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ChatGPT’s new Shopping Research feature helps you compare products and get personalised buying guides

ChatGPT users can now use the new Shopping research feature to save time and get in-depth reviews, comparisons and a personalised buyer's guide.

ChatGPT's new Shopping research feature is available for Free, Go, Plus and Pro subscribers. (Image Source: OpenAI)

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has launched a new feature called ‘Shopping Research’ that helps users find the products they’re looking for by doing the research for them. The new ChatGPT experience lets users simply describe what they’re looking for, saving time by automatically browsing through websites and building a shopping guide.

In a blog post, OpenAI said the feature “asks smart clarifying questions, researches deeply across the internet, reviews quality sources,” and even refers to the user’s past conversations and memory to generate a personalised guide. While users can already ask ChatGPT shopping questions like the price of an item or about a particular feature, Shopping research is helpful when they want in-depth comparisons and want to know about an item’s constraints and tradeoffs.

OpenAI said Shopping research will also be available in ChatGPT Pulse, a feature currently limited to Pro members and will proactively suggest a personalised buyer’s guide based on their past conversations. Available for ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus and Pro users on mobile and web, OpenAI says it is making “nearly unlimited usage” available to all eligible users on mobile and the web.

You can quickly access it by pressing the ‘+’ button below the text bar. (Express Photo)

How to use ChatGPT Shopping Research?

When users ask ChatGPT shopping questions, the AI chatbot will suggest shopping research automatically. In case it doesn’t, users also have the option to use it by clicking on the ‘+’ button below the text bar and choosing the ‘Shopping research’ option.

When you enter your query, ChatGPT will present a visual interface where you will be able to share feedback on product options. The user can also guide the research by telling the AI chatbot if they are interested in a suggested product by marking it as “Not interested” or “More like this”.

Like ChatGPT’s Deep Research feature, Shopping research takes anywhere between a minute to a few before it comes up with a buyer’s guide. OpenAI says that if a user has enabled the memory feature, the research will be personalised further.

After a couple of minutes, ChatGPT will give a personalised buying guide with top products, key differences, and the latest information from retailers. The AI chatbot also shows links which you can click to buy the item. OpenAI says it will soon let users buy directly via ChatGPT for merchants in areas where the Instant Checkout feature is available.

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In case you are wondering, ChatGPT’s new Shopping research feature is powered by GPT-5 mini, which OpenAI says has been “trained with reinforcement learning specifically for shopping tasks.” Also, the results shown as organic and sourced from publicly available retail sites.