ChatGPT just became your new shopping assistant
What's the story
OpenAI has announced an upgrade to its web search tool, ChatGPT Search, to give users a better online shopping experience.
The improved feature will now provide product recommendations, images, and reviews when you search for items. It will also give direct links to websites where you can buy these products.
This upgrade is part of OpenAI's strategy to take on Google with a more personalized experience for finding products and information online.
Information
OpenAI clarifies shopping results independence
OpenAI has clarified that the shopping results in ChatGPT are determined independently and do not include ads. The shopping results will be based on structured metadata from third parties, such as pricing, product descriptions, and reviews. The company will not receive a kickback from purchases made through ChatGPT Search.
Global rollout
ChatGPT search upgrade available globally
The upgraded ChatGPT Search feature comes integrated into the default AI model for ChatGPT, GPT-4o.
The new capability is available for all ChatGPT Pro, Plus, and Free users globally. Even those who aren't logged into their accounts can take advantage of this update.
The move comes as OpenAI says its search product is growing rapidly, with over a billion web searches in ChatGPT last week alone.
Advertising stance
OpenAI's approach to advertising in ChatGPT
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously been against ads in ChatGPT. However, he recently said he would be open to "tasteful" advertising.
This means OpenAI may eventually charge affiliate fees for purchases made through ChatGPT but not sell priority placement in their results.
This shift shows OpenAI's willingness to integrate advertising into its platform while keeping user experience at the forefront.
Personalization
Future integration of memory feature with shopping
OpenAI plans to integrate its memory feature with shopping for Pro and Plus users.
This means ChatGPT will use a user's previous chats to make highly personalized product recommendations.
However, these memory features won't be available to users in the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein due to regulatory restrictions.
Feature enhancement
ChatGPT search to display trending searches
Along with these updates, ChatGPT Search will now display trending searches when you start typing a question.
The feature resembles Google Search's autocomplete feature and is designed to improve user experience by predicting search intent.
Additionally, OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Search on WhatsApp, letting you message the company's chatbot for up-to-date answers.