You can now use ChatGPT as your personal shopper, helping you sift through the numerous options, recommendations, and product reviews found online. OpenAI has rolled out a new shopping feature allowing users to compare products and purchase items through merchant websites after being redirected from the ChatGPT interface, according to Bloomberg and Ars Technica.

The new tool — available to both subscribed and unsubscribed users — currently covers a handful of categories, including electronics, fashion, beauty, and home goods, with plans to expand in the future. Users researching items like espresso machines or office chairs can get recommendations based on stated preferences, stored memories, and product reviews scraped from around the web, including user forums like Reddit.

How it works: When clicking on a product image, users will see multiple retailer options like Amazon and Walmart displayed on the right-hand side of the screen, with buttons to complete the purchase. Unlike Google Shopping, which often features sponsored placements, OpenAI says its results are not ads, and the company isn’t receiving affiliate revenue.

The bigger picture: The launch is part of OpenAI’s broader push to position ChatGPT as an “everything app,” whether that’s being a search engine, voice assistant, or video generator to its roughly 500 mn active users. The new feature jeopardizes the revenue streams of traditional product review platforms like CNET and The New York Times’ Wirecutter, which rely heavily on affiliate links for monetization.

We tried the new feature firsthand, and it worked for the most part. When comparing coffee machines under EGP 15k, the chatbot provided a rundown of options available on Amazon Egypt, Noon, Jumia, and Dubizzle, though it wasn’t able to pick up machines listed on more specialized local retailers like Fengany or Cafelax.

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