OpenAI Introduces Shopping Research in ChatGPT, to Compete With Google’s AI Shopping Tools

OpenAI released Shopping Research in ChatGPT on Monday, offering a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool to help users find relevant products. The shopping tool has a visual interface and users can click on various options to let the chatbot know what they're looking for. After clarifying the requirements, the chatbot then shows a series of products that users can either like or ignore and then make their selection from the list. Notably, the new AI-powered shopping tool arrives just a week after Google introduced its own shopping-focused features in Gemini and AI Mode in Search.

ChatGPT Gets a New AI Shopping Feature

In a blog post, the San Francisco-based tech giant detailed the new shopping tool, which is aimed at the upcoming holiday season. Dubbed Shopping Research, the tool can be found on ChatGPT across mobile, desktop, and web interfaces. It has been rolled out to logged-in users across the free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans. It is also available in ChatGPT Pulse, which is currently available to ChatGPT Pro users. Notably, through the holidays, the company is offering “nearly unlimited” usage of the tool.

OpenAI said the tool was designed to help in users' decision making process when it comes to making purchases. It uses a conversational format followed by intuitive visual cues to help them with product discovery. “It performs especially well in detail-heavy categories like electronics, beauty, home and garden, kitchen and appliances, and sports and outdoor,” the post said.

To use the tool, users will need to click on the + icon located underneath the prompt box. It also houses other tools available in ChatGPT. Within the menu, users can select Shopping Research to activate the feature. Alternatively, the chatbot will also automatically turn on the tool when it is asked a shopping-related question.

Gadgets 360 staff members were able to test out the feature. First, users need to write a basic prompt about what they're looking for. The more details they add, the easier it will be for the chatbot to find the information. Once done, a large pop-up window will appear within the interface, asking users to answer a few questions to find the relevant product by clicking on the given options. After asking the questions, it will analyse the data to curate a list of products. Depending on now niche the request is, it can take up to a few minutes.

After that, the user will be shown a list of products, and they can either select “interested” or “not interested”. If they select not interested, the product will be discarded, and the ones the user likes will be used to create a list of similar products. At the end, the user will be presented with a visual list of products, complete with basic information, product image, and a link to directly go to the e-commerce website to make the purchase.

Notably, this tool does not let users make the purchase within ChatGPT or use any AI agents to complete the checkout process on the user's behalf.