By launching its integrated Instant Checkout payment tool in the United States, ChatGPT (OpenAI) now allows users to purchase products directly within its platform. The move marks a significant milestone in how generative AI can reshape online shopping and challenge traditional search-engine-driven commerce models.

A user can describe to ChatGPT the product they want, include a budget, and receive a curated selection of items, all without leaving the platform. The system is built on the open-source Agentic Commerce Protocol, developed in collaboration with Stripe, enabling merchants to integrate it quickly. Merchants pay a “small commission” on each purchase, while the service is free for customers.

“For sellers, it’s a new way of reaching hundreds of millions of people while retaining full control of their payments, systems and customer relationships,” OpenAI explained, adding: “We are building out this protocol, with documentation available from today, to enable interested merchants and developers to begin creating integrations.”

While Etsy is the first platform involved, OpenAI said more than a million merchants on Shopify — as well as brands such as Glossier, Skims, Spanx and Vuori — will soon join the offering. On the technical side, ChatGPT is introducing a “multi-basket” feature to enable the simultaneous purchase of multiple products from different sellers.

OpenAI stated that product recommendations are based solely on relevance to a user’s query and are therefore “organic and unsponsored.” However, industry observers note that sponsored results could appear in the future.

Beyond the immediate retail implications, ChatGPT’s entry into e-commerce highlights a shift that challenges the dominance of traditional search engines. Google’s advertising-funded keyword model has long influenced both paid and organic search engine optimization (SEO) strategies across various industries.

Search engines and e-tailers on high alert

International studies over the past year have tracked a growing shift of users from search engines to conversational AI. According to the agency Innovating with AI, Google’s market share dropped below 90% for the first time since 2015. An AI Search Archetypes survey conducted in the spring reported that 43% of users now rely on AI daily for their searches.

Major technology players are responding in kind: Alphabet’s Google has rolled out Gemini; Microsoft is advancing Bing AI; Apple is evolving Siri into “Apple Intelligence”; and Samsung is investing in Galaxy AI. Retailers have also been integrating AI into their platforms to meet the rising expectations of consumers.

In fashion, Amazon, the largest clothing retailer in the United States, introduced Rufus a year ago, an AI tool that enables shoppers to find products by describing them in natural language. Europe’s leading online fashion retailer, Zalando, has launched its own AI-powered search assistant.

ChatGPT, which reports more than 700 million weekly active users, may become a new type of marketplace by combining conversational search with seamless checkout.