OpenAI Adds Visual Shopping to ChatGPT With Product Images and Prices, Drops Own Checkout

OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT into a product discovery platform, rolling out visual shopping features this week across all user tiers—free, Go, Plus, and Pro. Users can now browse products as image tiles, upload photos to find similar items, and compare options side-by-side with prices and ratings.

What's Changing

Previously, uploading a photo of a shirt and asking for similar products returned generic text recommendations with brand names and style tips. Now ChatGPT displays specific products with actual images, prices, and comparison tables showing fabric, fit, and price ranges.

The feature is initially available on web browsers, with iOS and Android apps coming later.

The Technical Stack: Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)

OpenAI is powering this through the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), which allows retailers to feed product catalogs directly into ChatGPT. The company supports multiple integration channels, including third-party providers like Salesforce and Stripe. Shopify merchants are automatically connected via the Shopify Catalog.

Retailers already integrated include Target, Sephora, Nordstrom, Lowe's, Best Buy, The Home Depot, and Wayfair. Walmart is launching a dedicated in-ChatGPT app that includes account linking, loyalty programs, and its own payment processing.

The Checkout Pivot: Why OpenAI Abandoned Payments

OpenAI previously attempted to build its own instant checkout system but confirmed it lacked the flexibility retailers needed. In some cases, the company had to connect merchants manually. Rather than becoming a payment processor, OpenAI is positioning itself as an upstream discovery layer that routes users to retailer checkout pages.

This represents a significant shift. OpenAI gains less control over the e-commerce transaction and potentially less revenue. However, it reduces complexity and allows retailers to use their existing payment infrastructure and loyalty programs.

Open Questions

OpenAI has not disclosed: the criteria for product recommendations, whether integrated retailers receive systematic preference over non-connected competitors, or revenue-sharing terms with merchants.

OpenAI has previously stated that ChatGPT's answers should not be driven by commercial interests. This shopping expansion creates potential conflicts between discovery neutrality and partnership incentives.

ACP will eventually support personalization, local availability, and delivery time estimates.

What This Means

OpenAI is treating ChatGPT as infrastructure for commerce discovery, not as a payment processor. This reduces OpenAI's revenue potential but accelerates retailer adoption by preserving their existing checkout and customer relationship systems. The real question is whether ChatGPT's recommendations will remain neutral or whether the ACP ecosystem creates preferential treatment for integrated partners. Given the stakes, transparency on recommendation algorithms will likely become a regulatory focus.