Etsy's new AI rules took effect October 22. Your listings either comply — or they're removable.

The rules changed on Oct 22, 2026 with no grace period. Every non-compliant listing is exposed today.

"I think that photo is unedited" is not evidence. Editing strips and hides in metadata — and a photo with no metadata proves nothing either way.

One AI picture of a physical item can turn into a refund you fund when a buyer opens a "materially different" case.

SEO tools (eRank, ListifyAI) score keywords. None of them check a single one of the Oct 22 rules.

Here is the uncomfortable part, from someone who checks Etsy shops for a living: the photo itself is not the evidence. Whether it was edited, generated, or shot straight out of a camera lives inside the image file — in its EXIF, XMP and PNG metadata. Your eyes cannot see it. Neither can the keyword tools. eRank and ListifyAI score your words; neither one checks a single rule Etsy put into force on October 22, 2026.

And those rules landed with no grace period. Every physical listing now needs at least one unedited photo of the actual item against a real background, uploaded as the camera saved it. AI art survives only with disclosure. AI-generated functional guides — patterns, recipes, plans — are banned outright, and a bot-generated listing can cost you the whole shop, not just the listing. Get it wrong and the bill is real: listing removal, a refund you fund when a buyer opens a “materially different” case, and shop removal if it repeats.

So here is exactly how I would check your shop, step by step. One: you send a listing export and your original photo files — a shared folder link is fine, five minutes, and I never ask for your login. Two: the auditor reads every image file and classifies it — camera-original, edited, AI-generated, or unprovable — then applies all six October 22 rules to every listing. Three: inside 48 hours you get a verdict per listing — PASS, WARN or FAIL — the exact fix for each failure, and ready-to-paste AI disclosure copy. The Audit is $149 and covers up to 100 listings. The Fix Pack is $449: up to 300 listings, the fixes written for you, a photo reshoot shot-list per listing, guide-listing remediation, and an appeal evidence pack built from your originals. Sentinel is $79 a month if you want the shop re-scanned monthly and an alert the day Etsy moves the rules again.

Now the part that can cost me the sale, because it is true: if your photos really are camera-original and your AI use is already disclosed, you may not need the Fix Pack at all. Buy the Audit. If it comes back clean, you get the evidence pack that proves it in any appeal, and that clean report is honestly the best $149 outcome there is. I would rather tell you that than sell you fixes you do not need.

You did not start an Etsy shop to become a metadata detective. You started it to make and sell things. I check photo files and policy rules for a living — that part is mine. Start with the audit, see your shop the way Etsy’s enforcement will, and fix only what is actually broken.