Policy links at checkout: what Merchant Center expects

Google’s checkout requirements ask that shoppers can find your refund and return policy, your terms and a way to contact you all the way through checkout. Hosted checkouts often drop your storefront footer, so walk the checkout itself and count the policy links on every step.

Major4 min read

By Edvinas Ivanauskas How the guides are reviewed

Why this matters

The rule sits in Google’s “Checkout requirements and best practices” page, under “Provide relevant information”: “Make sure that relevant details are clearly accessible throughout the checkout process, and that customers can find refund and return policy information, terms and conditions, and how to contact you.” The next paragraph is blunt about the stakes: “Omission of relevant information is considered a misrepresentation.”

Checkout is where storefront links tend to vanish. Many platforms run checkout on their own template, which does not use your theme’s footer, so the links you added there never reach the payment step. On Shopify, the checkout footer shows links to the policies filled in under Settings > Policies; a policy that exists only as an ordinary theme page does not appear there, however nicely it is written. It is an easy gap to miss, and an easy one to close once you know where to look.

Contact belongs in the same place. Google’s contact fix page says “Ensure at least one form of reachable contact (For example, email, phone, or contact form) is easily visible prior to checkout.” Product Experts on Google’s Merchant Center Community add that business and contact details should not be blocked by pop-ups, overlays or banners, especially during checkout.

The free scan puts a product in the basket, opens your public checkout without paying, and flags a checkout that shows no returns, privacy or terms link. It reads the links the checkout itself carries, not the ones in your theme, so what it reports is what your shopper sees at that step. The checkout checks are listed on the misrepresentation checker; for the rest of the store, see making policy and contact information easy to reach.

Typical evidence

Your policies can disappear at the checkout door

The cart may still wear your theme and footer. A hosted checkout can use a separate template, so test whether Returns, Shipping and Privacy are visible on the screens shoppers actually use.

Purchase funnel · policy-link coverage

Cart

Information

Shipping

Payment

Confirmation

Cart sits on your storefront, so it inherits the theme footer. The four checkout steps are hosted on a separate template that never sees it.

VerdictReturns, Shipping and Privacy disappear the moment the shopper enters the hosted checkout — the four steps that matter most.

The public signals this check looks for:

The storefront footer links to every policy, but the checkout pages show none of them
The storefront footer links to every policy, but the checkout pages show none of them.
The cart links to returns, then the information and payment steps drop the link
The cart links to returns, then the information and payment steps drop the link.
The checkout’s “Refund policy” link opens the platform’s generated template, not the retur…
The checkout’s “Refund policy” link opens the platform’s generated template, not the returns terms you actually run.
There is no way to contact the store from checkout
There is no way to contact the store from checkout: no email, phone, chat or contact link.
The order confirmation page and the confirmation email carry no link to returns or contact…
The order confirmation page and the confirmation email carry no link to returns or contact.

What it looks like once it is right

The same policy text is saved in the platform’s policy settings, so the checkout footer shows “Refund policy · Shipping policy · Privacy policy · Terms of service · Contact”. Each opens the live policy, and the confirmation page links returns and contact too.

Common mistakes

Common mistake

The theme footer has Returns, Shipping, Privacy and Contact. The checkout, on the platform’s own template, shows only a copyright line, because the policies were written as theme pages and the platform’s policy settings were left blank.

Fix checklist

Add a product to the cart and go through checkout to the payment step without paying. Note which policy and contact links you can see at the cart, at each checkout step and on the confirmation page.
Fill in your returns and refunds, shipping, terms and privacy policies in the platform’s own policy settings, such as Settings > Policies on Shopify, so the hosted checkout can link to them.
Where the platform lets you edit the checkout footer or add checkout links, add returns, shipping, terms, privacy and contact.
Give shoppers a contact route, email, phone or chat, that they can reach from checkout without abandoning the order.
If your checkout lets you add text near the address and card fields, link the privacy policy there.
Add returns and contact links to the order confirmation page and the confirmation email.
Repeat the walk-through after any checkout app, theme or platform update, on a phone as well as a laptop.

Check the hosted checkout separately

A storefront footer may not appear in a hosted checkout. Test the configured checkout and confirmation pages in your platform instead of assuming a theme setting carries over.

Funnel surface

Inherits theme footer?

Links present

Where to fix it

Cart

Yes · storefront

—

Checkout / payment

No · hosted

Checkout settings → checkout footer

Order confirmation

No · hosted

Order-status page content

Investigator’s note

For Shopify, review the current checkout and order-status configuration. Other carts vary, so test the public route you actually use rather than borrowing a rule from another platform.

StoreVerifier compliance desk

Questions merchants ask

Do I need policy links on my checkout page for Google Merchant Center?

Google’s checkout requirements ask that customers can find refund and return policy information, terms and conditions, and how to contact you throughout the checkout process. Links in the checkout footer or on each step are the usual way to do it. Google does not prescribe where on the page they go.

Why don’t my footer links show on my Shopify checkout?

Shopify’s checkout uses its own template rather than your theme footer. Its policy links come from the policies saved under Settings > Policies, so fill those in, even if you also have policy pages in your theme. Then walk the checkout again to confirm they appear.

Should the privacy policy be linked at checkout?

It is sensible. Google’s checkout page names refund and return policy, terms and conditions and contact details; privacy sits naturally beside them, and shoppers look for it where they type their address and card details. See how to audit your checkout flow for the full walk-through.

Remediation

Risk signal

Checkout is the part of a store that gets tested at launch and then left alone, while platform updates change it without asking. Walk it yourself now and then, stop at the payment step, and count the links; it takes less time than reading this guide.

PriorityAddress and document this finding as part of the store’s remediation work.

EvidenceRecord the current state before each change, apply the fix, then capture the corrected state so every change is evidenced.

Similar cases

Sources

Community guidance

Written by Product Experts, the users Google recognises for their answers on its Merchant Center Community forum. Often stricter than Google’s help pages, and not Google policy.

How to fix your Merchant Center suspension (Misrepresentation), 2026Merchant Center Community · Product Expert guide — support.google.com

Last reviewed 23 Sep 2026.

That is one issue. The library documents 134.

The free scan lists what it finds on your store. The paid report adds the affected pages, captured evidence and step-by-step fixes. Start free, with no account needed.