ChatGPT Shopping Research: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How Small Businesses Can Prepare

Shopping Research in ChatGPT

On 24 November 2025, OpenAI quietly launched something that could change how people shop online: Shopping Research in ChatGPT.

OpenAI

In simple terms:

• Instead of opening 15 tabs to compare products, people can now ask ChatGPT a question like “Find me a cordless vacuum for a small flat, quiet, under £200” - and get a personalised buyer’s guide in one place.

This isn’t just a “cool AI feature”. It’s another step towards AI assistants becoming the place where customers start their buying journey - not Google, not Amazon, not comparison sites.

If you run an online shop, a local service business, or you sell anything that can be researched online… this affects you.

What is “Shopping Research” in ChatGPT?

Shopping Research is a new tool inside ChatGPT that:

• Asks you what you’re looking for (e.g. “a laptop for photo editing under £1,000”, “a safe sunbed cream for sensitive skin”)
  
• Asks clarifying questions: budget, who it’s for, must-have features, size, style, etc.
  
• Searches the web in the background for up-to-date prices, availability, reviews and specs
  
• Builds a personalised buyer’s guide with a shortlist of products, the key differences, and trade-offs
  
• Links you to retailers where you can actually buy the product

It’s powered by a specialised version of GPT-5 mini that’s been trained specifically for shopping tasks, including understanding constraints like price, material, and technical specs.

The feature is rolling out on web and mobile for logged-in users on Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans, with “nearly unlimited usage” over the holiday period.

9To5Mac

How does it work? (Plain English)

Think of it as a very patient shop assistant who already read the whole internet for you.

Step 1 - You describe what you need

You start with a shopping question or choose “Shopping research” from the tools menu in ChatGPT.

Examples:

• “Find me a quiet cordless vacuum for a small flat under £200”
  
• “Help me choose between these three bikes”
  
• “Gift ideas for my dad who loves fishing but never catches anything”

Step 2 - It asks a few smart questions

The tool narrows things down by asking about:

• Budget
  
• Who it’s for
  
• Features you care about
  
• Your preferences (style, brand, size, etc.)

If you have ChatGPT memory turned on, it may already know some of your preferences (e.g. that you game, that you live in a flat, that you prefer budget options) and factor that in.

Step 3 - It researches in the background

While you’re chatting, Shopping Research:

• Looks across the web at product pages and retailer sites
  
• Pulls current prices, availability, specs and reviews
  
• Filters out low-quality or spammy sources as much as it can
  
• Cites where information comes from (so you can click and check)

Step 4 - You get a buyer’s guide

After a few minutes, you get:

• A shortlist of products
  
• Key differences (pros, cons, who each option suits)
  
• Trade-offs (e.g. quieter but heavier, cheaper but worse battery)
  
• Direct links to retailers to buy

In future, OpenAI plans to let you purchase directly inside ChatGPT via their Instant Checkout system for participating merchants.

Sourcing Journal

Why this matters to small businesses

Most coverage is talking about “holiday shopping” and “Amazon alternatives”. But for a small or mid-sized business owner, the key shift is this:

• Customers can now ask an AI assistant what to buy – and trust it – without ever seeing a Google result page.

For product-based businesses (e-commerce, physical products, local shops with an online catalogue), this means:

• Being findable by search engines is no longer enough.
• You need to be understandable to answer engines - systems like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, etc.
  
• The quality and clarity of your product data (titles, descriptions, specs, reviews, pricing) matter more than ever.

For service-based businesses, it’s a preview of what’s coming. Today it’s products; tomorrow it’ll be:

• “Find me the best web design agency for small businesses in Southampton that work on Duda and offer fixed-price packages.”

When AI assistants become the “front door” to the internet, you want them to:

• Understand what you do
  
• Trust you as a source
  
• Include you in their recommendations

Shopping Research is an early, very concrete step in that direction.

What this means if you sell products

If you run an online shop (Shopify, WooCommerce, Printify, etc.) or you sell products via your website, Shopping Research touches you directly.

From what OpenAI has shared so far:

• Results are organic, not paid placements - you can’t “boost” yourself with ad spend in Shopping Research right now.
  
• It relies on public product pages: price, specs, photos, descriptions, availability, and reviews.
  
• OpenAI says they avoid low-quality or spammy sites and read product pages directly from trusted retailers.
  
• Merchants can go through an allowlisting process to make sure they’re eligible to appear.
  
• Early reporting suggests it currently doesn’t lean on Amazon listings, focusing on other retailers instead.
  Modern Retail

So if your product pages are:

• Thin on detail
  
• Inconsistent in pricing
  
• Light on reviews
  
• Hard to understand for a non-expert

…you’re less likely to be chosen as a “top option” by an AI assistant designed to filter and simplify.

What this means if you sell services

Right now, Shopping Research is product-focused. But the pattern is clear:

1. People are getting used to conversational buying: “Here’s my situation, what do you recommend?”
   
2. AI tools are getting very good at narrowing choices, explaining trade-offs, and steering people to a shortlist.
   
3. The underlying logic (structured data + authority + clarity) is identical for services.

Even if you never sell a single physical product, this is your early warning:

• Your services pages need to look more like structured, comparable “offers” and less like vague brochure copy.
  
