This tool is part of the Red Pin Geek Premium series. For the full walkthrough on how to interpret your result, the platform-specific notes when migration IS the right call, and the anonymized client story behind these questions, read the companion post on Substack.

Ten questions across three sections. Answer honestly. The tool returns a recommendation (STAY / MIGRATE LATER / MIGRATE NOW) plus a flag if the migration quote you have in hand does not honestly price the architectural work. Most operators finish in under ten minutes.

Worked example, anonymized

A Squarespace fine jewelry studio (12 years in business, softening search traffic, a five-figure Shopify quote in hand sold as "the AI visibility fix") scored Section A = 6 (high content-architecture issue), Section B = 2 (no real platform gaps). Routed to STAY. She is now rewriting product pages on Squarespace and is making the subscription-billing question separately on its own merits.

Based on Andrea Li's cross-platform work (Bohemi Shopify, ALD Squarespace, RPG Squarespace) and an anonymized client conversation 2026. Permission to share the pattern, not the identity.

Section A of 3

AI visibility diagnostics

4 questions. Max 8 points. High score signals a content-architecture issue, not a platform issue.

Q1.When you ask ChatGPT for a recommendation in your category, do competing stores get cited while yours does not?

Q2.When you read your own product page out loud, does it name the stone, the metal, the cut, the setting, and the wearing context?

Q3.Do you have provenance content (Studio Stories, maker narratives) on at least 50% of your product pages?

Q4.Does your site have FAQ schema on key pages?

FAQ schema is structured-data tags that label your FAQ content as a question-and-answer block so AI engines can extract the answers. You can verify in Google's free Rich Results Test.

Section B of 3

Platform-feature reality check

4 questions. Max 8 points. High score signals real platform gaps that block business operations.

Q5.Do you need subscription billing your current platform cannot do?

Q6.Does your current checkout demonstrably lose buyers at a specific step?

Q7.Do you have a B2B wholesale workflow your current platform cannot handle?

Q8.Do you need third-party app integrations your current platform cannot support?

Section C of 3

Migration cost honesty

2 questions. Gate flags, not scored points. Either one answered "No" raises a warning alongside your main result.

Q9.Does the migration quote you have in hand explicitly include the content-architecture work (product page rewrites, schema upgrades, internal linking, FAQ content, provenance narratives) as part of the migration build itself, with itemized scope and hours?

Q10.If you migrated tomorrow and AI visibility did not improve, would you still be okay with the migration outcome (i.e. you are migrating for platform reasons that hold up on their own)?

Answer every question before submitting.

Your scored sections

Section A (AI visibility)

0

of 8

Section B (platform features)

0

of 8

Cost-honesty flag

Your migration quote does not integrate the content-architecture work into the migration build, or you are migrating to fix something migration cannot fix. The right scope sequences product page rewrites, schema upgrades, FAQ content, and internal linking INSIDE the migration plan, not as a separate post-launch phase. Get a second opinion before signing.

Based on Andrea Li's cross-platform work (Bohemi Shopify, ALD Squarespace, RPG Squarespace) and an anonymized client conversation 2026.

→ The Premium Substack walkthrough shows real before-and-after numbers from my own work and the platform-specific notes for when migration IS the right call (Shopify, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce, headless, Squarespace). Read the walkthrough →

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to take this checklist before I sign a Shopify migration contract?
Yes, ideally. The most expensive AI visibility mistake jewelry designers make is migrating to a new platform when the actual issue is content architecture. The checklist takes 10 minutes and tells you whether the migration will solve what you think it will solve.
What if my migration quote already includes "AI visibility readiness"?
Read the line item carefully. AI visibility readiness done well takes weeks of focused content work: real product page rewrites, schema upgrades, FAQ content built into the cluster architecture, internal linking strategy, real provenance copy. The right scope integrates that work INTO the migration build itself, with itemized hours and a clear sequencing plan. If the quote frames it as a small post-launch line item, or as a separate "phase two" that happens after the new platform goes live, push back on the sequencing before signing. The work should be inside the migration plan, not bolted on after.
Does this checklist work for Shopify-to-Shopify-Plus or Squarespace-to-Shopify or any other migration combo?
Yes. The questions are platform-agnostic. They evaluate whether your AI visibility issue is a content problem or a platform problem regardless of which platforms you are moving between.
Do new Premium subscribers get access to past tools like this one?
Yes. Every Premium tool I have released is available to active subscribers. The Migration Decision Checklist will stay live at this URL.