How to get your products into AI shopping answers

What are the key facts about AI shopping assistants?

How do AI shopping assistants decide which products to show?

They match the shopper's question to product data they hold, then favor sellers with clear, current, trustworthy listings. You can't pay to be in the organic results.

OpenAI is the most specific. ChatGPT looks at "structured metadata from first-party and third-party providers," such as price and description, plus what the shopper asked for. It says product results "are selected independently by ChatGPT and are not ads." And it ranks merchants "based on factors like availability, price, quality, and whether they are the maker or primary seller of that item." OpenAI

Google builds shopping answers from its Shopping Graph, which it calls a catalog "of over 60 billion product listings." Google When you describe what you want, AI Mode runs "several simultaneous searches" to narrow down products. Google

Microsoft says Copilot uses "both information found on the web and from a merchant's feed in the Microsoft Merchant Center." Microsoft Advertising

How do I get my products into ChatGPT shopping?

If you sell on Shopify or Etsy, you're already in. OpenAI says: "your catalog is already integrated, and no additional setup or application is required." OpenAI For Shopify stores, that runs through Shopify Catalog. OpenAI

Everyone else can apply to send a direct product feed at chatgpt.com/merchants. As of today the page says applicants are on a waitlist, shopping is live for US users, and a self-serve merchant platform is planned "later this year." OpenAI

OpenAI's feed spec lists nine required fields: an ID, title, description, URL, brand, seller name, image, availability and price. A row with a missing or unknown stock value is rejected. It also says to "update the feed when a sale starts or ends." OpenAI

How do I get my products into Google AI Mode and Gemini?

Put your catalog in Google Merchant Center and turn on free listings. Google says eligible products can "appear at no cost on Google Search, Google Maps, Gemini, YouTube, the Shopping tab, Google Images, and Google Lens." To qualify, you need a return policy on your site, shipping settings, the required product details, and accurate, current data. Google Merchant Center Help

Google's own guide to AI search says Merchant Center feeds "can help your products and services to be visible in both AI responses and other Google Search results." Google Search Central

What about buying inside Google?

Google has a checkout button for AI Mode and Gemini, built on the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard that lets AI agents and stores "work together across the commerce ecosystem." It is early access only: "available for select merchants at this time," for products eligible in the US, Canada and Australia. You join with an interest form and a Google Pay account. Google Merchant Center Help

In May 2026 Google also announced Universal Cart, a cart that works across stores in Search and the Gemini app, rolling out in the US. Google A small store doesn't need UCP to be found. Free listings come first.

How do I get my products into Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot?

Both have merchant programs, and both lean on product feeds.

Perplexity. Its merchant program "is free for merchants." Perplexity says joining gives you "increased chances of being a 'recommended product'" because your products will be in its index with fuller details. Perplexity In November 2025 Perplexity added free shopping for US users, with PayPal checkout across more than 5,000 merchants. The merchant stays the merchant of record and handles returns. CNBC Details are at perplexity.ai/merchants.

Microsoft Copilot. Set up a Microsoft Merchant Center account and feed. Microsoft says "a product feed is required to power product discovery and checkout." Its in-chat Copilot Checkout is open to English-language merchants selling to US buyers in US dollars. Shopify stores are "automatically enrolled (with controls in Shopify admin)," and PayPal and Stripe merchants apply through those companies. You remain the merchant of record. Microsoft Advertising

Does product schema markup still matter for AI shopping?

Yes, but as a backup to your feed, not a magic switch. Google says "structured data isn't required for generative AI search," but it still helps you qualify for rich results. Google Search Central

For product pages, Google's merchant listing markup needs a Product with a name, image and offers, and an Offer with a price and priceCurrency. Recommended extras include availability, brand, gtin, shippingDetails, hasMerchantReturnPolicy, ratings and reviews. Only pages where a shopper can buy the product qualify. Google Search Central

The biggest benefit is consistency. Merchant Center can read the markup to fix out-of-date prices and stock, which Google says lowers "the risk of account suspension and item disapproval due to price and availability mismatches." Google Merchant Center Help

Keep price and stock the same everywhere

Google compares your feed to your website. When they disagree, it treats the products as "critical errors that can lead to account suspension." Its fix: push feed updates right after you change prices on the site, and set sale dates correctly. Google Merchant Center Help OpenAI asks for the same thing: send current stock with every row and update the feed when a sale starts or ends. OpenAI

Do product reviews help in AI shopping?

