Online shopping is changing (again!). This time, not because of a new app, marketplace, or social trend, but because of how people search. If you've been watching closely, you'll know that OpenAI recently added a ChatGPT shopping assistant, and while it's still early days, it's already raising big questions for marketers.
This isn't just another chatbot integration. It's a sign that search behavior is shifting from keywords and ads toward conversational, AI-driven product discovery.
Let's unpack what this means for marketers and brands trying to stay relevant in a constantly evolving digital landscape.
The new ChatGPT shopping assistant allows users to search for products using natural language. Instead of typing “best budget noise-cancelling headphones”, a user might simply ask, “What are the best noise-cancelling headphones under $150?” and get a carousel of product results, with images, prices, descriptions, reviews, and links to buy.
The feature is already available to all users, even without an account, and covers categories like fashion, electronics, home goods, and beauty. It doesn't offer direct checkout (at least not yet), but it's designed to reduce friction in the shopping journey by putting recommendations directly into the chat.
There are no paid placements at this stage. Products are selected based on intent, product data, and user preferences (for Plus and Pro users with memory enabled).
ChatGPT shopping isn't the first AI tool to help users shop. But its integration into an existing conversational AI that already has over a billion weekly queries makes it worth examining.
Here's how it compares:
FeatureChatGPT Shopping AssistantGoogle ShoppingPerplexity AIVisual Search❌ (Displays product images only)✅ (Google Lens)✅ ("Snap to Shop")Checkout Integration❌ (Redirects to retailers)⚠️ (Mostly redirects)✅ (One-click for Pro users)Personalization✅ (With memory for Plus/Pro users)✅ (Activity-based feeds)⚠️ (Prompt-based only)Ads in Results❌ (Currently ad-free)✅ (Ad-driven placements)❌ (Unbiased listings)Conversational Interface✅ (Full conversation context)❌ (Traditional keyword input)⚠️ (Partial conversational tone)
From a practical marketing standpoint, the emergence of ChatGPT's shopping assistant pushes us to rethink a few things:
You've probably optimized your PDPs and structured data for Google. That still matters, but AI tools like ChatGPT don't crawl pages in the same way. They extract meaning, synthesize reviews, and summarize benefits.
This is where LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization) comes in. It's about:
LLMs don't care if your brand is well-known, they're designed to suggest what's relevant, well-reviewed, and clearly described. If you're relying solely on brand authority, you might lose visibility to more optimized competitors.
ChatGPT shopping doesn't offer native checkout (yet), but it does act as a top-of-funnel filter. Users may now start their research here instead of Google or Amazon. If you're not showing up in these early conversations, you're already out of the race.
Quite possibly.
If consumers find what they need directly inside ChatGPT, especially with unbiased recommendations, affiliate publishers might lose traffic. Similarly, blogs that rely on high-ranking Google SEO content might see less engagement if users bypass search engines entirely.
This doesn't mean content marketing is dead. It just means content needs to be:
Esta es una breve lista de acciones que tienen sentido ahora, incluso si no estás preparado para revisar tu estrategia de comercio electrónico.
Si estás llevando a cabo campañas multiplataforma, herramientas como Capa de datos puede ayudar a automatizar el proceso de elaboración de informes, lo que te permite supervisar el rendimiento en Google Shopping, Meta Ads y otras fuentes clave, para que puedas centrarte en optimizar lo que realmente mueve la balanza.
El lanzamiento del Asistente de compras ChatGPT no se trata de reemplazar a Google o dominar el comercio electrónico de la noche a la mañana. Pero sí sugiere hacia dónde se dirige el comportamiento de los usuarios: hacia experiencias de compra más intuitivas, personalizadas y menos impulsadas por la publicidad.
Como especialistas en marketing, debemos prestar atención. Ya lo hemos visto antes: cuando los dispositivos móviles cambiaron la experiencia de usuario, cuando el marketing de influencers modificó la confianza y las decisiones de compra, y cuando TikTok cambió el descubrimiento de productos. Este es otro cambio, y quienes se adapten pronto estarán mejor posicionados para atender a los clientes allí donde realmente están comprando, no solo donde solían hacerlo.