The Future of Shopping is a Chat. Are You in It?
What if your next sale didn’t come from Google, Meta or TikTok… but from a conversation with ChatGPT?
That future just got a lot closer.
OpenAI has officially announced a new feature called Search Product Discovery, and it could completely change how people find and consider products online.
In short, ChatGPT is learning how to recommend products directly within conversations.
And yes, it all starts with your product feed.
Wait – ChatGPT Can Recommend Products Now?

Sort of. Here’s what’s happening.
OpenAI has launched a crawler called OAI-SearchBot, which scans merchant websites to gather product information. That data may soon inform how ChatGPT responds to shopping-related prompts.
Imagine asking, “Where can I buy a sustainable yoga mat?” and getting actual product recommendations, complete with links.
Right now, that content is pulled from structured data found on websites. But OpenAI has confirmed it will soon allow direct product feed submissions, giving brands more control over how their products appear in AI-generated results.
It’s not a ChatGPT shopping channel… yet. But it’s a new frontier for product discovery – one where intent is conversational, and your product data becomes the answer, not just a link.
Why This Matters for eCommerce Brands

This isn’t just another channel. It’s a shift in how consumers shop.
- Intent without the search bar: ChatGPT interprets what users want in a natural, conversational way.
- No ads, no CPCs (yet): Early visibility will likely come from organic product data, not paid placements.
- Ranking is out, relevance is in: Structured, enriched, and category-specific data will be key.
- Feeds = discoverability: Brands with optimized feeds will gain a powerful edge in the AI economy.
Consumer behavior is already shifting. Generative AI is shaping how people evaluate, compare, and even shortlist products. Product feeds will power those conversations, and those who prepare now can get ahead of the curve.
The AI Discovery Landscape Is Already Changing

This isn’t a future prediction. The disruption has already begun.
According to Search Engine Land, click-through rates for top-ranking links dropped by 30% when Google’s AI Overviews were shown.
Gemini is already integrated with Google Merchant Center, pulling live product data into AI-led ChatGPT shopping experiences.
And now ChatGPT is stepping into the ring, with a planned feed submission process that could hand early adopters a serious advantage.
Visibility is being reshaped in real time. The question is: will your products show up?
What Smart Brands Are Planning For

Smart brands and agencies are already preparing for what’s next. That means more than waiting; it means experimenting, testing assumptions, and rethinking how feeds work in a conversational world.
Here are six questions guiding the next wave of planning:
- What should a ChatGPT-friendly feed look like?
- Can A/B testing be used to understand what AI responds to?
- How should feeds be written for conversation, not just search?
- Is OAI-SearchBot being blocked by your site’s config or robots.txt?
- Which products are most likely to match conversational queries?
- If ChatGPT drives traffic, how will it be tracked?
This space is still early. But the brands that prepare now will be the first to shape how it works and be in that conversation.
Stay Ahead of the Curve

Forward-thinking brands are already preparing for AI-powered product discovery, exploring how tools like ChatGPT could reshape performance strategy.
If you’re reviewing your approach to feed optimisation, here’s how some brands are getting ahead.
Want to stay informed directly from OpenAI?
You can register your interest in product feed submissions here: https://openai.com/chatgpt/search-product-discovery
Final Thought
AI isn’t just changing how people search.
It’s changing how people discover.
And if your product data optimisation isn’t part of that conversation, it’s already falling behind.
The feed that once powered Shopping and DPA campaigns is now becoming the foundation of AI-driven commerce. Brands that invest in clean, enriched, structured product data today are positioning themselves to win in tomorrow’s zero-click, conversation-led discovery journeys.