ChatGPT can quickly answer questions about products, such as price, size, and features. Yet, complex product searches can take time to generate and might not give you exactly what you’re looking for. To help with this, OpenAI created a new experience in ChatGPT that makes shopping research easy for everyone.
This new experience rolled out for ChatGPT users on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans on November 24th, 2025. Just in time for holiday shopping.
What Can Shopping Research Do?
Online shopping typically consists of sifting through various shopping websites and product lists to find exactly what you’re looking for. ChatGPT’s Shopping Research makes that process much faster and simpler. It allows users to ask for very specific products and get accurate recommendations. Ask for specific features, prices, and dimensions all in one prompt.
There are several great ways to use this new feature, such as:
- Discovering new products based on specific features.
- Finding similar-looking options to a product you love.
- Comparing similar products to find the best fit.
- Finding gifts based on a person’s interests and personality traits.
- Locating the best deals and discounts.
With ChatGPT Pulse, which is available to Pro users, the AI can proactively include personal suggestions based on past conversations. For example, if you’ve previously discussed being into gaming, ChatGPT may take that into consideration if you search for computers.
How to Use ChatGPT Shopping Research
To use this new experience, you can select “Shopping Research” from the menu, or you can simply ask a shopping question to automatically use it. You just need to explain exactly what you’re looking for and answer any follow-up questions. It may ask about your budget, what features you care about, and who the product is for. If your memory is on, it can use that to help tailor the results even more.
Then, using your input, it searches across the internet to find up-to-date recommendations that fit your request. You can select “not interested” or “more like this” on each product to help personalize the selections further.
In a few minutes, ChatGPT will give you a comprehensive buyer’s guide that includes the top products, how they compare, and where to buy them. In the future, there will be an Instant Checkout feature that lets users purchase from enrolled merchants directly through ChatGPT.
How it Works
Shopping Research is part of ChatGPT-5. It’s trained with reinforcement learning that’s focused on shopping tasks. It’s trained to look at trusted websites and cite reliable sources while collecting relevant information across a variety of sites. It’s also built to update and refine its searches in real time based on the user’s feedback.
The results of these searches are only for the user’s benefit. The chats are never shared with retailers.
While this new experience makes shopping easier than ever, it still has limitations just like any new technology. The AI may occasionally make mistakes on details like price and availability, so users should visit the merchant’s website for the most accurate and up-to-date information.
OpenAI will continue to improve this new feature to help it better understand user preferences, cover more product categories, and find new ways to compare and find products. Keep an eye out for updates.
Make Sure Your Brand Appears in Shopping Research
With so many people turning to ChatGPT for shopping searches, it’s time to take a new approach when marketing your products. Your brand should not only be visible in search engines but also in AI prompts.
Working with an AI expert can help you ensure your brand reaches the most customers possible. Our AI optimization services can help you increase your visibility in the shopping research results.
Talk to our experts today to see how we can help your brand thrive.
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