Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to help you save time and money when shopping.
About a third of back-to-school shoppers said they planned to use AI to help them find online deals, according to Deloitte’s 2025 back-to-school survey. It signals a wider trend that appears to show shoppers embracing the high-tech approach.
More than half of U.S. consumers say they’ve used generative AI to conduct research, while 47% say they’ve used it to receive product recommendations, and 43% have used it to search for deals, according to research from Adobe.
We tested this by uploading a few supply lists from classrooms in the School District of Philadelphia to Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, and Google Gemini. We asked each to combine the lists and organize them by category, which can be useful for households buying for more than one student.
We then asked all three to find us the lowest price for each item near our zip code. Each offered slightly different results.
Microsoft Copilot returned prices of items, along with links. It also offered to compile the search results into a printable PDF or spreadsheet for easy shopping and budgeting.
ChatGPT displayed the lowest current online prices from major retailers and included links, too. It also provided a summary table with where to buy each item and specified which retailers it believed offered the best bet overall to get the lowest prices.
OpenAI said it introduced updates to its shopping searches in ChatGPT earlier this year to allow users to search for and compare products more easily.
Google Gemini made a point to say prices are subject to change and recommended checking for sales and promotions at local stores and on retailers’ websites.
That’s important to remember. These results aren’t perfect, and ultimately it’s up to you to confirm them. But it can be a good place to start.
Keep in mind, you get better results by asking more specific prompts. To narrow your search, try including your location. You can also ask for links to be included to ensure you get them in your results. You can even ask AI to compile a list with items priced within your specific budget. The key is to be clear and concise.
Several retailers are also using AI to help customers with the shopping experience. Walmart, for example, has an AI assistant on its site that can help you search for products. Amazon has an AI assistant called Rufus built into its website.
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