OpenAI has launched shopping research in ChatGPT that asks clarifying questions, researches products across the web, and delivers personalised buyer’s guides in minutes for holiday shoppers.
What’s happening: OpenAI rolled out shopping research in ChatGPT on 24 November 2025, available to all logged-in users across Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans.
Why this matters: For retailers and small businesses, this shift represents a fundamental change in how customers discover products, with AI platforms like ChatGPT potentially becoming the primary gateway between consumers and commerce rather than traditional search engines or direct website visits.
OpenAI has made its most aggressive push yet into e-commerce, launching a shopping research tool that transforms ChatGPT into an AI-powered buying assistant.
The feature, which became available to logged-in users on 24 November, allows shoppers to describe what they need in plain language and receive detailed, personalised product recommendations within minutes.
OpenAI describes the experience as one that asks smart clarifying questions, researches deeply across the internet, reviews quality sources, and builds on ChatGPT’s understanding of users from past conversations to deliver a personalised buyer’s guide.
How it works
Users begin by asking a shopping question, such as finding a laptop under one thousand dollars or choosing between three different bicycles. ChatGPT then opens a visual interface where it asks follow-up questions about budget, intended recipient, and preferred features.
The system searches across the internet for current pricing, availability, reviews, specifications and images. Users can guide the research by marking items as not interested or requesting more similar options.
After a few minutes, users receive what OpenAI calls a thoughtful guide covering top products, key differences, trade-offs and up-to-date information from reliable retailers.
The feature uses a version of GPT-5 mini trained specifically for shopping tasks through reinforcement learning. OpenAI’s internal testing shows the model achieved 52 per cent product accuracy on complex queries with multiple constraints, compared to 37 per cent for standard ChatGPT Search.
Retailer implications
The launch comes as Australian businesses increasingly embrace AI tools to remain competitive. Recent data shows over half of Australian shoppers already consider using AI-powered tools for deal hunting, with AI-driven traffic to retail sites converting at higher rates than traditional sources.
The timing, just ahead of Black Friday and the Christmas shopping period, positions ChatGPT as an alternative to traditional search engines and marketplace platforms.
Unlike Amazon or Google Shopping, OpenAI emphasises that shopping research delivers organic results without advertising influence. The system draws from publicly available retail sites, reading product pages directly and avoiding what the company describes as low-quality or spammy sources.
Retailers wanting to ensure visibility in shopping research results can follow OpenAI’s allowlisting process, though the company maintains this doesn’t guarantee preferential placement.
One notable limitation affects Amazon. The retail giant restricts third-party AI tools from accessing its product pages, meaning ChatGPT shopping research may show limited or no Amazon listings. E-commerce analyst Juozas Kaziukėnas suggests the impact remains limited, noting most products available on Amazon can be found through other retailers.
Privacy first approach
OpenAI states that user conversations are never shared with retailers. The company positions shopping research as a research-oriented experience rather than an advertising platform.
For logged-in users with memory enabled, ChatGPT can draw on previous conversations to personalise recommendations. If the system knows a user enjoys gaming, it might factor that preference when suggesting a new laptop.
The feature currently requires users to click through to retailer websites to complete purchases. OpenAI plans to integrate its existing Instant Checkout feature, which launched in September for select merchants including Walmart, Etsy and Shopify sellers, though no timeline has been provided.
Not perfect yet
OpenAI acknowledges the system isn’t flawless. The company states shopping research might make mistakes about product details like price and availability, encouraging users to visit merchant sites for the most accurate details.
The feature performs best in detail-heavy categories including electronics, beauty, home and garden, kitchen appliances, and sports equipment. For simple queries like price checks, standard ChatGPT responses remain faster and more appropriate.
Manuka Stratta, a member of OpenAI’s technical staff, explained the system can understand both explicit and implicit user requirements. Stratta said the tool looks at dozens and dozens of websites and sources, indexing on all the both implicit and explicit requirements users provide.
Shopping research is available on mobile and web for Free, Go, Plus and Pro plan users. OpenAI is offering nearly unlimited usage through the holiday season to assist with gift shopping and seasonal purchases.
The company indicates this represents just the beginning of its e-commerce ambitions, with plans to improve category coverage and develop more intuitive comparison tools as the feature evolves.
Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
