SHOPPING RESEARCH IN GPT CHAT—OR IS ADVERTISING IN GOOGLE SHOPPING STILL NECESSARY?

What our article is about:

• Shopping Research in ChatGPT
• The classic pain before the holidays—how to choose a gift?
• Shopping Research to the rescue—and how it works under the hood
• Why Google Shopping may take a back seat
• Conclusion—and who will be “on top” in 2026?

Shopping Research in ChatGPT

In November 2025, OpenAI introduced a new feature called “Shopping Research» у ChatGPT” to the world, which can turn our entire shopping experience upside down. It creates personalized buyer’s guides by researching products on the Internet. The tool is currently available on mobile devices and on the web for registered users of the Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans.

The classic pre-holiday pain—how to choose a gift?

Let’s recall a familiar situation. A holiday is coming up—February 14, a birthday, or you just want to do something nice for a loved one. And here comes one of the biggest headaches—what should you give to your wife, husband, girlfriend, or boyfriend? Something that is not boring, matches their interests, and actually makes the person happy.

After spending several hours and scrolling through Google search results, you still haven’t found anything that fits your description of the future gift.

The top positions are often taken not by the best options, but by those that paid the most money and won the largest share of ad impressions. You scroll, filter, click on links, and half of them are either not right, or the price has already changed, or the reviews are fake. As a result, you spend hours and end up buying something emotionally, just because you’re tired of searching.

Shopping Research to the rescue—and how it works under the hood

Many of us are already used to using AI every day, but just imagine—you simply open a chat and type something like: “Help me find a birthday gift for my wife—she loves sports, music, spending time outdoors, the budget is up to $130, and I want something original, not basic flowers or perfume.”

There is no paid advertising here that jumps in your face or biases the results. The AI simply listens to you, takes your budget and interests into account, and, if needed, asks for clarification—and only then delivers an honest guide. It digs through the internet, compares real reviews from quality sources, shows the pros and cons, current prices, and even links to stores—like Etsy, Amazon, or local websites.

This is no longer just “go buy this”, because the final result is a full-fledged analysis based on your preferences.

You have full control over the search process. Just interact with the recommended products by marking them as “Not interested” or “Show similar”. Thanks to this, AI instantly adapts to your preferences and makes the next recommendations even more accurate in real time.

Instead of scrolling through Google Shopping pages one by one, ChatGPT instantly generates a personalized list of ideas. It feels like your personal sales consultant—one who is tired of listening to “weird” questions from others, but still politely keeps helping.

For now, purchases can be made on the seller’s website, but OpenAI is not standing still and is already preparing an integration with Instant Checkout, which will allow users to buy products directly in the chat.

Why might Google Shopping move to the background?

At first glance, everything seems simple. In Google Shopping, you are left one-on-one with ads that crawl in from everywhere and, with the right settings, will follow you anywhere. At the top of the results are not the best products, but those that paid the most or optimized their product feed better. You click, scroll, compare, and in the end you get tired, and the purchase happens on emotions. In ChatGPT Shopping Research, AI works specifically for you, without any sponsored bias. It listens to your details, digs through additional sources, and delivers recommendations that are more relevant to your request and without unnecessary spam.

For brands, this is a real challenge. Now, to get into recommendations, you need to have a truly great product with top reviews, not just pour money into advertising. Google, of course, will not disappear—scale and speed are on its side—but for complex purchases, when you want something original and personal, ChatGPT can already win.

Conclusions and who will be “on top” in 2026?

Honestly, in my opinion, ChatGPT with Shopping Research is like a breath of fresh air in the world of online shopping, where everything is “flooded” with ads. It is a bold move by the developers that already offers an alternative without spam and with recommendations tailored specifically to you.

For now, Shopping Research is just the beginning of a long journey. Sometimes prices are slightly outdated, or a product is not currently in stock, so you have to follow the link and check manually. Not all stores are in the AI’s database yet, but when you see how it works, you realize that the potential here is simply enormous. Without a doubt, Google currently holds the market in an iron grip and has an advantage in scale, but ChatGPT’s focus on trust and simplicity makes it a very serious competitor.

It will be interesting to see how Google responds, especially when AI learns to buy with one click through Instant Checkout. And for us, PPC specialists, we will definitely have to adapt, because it is obvious that the game is changing.

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