• Your case studies, reviews, and FAQs will likely be part of how answer engines judge you.
  
• Agencies and service businesses that prepare now will win visibility later.
  

How to make your business “AI-ready” for Shopping Research

Here’s a practical checklist you can use now, whether you work with us or not.

a) Clean, structured product (or service) pages

For each product/offer:

• Clear, straightforward title
  
• One main purpose (not “does everything for everyone”)
  
• Simple bullet-point specs: size, colour, material, compatibility, use-cases
  
• Accurate and current price
  
• Shipping and return info clearly shown

This isn’t just UX. It makes it easier for AI systems to correctly understand and compare your offer.

b) Real reviews, visible on your site

Shopping Research reads reviews from retailers and trusted sources.

SiliconANGLE

• Encourage customers to leave reviews on your site and major platforms.
  
• Display them clearly and honestly (no obvious “everything is 5 stars” fakery).
  
• Include what type of customer they are - “first-time buyer”, “landlord”, “home salon”, etc. This helps AI understand who you’re good for.

c) Consistent product data across platforms

If your price is £49 on your site, £39 on one marketplace and £59 on another, that’s confusing for both humans and AI.

Where possible:

• Keep price, images and descriptions aligned across your main channels.
  
• Avoid duplicated / conflicting product names.

d) Schema and structured data (the technical bit)

Search engines and AI models both benefit from structured product data - things like Product schema, Offers, AggregateRating, etc.

If that sounds technical, the short version is:

• You want your products and services properly “labelled” so machines know exactly what’s what.

This is where your SEO / AEO work overlaps directly with Shopping Research.

e) Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)

AEO is the practice of making your website understandable to answer engines – not just searchable.

For Shopping Research, AEO means:

• Writing content that truly answers buyer questions (not just matches keywords)
  
• Providing clear comparisons (“who this is for / not for”)
  
• Including constraints that people actually care about: price brackets, use cases, location, time, risk
  
• Using plain language, not jargon

You’re already seeing this with Google’s AI Overviews. Shopping Research pushes that same logic into buying decisions: not “what’s out there?”, but “what’s right for me?”.

How to make your business “AI-ready” for Shopping Research

Here’s a practical checklist you can use now, whether you work with us or not.

a) Clean, structured product (or service) pages

For each product/offer:

• Clear, straightforward title
  
• One main purpose (not “does everything for everyone”)
  
• Simple bullet-point specs: size, colour, material, compatibility, use-cases
  
• Accurate and current price
  
• Shipping and return info clearly shown

This isn’t just UX. It makes it easier for AI systems to correctly understand and compare your offer.

b) Real reviews, visible on your site

Shopping Research reads reviews from retailers and trusted sources.

SiliconANGLE

• Encourage customers to leave reviews on your site and major platforms.
  
• Display them clearly and honestly (no obvious “everything is 5 stars” fakery).
  
• Include what type of customer they are - “first-time buyer”, “landlord”, “home salon”, etc. This helps AI understand who you’re good for.

c) Consistent product data across platforms

If your price is £49 on your site, £39 on one marketplace and £59 on another, that’s confusing for both humans and AI.

Where possible:

• Keep price, images and descriptions aligned across your main channels.
  
• Avoid duplicated / conflicting product names.

d) Schema and structured data (the technical bit)

Search engines and AI models both benefit from structured product data - things like Product schema, Offers, AggregateRating, etc.

If that sounds technical, the short version is:

• You want your products and services properly “labelled” so machines know exactly what’s what.

This is where your SEO / AEO work overlaps directly with Shopping Research.

e) Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)

AEO is the practice of making your website understandable to answer engines – not just searchable.

For Shopping Research, AEO means:

• Writing content that truly answers buyer questions (not just matches keywords)
  
• Providing clear comparisons (“who this is for / not for”)
  
• Including constraints that people actually care about: price brackets, use cases, location, time, risk
  
• Using plain language, not jargon

You’re already seeing this with Google’s AI Overviews. Shopping Research pushes that same logic into buying decisions: not “what’s out there?”, but “what’s right for me?”.

How agencies (like us) can help

If you’re reading this as a business owner and thinking “I don’t have time to worry about AI shopping engines”, that’s exactly where a good agency should step in.

Here’s how we see our role:

Audit your current site

• Are your product/service pages clear enough for an AI assistant?
  
• Is your data consistent and structured?
  
• Are reviews and trust signals visible?

Make your offers “answer-engine friendly”

• Rework product and service descriptions to match how people actually ask questions
  
• Add proper schema and technical optimisation
  
• Fix gaps that would make an AI hesitate to recommend you

Align with platforms like Shopping Research

• Help you through allowlisting processes where relevant
  
• Make sure your catalogue and content are prepared for future integrations (like Instant Checkout)

Use these tools for your benefit

• We can use Shopping Research ourselves to:
• Analyse your competitors
• Identify offer gaps and opportunities
• Spot pricing and positioning patterns in your market

In other words: this isn’t about “chasing a shiny AI feature”. It’s about making sure that when customers ask an assistant what to buy, your business is a sensible, trustworthy answer.

Quick FAQ for business owners