As of 13 August 2026, AI can create SKU numbers for your products.

What to actually do

1. Use a tool built for this

   The route this page recommends

2. Do it yourself

   Second choice

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open your current stock or product spreadsheet and export the product name, variant details, brand, colour, size, supplier reference and any internal product ID.
   2. Copy the existing SKU column into a separate list, including discontinued and reserved codes if your business still treats them as unavailable.
   3. Choose the exact SKU structure and write down which product fields each section represents, such as category, colour, size and a sequence number.
   4. Paste the SKU rules, existing SKU list and product catalogue into a chatbot using the prompt above.
   5. Check the returned product and variant rows against the source spreadsheet, and resolve every exception instead of accepting a guessed attribute.
   6. Sort the proposed SKU column and compare it with the existing SKU list to confirm that no code is duplicated and every code follows the chosen format.
   7. Enter the approved SKUs into a copy of your inventory system first, match them to the correct product IDs, and test a small stock lookup or order workflow before publishing the full list.

   Prompt

   Create SKU numbers for the products in the catalogue below.
   
   SKU rules:
   - Use this exact format: [INSERT FORMAT, FOR EXAMPLE BRAND-CATEGORY-COLOUR-SIZE-NUMBER]
   - Use uppercase letters and numbers only, with hyphens if the format requires them.
   - Do not invent product attributes, variants or existing identifiers.
   - Do not reuse any SKU from the existing SKU list.
   - Keep the same product and variant represented by the same SKU.
   - If required information is missing or a proposed SKU would conflict with an existing SKU, do not guess. Put it in a separate exceptions table and explain what is missing or conflicting.
   - Make the numbering deterministic so the same input produces the same result.
   
   Return:
   1. A table with product name, variant details, proposed SKU and the fields used to build it.
   2. An exceptions table for incomplete or conflicting rows.
   3. A short count of products processed, products needing decisions and duplicate SKUs found within the new list.
   
   Existing SKU list:
   [PASTE EXISTING SKUS OR WRITE NONE]
   
   Product catalogue:
   [PASTE PRODUCT NAMES, VARIANTS, ATTRIBUTES AND INTERNAL PRODUCT IDS HERE]

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

3. Hand it to a person

   The distant third

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.