AI assistants now actively recommend products. ChatGPT and Perplexity both have shopping features that surface products to users asking “what should I buy?”
If you sell online, you’re probably wondering: how do I get my products to show up? What does it cost? How do I track if it’s working?
Here’s what we know—and what’s still unclear.
How Products Appear in AI Shopping
Unlike Google Shopping, where you upload a feed, set bids, and control placements, AI shopping works differently.
ChatGPT pulls product information from across the web. When someone asks for product recommendations, it searches trusted sources, aggregates data (prices, specs, reviews), and presents options. It’s more like organic search than paid advertising.
Perplexity works similarly for discovery, but adds checkout functionality. Users can buy directly in the app through a PayPal partnership, without visiting your site.
Neither platform has a self-serve merchant portal where you sign up and upload products. The process is less direct—and less controllable—than traditional e-commerce advertising.
ChatGPT Shopping: What Merchants Can Control
ChatGPT’s shopping feature uses a model optimised for product queries. It scans the web for product data and synthesises recommendations.
What helps your products appear:
- Strong organic presence. If your products rank well in traditional search and appear on review sites, AI tools are more likely to find them.
- Structured product data. Clean schema markup helps AI understand your products—titles, descriptions, prices, availability, reviews.
- Accurate, detailed product pages. AI pulls from your site content. Vague descriptions produce vague (or absent) recommendations.
- Presence on aggregator sites. If your products appear on comparison sites, review platforms, or marketplaces, ChatGPT has more sources to draw from.
What you can’t control:
- There’s no way to pay for priority placement
- No merchant dashboard to manage listings
- No direct feed submission (yet)
- No visibility into how often your products are recommended
Shopify integration:
ChatGPT has a partnership with Shopify, but details on how this affects product visibility for merchants are limited. The integration appears to improve data quality for Shopify stores, but it’s not a guaranteed path to recommendations.
Perplexity Shopping: The Merchant Setup
Perplexity’s shopping experience is more transactional. Users can discover products and, for participating merchants, complete purchases without leaving the app.
How the checkout works:
- Perplexity partnered with PayPal for payment processing
- Merchants remain the “merchant of record” (you handle fulfilment and returns)
- You keep the customer relationship and data
- The transaction appears in your normal order flow
How to participate:
Perplexity’s checkout feature works through merchant partnerships. To be included:
- Contact Perplexity about their merchant program
- Expect partnership discussions (this isn’t self-serve)
- Technical integration for order processing
For general product discovery (without checkout), Perplexity surfaces products through web search similar to ChatGPT. Your products can appear in recommendations even without a direct partnership—you just won’t have in-app checkout.
Product Feed Requirements
Neither platform uses traditional product feeds the way Google Shopping does. However, making your product data AI-readable improves your chances:
Schema markup essentials:
Product schema including:
- Name
- Description
- Price and currency
- Availability
- Brand
- SKU/Product ID
- Images
- Reviews and ratings
Google Merchant Center as baseline:
If your products are in Google Merchant Center with an approved feed, you’ve already done the work. This structured data makes your products more discoverable by AI systems even if there’s no direct integration.
What makes products more likely to appear:
- Competitive pricing (AI often shows comparisons)
- Positive reviews from multiple sources
- Clear, accurate availability information
- High-quality images
- Comprehensive product descriptions
Costs and Fees
ChatGPT:
- Currently no placement fees
- No cost-per-click or commission model
- Essentially free exposure—if your products appear
Perplexity (with checkout):
- Partnership terms vary
- PayPal processing fees apply
- No public rate card for merchant participation
Hidden costs:
- Time spent optimising product data
- Potential need for technical help with schema markup
- Monitoring and analysis (limited as it is)
Compared to Google Shopping, where you might spend thousands monthly on ads, AI shopping currently has minimal direct costs. The trade-off is minimal control.
How to Track AI Shopping Traffic
Tracking is the biggest challenge. AI tools don’t behave like traditional referral sources.
ChatGPT referral traffic:
ChatGPT referrals show in GA4 under referral traffic. Look for:
chat.openai.comas referrer- Landing pages receiving this traffic
- Behaviour compared to other sources
Set up a custom segment to isolate and analyse this traffic.
Perplexity in-app purchases:
If customers buy through Perplexity’s checkout, orders appear in your system but with limited journey data. You see the sale but not how they found you.
The research gap (what you can’t track):
Someone might ask ChatGPT “what’s the best running shoe for flat feet?” and receive your product recommendation. They then Google your brand name and buy directly.
In your analytics, this appears as branded search or direct traffic. The AI influence is invisible.
This attribution gap is real and currently unsolvable. AI shapes purchase decisions without always getting credit.
Proxy metrics to watch:
- Branded search volume trends
- Direct traffic patterns
- Referral traffic from AI sources
- Overall conversion rate changes
Should You Prioritise This Now?
Let’s be realistic about scale.
Current state:
- AI platforms represent roughly 0.2% of e-commerce sessions
- Google organic search is ~200x larger
- Growth is fast (7x year-over-year) but from a small base
What to do now:
- Ensure your product data is solid. Schema markup, accurate descriptions, competitive pricing. This helps AI tools and traditional SEO.
- Monitor your referral traffic. Create a GA4 segment for AI sources. Track the trend even if numbers are small.
- Don’t restructure your strategy. This isn’t a replacement for Google Shopping, Meta Ads, or SEO. It’s an emerging channel to watch.
- Consider Perplexity partnership. If you’re a larger merchant, exploring their program makes sense. For smaller stores, wait for self-serve options.
What not to do:
- Pay for “AI optimisation” services with vague promises
- Neglect proven channels to chase AI traffic
- Assume AI will replace traditional e-commerce marketing soon
The Honest Summary
AI shopping is real and growing. Your products might already appear in ChatGPT recommendations without you knowing—or doing anything specific.
The opportunity is genuine: high-intent users who’ve done their research and are ready to buy. The limitation is control: you can’t bid your way into AI recommendations the way you can with Google.
For now, focus on fundamentals—good product data, strong organic presence, accurate information. These help AI tools find and recommend you, and they help your business regardless of whether AI shopping takes off.
Check back in six months. Merchant tools and self-serve options are likely coming. Until then, be ready but don’t overinvest.
ChatGPT and Perplexity shopping features are available as of December 2025. Merchant participation options continue to evolve.
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