OpenAI is improving ChatGPT’s web search capabilities to make the AI chatbot a more useful tool for shopping.
People already use ChatGPT to do research around products, but before these updates, ChatGPT didn’t make it easy to understand up-to-date prices or see visual images of the results, Adam Fry, OpenAI’s ChatGPT search product lead, told The Verge in an interview. With this new update, a shopping query might pull up a more useful result that includes things like product cards with images, prices, and star ratings in an easy-to-read format.
The recommendations are organic — there are no ads and the results aren’t sponsored, according to Fry. However, OpenAI works with partners to ensure ChatGPT is showing up-to-date prices (though spokesperson Taya Christianson declined to share who the partners are when I asked).
Fry showed me how it all works in a demo in a web browser. With the query “best espresso machines under $200 that are great for making lattes and nice for small counter space,” ChatGPT pulled up three top picks with product cards and spelled out details about its picks in text under those cards.
If you click on a product card, a Google Shopping-like sidebar will pop up with more details on places you can buy the product and information pulled from user reviews across sites like Amazon, Best Buy, and Reddit. The cards can also show a button to “Ask about this,” and if you click it, you can ask ChatGPT a specific question about that product.
I asked Fry why the sidebar seemed similar to what you might see on Google. He said that while OpenAI wanted the experience to look like ChatGPT, the company knows that people like to see structured information that incorporates prices and images in a way that people are familiar with.
I also asked Fry what a shopping result for the Nintendo Switch 2 would look like, as I was curious how ChatGPT would handle a product that’s not actually out yet and is in high demand for preorders. The results weren’t as good.
While ChatGPT acknowledged that retailers have experienced “rapid sellouts,” it said that Nintendo’s own My Nintendo Store was one of those retailers — even though it hasn’t started sales yet. ChatGPT also pointed to some “third-party sellers and specialized retailers” apparently offering preorders, including a $710 listing on eBay and a platform I’ve never heard of and can’t find on Google called “Store Collectibles.” Perhaps those results were showed up because I was shown an in-development version of the tool, but it was a reminder that, like with other generative AI tools, you should definitely double-check what ChatGPT’s shopping results show you.
The shopping updates will start rolling out today to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Free, and logged-out users, Christianson says.
OpenAI initially released its search engine within ChatGPT in October. According to Fry, OpenAI saw 1 billion web searches on ChatGPT in the last week.
OpenAI will also now let you message or call 1-800-CHATGPT from WhatsApp to get answers from ChatGPT, like you can if you call that same number from a phone.
