ChatGPT opens up for shopping: OpenAI adds shopping feature to ChatGPT

OpenAI recently announced that users will soon be able to purchase products through ChatGPT. The AI-powered shopping feature for search queries will be available to all users, both logged in and out. However, shoppers will not be able to pay directly within ChatGPT; instead, they will be directed to the merchant’s own website to complete the transaction.

Adam Fry, ChatGPT search product lead at OpenAI, told WIRED ahead of the launch that the updated user experience will showcase how users can use the tool for product research to decide which espresso machine or office chair to buy. The product recommendations presented to potential customers are based on information ChatGPT remembers about the user's preferences, as well as product reviews pulled from around the web.

Purchasing products within ChatGPT shares many similarities with Google Shopping. In both interfaces, when you click on a picture of a reasonably priced office chair you like, various retailers like Amazon and Walmart are listed on the right side of the screen with options to complete your purchase. There’s one major difference between shopping through ChatGPT and Google for now: The results you see in OpenAI searches are organic results, not paid placements. “They’re not ads or sponsored,” Fry emphasized.

While some product recommendations that appear on Google Shopping are due to retailers paying to be featured there, this is just one of the ways Google decides which products to list in Shopping searches. Websites that publish product reviews are constantly updating their purchasing recommendation content to convince Google’s dubious algorithm that the site contains high-quality reviews of products that have been thoroughly tested by real people. Google favors more thoughtful reviews in search results, ranking them higher when a user is researching a product.

Ranking at the top of a Google search can lead to more users purchasing the product through the website, potentially earning the publisher millions of dollars in affiliate revenue.

So how does ChatGPT determine which products to recommend? Why were those specific espresso machines and office chairs listed first when the user typed in their question?

“We’re not looking for specific signals that are in some algorithm,” Fry explains. Rather than being keyword-driven, it’s a more personalized, conversational shopping experience . “ChatGPT is trying to understand how people are looking at this, how people are talking about this, what the pros and cons are,” Fry says. If you indicate that you prefer to only buy black clothing from a particular retailer, the idea is that ChatGPT will remember that information the next time you ask for advice on which shirt to buy, and offer suggestions that fit your tastes.

ChatGPT's product reviews will come from a variety of online sources, including editorial publishers like WIRED as well as user-generated forums like Reddit. Fry noted that users will be able to tell ChatGPT what types of reviews it should prioritize when creating a list of recommended products.

When asked if he saw this as a potentially meaningful revenue driver in the long term, Fry similarly noted that OpenAI is primarily focused on user experience and will evolve the ChatGPT exchange as the startup learns more after it launches.

OpenAI has big revenue goals. According to a report by The Information, the company is aiming to generate $125 billion in revenue by 2029. Last year, OpenAI’s revenue was just under $4 billion. It’s not yet clear how big a role the company expects affiliate revenue to play in reaching that goal. CEO Sam Altman recently discussed the idea that affiliate fees will contribute to the company’s revenue in an interview with Stratechery newsletter writer Ben Thompson.

This isn't OpenAI's first foray into shopping in 2025. Its AI agent, called Operator, can control web browsers and help users shop for groceries or take vacations

can help you book a reservation, but first impressions were that the feature was pretty clunky when it launched. Perplexity, one of OpenAI’s AI-powered search competitors, introduced a “Buy with Pro” feature late last year that lets users shop directly from within the app. In addition, the Google Shopping tab now includes a “Researched with AI” section for some queries, along with summaries of online reviews and suggested options