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The way we shop will soon be reimagined—not just digitised but fundamentally altered. With OpenAI announcing the shopping vertical inside ChatGPT, artificial intelligence that was once a behind-the-scenes recommendation engine, will now be at the front door of commerce.
ChatGPT has already begun integrating real-time shopping capabilities from leading commerce platforms to flip how consumers discover, evaluate, and buy products across verticals.
Instead of spitting out a generic list of links, ChatGPT delivers a highly refined response. It provides a curated selection of products that match the user’s request, complete with side-by-side comparisons of key features, pros and cons, and user reviews. The chatbot also includes real-time images, pricing, and stock availability, all pulled directly from its integration with trusted retailers. If a user decides to buy, ChatGPT offers direct purchase links, allowing them to complete their transaction.
On 28 April 2025, OpenAI announced further plans to expand these capabilities by rolling out shopping buttons for all users, whether signed in or not. This update allows users to shop directly through ChatGPT, though the final checkout process will still occur on the merchant’s website.
Real-world examples: Klarna, Instacart, Visa, others
Similarly, ChatGPT’s integration with Instacart can upend grocery shopping as we know it. Users can ask for a healthy meal plan for the week, and ChatGPT will not only generate the plan but also fill a virtual cart with real-time product data from Instacart. A few clicks later, users can place an order and make AI a true shopping concierge.
- Just as SEO became a necessity in the age of Google, brands must now optimise their product feeds to be discoverable by AI.
- Accurate and structured metadata such as images, pricing, specifications, and stock levels is crucial to ensure that products are surfaced by conversational models like ChatGPT.
- Integrating with AI ecosystems will be the new storefront. So, brands must design experiences that are “prompt-native,” and ensure that they resonate in conversational interfaces rather than relying solely on traditional web pages.
A standout decision by OpenAI is to make product recommendations non-sponsored. This is a clear stance against pay-to-play search results. So for users, this boosts confidence. For brands, it levels the field. But it also raises the stakes—being relevant, accurate, and structured is the only path to visibility.
In this new landscape:
• Retailers will be AI-native experience designers.
• Consumers will expect zero-friction discovery and checkout.
• Success will be determined by how well your product speaks the AI’s language.
The winners will be the brands, retailers, and builders who understand this shift and act fast to integrate AI into the heart of their customer experience.
Lionel Sim, former global CCO for Liverwire, head of commercial for Bondee, is now the founder of AI Capitol.
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