The high humidity of marine atmosphere and the existence of corrosive chloride ions lead to the premature corrosion failure of aluminum alloy components. The development of surface-strengthening technology provides an opportunity to prolong their service life spans. As a mature surface-strengthening technology, the shot peening process is widely used, owing to its advantages over other strengthening technologies, including its easy operation and high production rate. The shot-peened surface integrity depends on shot peening variables that introduces the thermomechanical effect to the deformed surface layer. When the inappropriate shot peening parameters are adopted, the shot-peened surface integrity could be deteriorated, which further weakens the corrosion performance of the surface. Therefore, it is essential to optimize shot peening process variables with the consideration of the material and its application. In this paper, the strengthening mechanism of the shot peening process was firstly elaborated, and then the effects of process parameters on the surface integrity of aluminum alloy were reviewed. The relationship between the surface integrity and corrosion resistance was also revealed. Two directions, including the application of the surface temperature rise during the shot peening process and the shot-peened surface roughening, are proposed.