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Dive Brief:
OpenAI rolled out updates to shopping queries in ChatGPT last week to make it easier for shoppers to find, compare and buy products as more consumers are turning to generative AI tools for purchases.
Now users can find product recommendations with improved product results, citations, visual product details, pricing, reviews and direct links to buy, OpenAI announced on X. It also added trending searches to the platform and autocomplete suggestions.
OpenAI said that ChatGPT Search is “one of our most popular & fastest growing features,” with over a billion web searches happening in one week.
Dive Insight:
Consumers are turning to generative AI tools to research products and make purchases, multiple data sources have found.
A February Capgemini report found that roughly two-thirds of millennials and Gen Z, closely followed by Gen X, have replaced traditional search engines with tools like ChatGPT for product recommendations. An Adobe report also found consumers are purchasing more from generative AI’s suggestions.
Any website or merchant can appear in a ChatGPT search result, since product results are chosen independently and are not ads. Brands who haven’t opted out of OpenAI’s search crawler will be visible on ChatGPT, the company said last week. OpenAI is also experimenting with ways to offer product feeds in ChatGPT that would provide up-to-date listings.
OpenAI also updated the citations feature provided in a ChatGPT inquiry, the company said on X. ChatGPT will now offer multiple citations for a response so users can learn more about a product from multiple sources. A highlight feature was also added to show which part of an answer the citation refers to.
Though generative AI searches for product recommendations are growing in frequency, not everyone is convinced. A recent KPMG survey found that two in five shoppers are hesitant about generative AI analyzing their personal online data. Broadly, concerns about privacy and trust in AI are drawbacks for some consumers.