ChatGPT’s New Shopping Features: What We Know and How Brands Can Prepare

So, what exactly is changing?

OpenAI’s updates mean that ChatGPT will:

• Surface improved, metadata-rich product results
• Include images, prices, and reviews from third-party sources
• Offer direct shopping links (with no paid placements…for now)
• Begin experimenting with shopping in categories like fashion, beauty, home goods, and electronics
• Display trending searches as users type – think Google Autocomplete

What does this mean for brands?

For beauty, fashion, wellness, and FMCG brands, this is a huge opportunity to get seen in one of the most rapidly adopted consumer tools on the planet. ChatGPT isn’t just answering questions anymore – it’s guiding intent, shaping discovery, and closing the loop between curiosity and conversion like never before.

If your product metadata isn’t up to scratch, you risk being left out of these results altogether. This is organic product placement, powered by AI. And it’s independent – for now.

As our Managing Partner, Holly Brunskill, said to Vogue Business: For brands, this means “a higher demand for strategic clarity and positioning services to support multi-layered visibility; think consistent language, distinctive tones and culturally resonant moments. On top of this, as ever, brands would be wise to seek allies and relationships with industry figureheads and editorial critics who enduringly offer trend legitimacy and original storytelling opportunities to support their narratives.”

How to prepare

No more procrastinating – it’s time to pick up your digital mop and make sure your product data is squeaky clean, structured, and SEO-ready.

There’s also no option to sit back and pray it goes away. Brands and marketers would be smart to start building strategies around AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimisation) and proactively monitor AI search trends and test how they’re appearing not just in Google, but ChatGPT and other AI-powered platforms.

Your strategy should include:

• Ensuring your product feeds are accurate, rich, and up to date
• Using structured data for reviews, pricing, and availability
• Staying on top of trending search topics your consumers care about
• Optimising product pages with structured descriptions, competitive pricing, high-res images, and authentic reviews

“Digital PR and search visibility are now more interconnected than ever,” says Holly Brunskill, Managing Partner at b. the agency. “As platforms like ChatGPT begin to shape brand discovery, smart digital PR isn’t just about backlinks – it’s about creating meaningful, search-optimised narratives that AI tools can find, rank, and recommend.”

Don’t forget your influencers

Another crucial piece to the puzzle we’re yet to discuss: influencer marketing. For example, TikTok has started rolling out support for ALT text on photo posts – meaning creators can now add descriptive text to help users with screen readers (bonus: it helps with SEO).

“ALT text is a powerful and often overlooked SEO tool,” says Mischa Joslin, Managing Director of Summer. “We strongly recommend including it in your creator briefs – ask your creators to write keyword-rich ALT descriptions that also mention your brand. It’s a simple step that can significantly boost your content’s discoverability.”

Plus, with OpenAI’s memory feature now rolling out for Pro and Plus users, ChatGPT will be able to tailor product suggestions based on past conversations. That means influencer campaigns with long-tail value could now influence ongoing AI recommendations.

What’s next?

Let’s be real – paid media is likely coming. While OpenAI has said product results are currently “chosen independently and are not ads,” they’ve also hinted they’re open to “tasteful” advertising and affiliate commissions in the near future.

We’re predicting that brands will soon be able to bid for premium visibility in ChatGPT shopping results, ushering in a new media channel that sits somewhere between Google Search and TikTok Shop. Expect a future where your paid media strategy includes AI-native ad formats, conversational commerce, and highly targeted product placements powered by intent, not just demographics.

As it usually is with these things, the early adopters will be the ones to reap the biggest rewards. And right now, there’s no ad spend needed to show up. But we can’t see that lasting forever…

Changes in AI are fast and often daunting, but for brands, this is a moment to lean in, not tune out. In this new era of discovery, it’s not just about being where your audience is – it’s about being what they ask for. And ChatGPT is listening.