Three signals dominate product image SEO in 2026: descriptive alt text under 125 characters ("navy blue women's running shoe, side view" rather than a vague description), an explicit, keyword-rich file name (navy-blue-womens-running-shoe.webp rather than IMG_4821.jpg), and a structured ImageObject schema with caption/contentUrl. A 2026 study measures up to 12–18% more clicks on Google Images for main images with a complete schema.
An image optimization engine like ImagePipe deliberately doesn't handle any of these three signals for you: it's a weight/format/size engine, not a CMS. The alt attribute comes from the field you fill in your WordPress or WooCommerce media library, ImagePipe copies it as-is onto every <img> it generates, never modifying or clearing it, including when it rewrites the tag into a <picture>.
Concretely, here's where to act: rename the file before uploading (ImagePipe never renames a file already in the media library), fill in the "Alt text" field for every product image, and add Product/ImageObject schema through your existing SEO plugin (Yoast, RankMath) rather than by hand.
What ImagePipe still brings to this strategy: by systematically serving the lightest format the visitor's browser supports, it keeps LCP low, a factor that indirectly influences ranking in Google Images and Discover, complementing the alt text/file name/schema trio, not replacing it.