Back to learn seo

ARTICLES

What We Have Learned About ChatGPT Enhanced Shopping Experience

4
 min to read
May 5, 2025
Jordan Long
Head of Consulting Services, North America
last updated on
June 12, 2025

On April 28, 2025, OpenAI announced significant updates to ChatGPT's search functionality, with a primary focus on improving product discovery and shopping experiences.

Search has become one of our most popular & fastest growing features, with over 1 billion web searches just in the past week."

Source: OpenAI Official Announcement

This update positions ChatGPT as an increasingly important product discovery channel for brands seeking to reach users during early and mid-funnel shopping moments.


Key Improvements

  • Enhanced ability to find, compare, and buy products directly within ChatGPT.
  • Product listings now feature images, pricing, descriptions, reviews, and direct purchase links.
  • Product results are chosen independently — they are not advertisements and are based on structured metadata and third-party sources.
Example Shopping Intent Result in ChatGPT

Important Highlights

  • Product results are powered by "structured metadata," likely referring to Schema.org product markup as a foundational source. (Learn More)
  • OpenAI is exploring a direct product feed submission option to improve listing accuracy.
    • Merchants can sign up for notifications here.
  • Shopping feature enhancements include:
    • Improved product result quality
    • Visual product details, pricing, and customer reviews
    • Direct links to merchants for purchasing Listings chosen independently (not paid placements)
  • Rollout Status:
    • Rolling out now to Plus, Pro, Free, and logged-out users worldwide.
    • Expected to complete within the next several days.

How Product Discovery Works in ChatGPT

ChatGPT’s product shopping experience is built on a combination of the following factors:

  • Allow OAI-SearchBot: For your site to be discoverable in ChatGPT, you must allow OAI-SearchBot to access your website’s content.
  • Structured Metadata: Pulling from structured data, likely including Schema.org markup (e.g., price, description, product availability) embedded on product pages.
  • Third-Party Content: Incorporating third-party sources such as public reviews and aggregated ratings.
  • Model Interpretation: ChatGPT interprets user intent dynamically. However, errors can occur (e.g., recommending something outside of a user's intended style or price range).
  • Safety Standards: Product results are filtered to meet OpenAI’s content and safety standards.
  • Relevance Weighting: Depending on a user's query, different attributes (e.g., price, popularity, customer feedback) are prioritized.


Key Details About Product Listings

  • Product Titles & Descriptions: ChatGPT may generate simplified or edited titles and descriptions based on received metadata for clarity and consistency across products.
  • Product Labels (e.g., "Budget-Friendly", "Most Popular"): These are model-generated based on available data but are not verified or guaranteed to be the best market options.
  • Reviews and Ratings: Summaries of user reviews are model-generated from public sources. Star ratings and counts come from third-party providers and may not exactly match ratings on specific retail sites.
  • Pricing Information: Prices shown are pulled from the first merchant listed via the third-party feed, but may not always reflect the lowest available price. There may also be delays in updates for price changes, shipping costs, and taxes.
  • Merchant Listings: When users click on a product, they may see multiple merchant options. The merchant list order is currently determined by the third-party data provider, not by OpenAI’s own ranking system.

Merchant Participation: What's Coming

OpenAI is exploring a direct product feed solution to allow merchants to submit their inventory directly to ChatGPT.

This should offer:

  • Greater accuracy and freshness of product listings
  • Potentially more control over how your products are displayed

If you are interested, you can sign up to be notified when submissions open here:

Be Found in ChatGPT's Shopping Experience

ChatGPT's enhanced shopping features is reshaping e-commerce discovery. Don't get left behind while your competitors capture this valuable traffic. Our team of senior search experts will help you make sense of thie revolution and build a dedicated strategy to ensure your brand is found in traditional and AI search by consumers searching for your products.

Ready to maximize your visibility in ChatGPT? Book a consultation today and discover how Botify can help you seize this new opportunity.

Want to learn more? Connect with our team for a Botify demo!
Get in touch
Related articles
Amplify your SEO with AI and automation
Botify is everything your enterprise SEO needs to increase traffic, drive revenue, and generate a better ROI!
book a demo
No items to show