OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT’s shopping capabilities, adding product recommendations to help users discover products and brands. The chatbot’s results for shopping queries will now automatically include things like prices, images and ratings, much like searches using Amazon or Google Shopping. The company says that products it features in shopping search results “are chosen independently and are not ads.” With the company under pressure to turn a profit, a challenge for many AI startups, that could of course change. The company is reportedly already working with partners to ensure pricing is up to date.

Implemented this week, the free ChatGPT shopping option allows users to “quickly compare products and click a link within ChatGPT to make a purchase on an external website,” reports Bloomberg. “To start, the feature only works for a handful of categories, including electronics, fashion, beauty and home goods, with plans to expand to more over time.”

TechCrunch points out that “users can ask super-specific questions in natural language and receive customized results,” noting the goal is to provide a “more personalized experience to find products and information.”

The Verge describes its experience using ChatGPT to search for “best espresso machines under $200 that are great for making lattes and nice for small counter space,” which resulted in ChatGPT populating “three top picks with product cards and spelled out details about its picks in text under those cards.”

Clicking on a product card resulted in a “Google Shopping-like sidebar” with “more details on places you can buy the product and information pulled from user reviews across sites like Amazon, Best Buy and Reddit.” The product cards can also include a hot button to “Ask about this.”

The Verge also explored “how ChatGPT would handle a product that’s not actually out yet and is in high demand for preorders.” Using Nintendo Switch 2 as an example, “the results weren’t as good” as they were for the espresso machine (pointing out that it was using “an in-development version of the tool” during a pre-release demo).

OpenAI added the ability to search in WhatsApp by sending a WhatsApp message to ChatGPT “to get real-time answers,” reports Tom’s Guide.

ChatGPT search is growing rapidly, says OpenAI, which told TechCrunch that “users made more than a billion web searches in ChatGPT last week.” OpenAI has posted instructions for companies that would like to help ChatGPT’s search bots discover their products.