluates each product's Shopify lifecycle status at data source query time. For some product types, no tags or configuration are required to control visibility.
Shopify Status | Rebuy Behavior |
Active | Returned in all data source responses. |
Draft | Blocked from all data source responses, including explicit specific product returns. Draft products cause a 422 error at Shopify checkout. |
Archived | Blocked from all data source responses. |
Unlisted | Filtered from any data source response driven by AI, Top Sellers, collections, tags, or algorithmic ranking. Can be surfaced via an explicit specific product return, for example for GWP or hidden SKU setups. |
The exclude_rebuy tag is needed only for Active products you want to manually remove from Rebuy's recommendation algorithms. Draft, Archived, and Unlisted products are already excluded by default.
Hide Products From Being Recommended
The steps in this section apply to Active products you want to manually exclude from Rebuy's recommendation algorithms. If a product is set to Draft, Archived, or Unlisted in Shopify, it is already excluded automatically — no tag is needed. See How Rebuy Handles Product Status above for the full breakdown.
Step 1: Apply the exclude_rebuy Tag in Shopify
To hide products from appearing in the recommendations for the AI endpoint, simply assign the product tag exclude_rebuy to those specific products.
Step 2: Clear Your Data Source Cache
After applying the exclude_rebuy tag in Shopify, clear your recommendation cache so Rebuy generates updated results that reflect the change.
In your Rebuy Admin, go to Data Sources > Cache Manager > click Clear Cache and locate the Recommendation Cache, and click clear on the following:
Recommended Products Cache
Product Cache
Product Engine Cache
Collections, Metafields, Presentment Prices Cache
Clearing the recommendation cache removes the order history used to power the Recommended (AI) algorithm. Recommendations may be less personalized until new orders are processed. The cache rebuilds quickly as new orders come in.
If the product is still appearing after clearing the cache, trigger a manual product sync to make sure the tag has been picked up from Shopify. See Sync Product Data, Store Data, and Clear Cache for instructions.
Best Practices
Ensure that tags like
exclude_rebuyare applied correctly to products in Shopify.Regularly clear caches in connected platforms to sync changes more effectively.
Use exclusion filters alongside tags for more precise control over product visibility.- Regularly review product drafts and archives in Shopify to ensure they align with their intended visibility using filters.
Syncing Product & Collections Data
Any time you make product or collection changes in Shopify, it may take a short while to sync over with Rebuy. thus causing some delay when trying to view your updated products or collections in Rebuy. But don't worry, we have a way for you to start a manual resync to get things up to date faster!
How Rebuy's Exclusion tag affects Smart Search
If you are using Rebuy's Smart Search feature, the 'exclude_rebuy' tag will also exclude the product from being shown in Rebuy's Smart Search quick view and results page.
If you're still seeing the product, ensure the exclude_rebuy tag is applied correctly and synced properly. For troubleshooting, you can manually sync product data or review your Shopify theme for custom code affecting product visibility. Detailed solutions are available within this guide, under common issues experienced with the exclude_rebuy tag.
If these steps do not resolve the issue, ensure that exclusion filters are correctly defined and applied at the data source level. Clearing caches and reviewing data sources may clarify filter misconfigurations.
Troubleshooting Rebuy's Exclusion tag
Products with the 'exclude_rebuy' Tag Still Appear in Recommendations
This usually occurs due to syncing delays between Shopify and Rebuy. Changes to product settings, such as tagging or availability, must be synced to Rebuy to take effect. Solution:
Trigger a manual product sync to update product data in Rebuy. Use the Sync Product Data, Store Data, and Clear Cache guide for step-by-step instructions.
After syncing, allow up to 1 hour for the changes to apply.
Test the widget using an incognito browser to ensure the product is no longer appearing.
An Unlisted Shopify Product Is Still Appearing in Rebuy Recommendations
Unlisted products are filtered from any data source response driven by AI, Top Sellers, collections, tags, or algorithmic ranking. If an Unlisted product is appearing in recommendations, check whether it has been explicitly pinned in a data source via a specific product return. This is intentional behavior for GWP items and hidden SKUs and does not require a fix.
If the product is appearing unexpectedly and was not explicitly pinned, a product resync and cache clear may be needed to ensure Rebuy has the latest status data from Shopify. See Sync Product Data, Store Data, and Clear Cache for instructions.
To prevent the product from appearing in a specific widget entirely, use a Datasource Exclusion Filter.