Yes. They feed the summaries AI shows next to products. OpenAI says ChatGPT "may also display product review summaries" written by the model from "reviews from public websites," and that "reviews and ratings are not verified by OpenAI." OpenAI So what customers write about you on other sites can show up in ChatGPT's description of your product.

On Google, star ratings for products come from a product reviews data source in Merchant Center. You need at least 50 product reviews to apply to the Product Ratings program, and the feed must be updated at least monthly. Google Merchant Center Help

Collect reviews honestly. Ask every buyer, not just happy ones, and never write or buy them. Our guide on whether reviews affect AI recommendations covers the rules.

How do I get my products recommended by AI shopping assistants?

This is our advice, built on each company's own docs above. None of them publishes a full ranking recipe.

1. Start with the feeds you already have. If you're on Shopify or Etsy, check that your catalog is clean there, since ChatGPT reads it directly. If not, apply for OpenAI's direct feed program.
2. Turn on Google free listings. Set up Merchant Center, add shipping and a return policy, and fix every item flagged under "Needs attention."
3. Add Microsoft Merchant Center and Perplexity. Both programs are open to small stores, and Perplexity's costs nothing.
4. Write product titles and descriptions for questions. Say what the product is, who it's for, its size, material and what makes it different, in plain words. AI matches these to what shoppers ask.
5. Mark up every product page. Use Product and Offer structured data with price, currency, stock, brand, GTIN, shipping and returns.
6. Keep feed and page in sync. Update the feed the moment a price, sale or stock level changes on the site.
7. Grow honest reviews. Ask every buyer, reply to complaints, and send a product reviews feed to Google once you reach 50.

What should be on my AI shopping checklist?

How do I check whether AI recommends my products?

Ask ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Copilot the questions your shoppers ask, like "best waterproof dog bed under $80," and see whose products come back and which pages each answer cites.

Our Prompt Simulator runs one question across 12 engines at once and shows the sources each one used. For the markup side, see schema markup for AI search.

Sources

1. Shopping with ChatGPT Search — OpenAI. Read Oct 2, 2026.
2. Power product discovery in ChatGPT — OpenAI. Read Oct 2, 2026.
3. Product Feed Spec — OpenAI. Read Oct 2, 2026.
4. OpenAI revamps shopping experience in ChatGPT after struggling with Instant Checkout offering — CNBC. Read Oct 2, 2026.
5. Google Shopping introduces Universal Cart and agentic shopping — Google. Read Oct 2, 2026.
6. Shopping on Google: AI Mode and virtual try-on updates from I/O 2025 — Google. Read Oct 2, 2026.
7. Free listings for products — Google Merchant Center Help. Read Oct 2, 2026.
8. About the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) and UCP-powered checkout feature on Google — Google Merchant Center Help. Read Oct 2, 2026.
9. Google's Guide to Optimizing for Generative AI Features on Google Search — Google Search Central. Read Oct 2, 2026.
10. How To Add Merchant Listing Structured Data — Google Search Central. Read Oct 2, 2026.
11. About structured data markup for Merchant Center — Google Merchant Center Help. Read Oct 2, 2026.
12. How to fix: Automatic updates: Mismatched price — Google Merchant Center Help. Read Oct 2, 2026.
13. Upload a product reviews data source to Merchant Center — Google Merchant Center Help. Read Oct 2, 2026.
14. Shop like a Pro: Perplexity's new AI-powered shopping assistant — Perplexity. Read Oct 2, 2026.
15. Perplexity Merchant Program — Perplexity. Read Oct 2, 2026.
16. Perplexity announces free product to streamline online shopping — CNBC. Read Oct 2, 2026.
17. Agentic Commerce — Microsoft Advertising. Read Oct 2, 2026.