OpenAI has announced a major update to its ChatGPT search tool, designed to make online shopping more intuitive and personalised. The new feature, which began rolling out on Monday, enhances product discovery directly within the chatbot interface by integrating images, reviews, and direct purchase links.
Personalised Results for Natural Queries
Users can now search for products by simply typing a question in everyday language—such as “What’s a good hair dryer under ₹5,000?”—and receive curated recommendations. Results will include product visuals, ratings, and links to relevant retailers’ websites. Initially, the update focuses on categories like fashion, beauty, home goods, and electronics.
This enhancement is available to users of GPT-4o, the default model for ChatGPT, across all account types—Free, Plus, and Pro. Even logged-out users can try the new features, as OpenAI begins a global rollout. Users on Android phones, iPhones and web can now try out the new feature.
A Bid to Challenge Google’s Dominance
The move underscores OpenAI’s ambition to rival Google in the information and product search space. While Google’s Search product remains dominant, it has increasingly faced criticism for prioritising paid advertising slots, which can detract from organic search quality.
OpenAI says ChatGPT handled over a billion web searches last week, indicating significant growth in user engagement. However, the company is currently avoiding monetisation through advertising. Shopping results are generated from third-party metadata such as pricing, product descriptions, and user reviews—and OpenAI insists it does not receive affiliate commissions or prioritise paid listings.
Memory Integration Coming Soon
A future update will integrate ChatGPT’s memory feature with shopping, allowing the chatbot to remember previous conversations and offer more tailored recommendations. This functionality, however, will not be available in the European Union, the U.K., Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein due to data privacy regulations.
In another upgrade mimicking traditional search engines, ChatGPT will now display trending search suggestions as users begin typing—similar to Google’s autocomplete.
WhatsApp and Beyond
ChatGPT search has also been integrated into WhatsApp, enabling users to receive product suggestions and web search responses directly within the messaging app.
This shopping enhancement builds on previous experiments by OpenAI, including its “Operator” agent platform, which browsed the web in real-time to suggest products. The new ChatGPT search, by contrast, offers a faster, more interactive experience aimed at making AI-assisted online shopping mainstream.
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