ChatGPT’s New Shopping and Instant Checkout Feature

The latest instalment in 2025’s thrilling drama: “What the F* is Happening to the Internet” is here: ChatGPT’s new shopping and instant checkout feature. It’s been a year of hysterical headlines in the digital marketing world with everything – SEO, websites, search, common-sense – being declared ‘dead’ at regular intervals, but this is a biggie.

Here’s what we know so far, and how to make sure your ecommerce business is ready (if you’re one of my clients, you can read this and feel excited rather than terrified – I already have you covered).

In late September 2025, OpenAI announced ‘Instant Checkout’ inside ChatGPT. With this feature, shoppers can discover, compare, and purchase products directly within a conversational chat – no more clicking out to another website to complete a purchase (because, really, clicking is so exhausting). The launch began with US-based Etsy sellers – all of whom were automatically eligible (no extra integration needed) – with Shopify merchants queued up for onboarding in the remainder of 2025.

Currently, both users and merchants must be US-based to see and use this new feature, but international rollouts (including the UK) are expected from the beginning of 2026. The feature is available to all ChatGPT users (Free, Plus, Pro), provided their account is in good standing and – currently – they are accessing from a US IP address.

When someone asks ChatGPT for a shopping recommendation – ‘waterproof jacket for my cockapoo’; ‘Christmas presents for teenagers under £100’ – the AI surfaces relevant items with prices, images, key details, and reviews. If a product has Instant Checkout enabled, a ‘Buy’ button appears beside the result. The user taps ‘Buy’, confirms payment and shipping details through ChatGPT’s secure interface (supporting card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.), and completes the purchase, without ever leaving ChatGPT.

All orders, payments, and logistics remain under the merchant’s control. ChatGPT simply mediates the transaction, passing all necessary details using the new open standard (ACP) designed for this purpose. The merchant remains the merchant of record for fulfilment, returns, and customer service.

There’s been more ‘buzz’ in my industry this year than a beehive with a bear in it. And, frankly, as 2025 starts packing its bags, we’re all a little tired of picking out what matters from what doesn’t; our inboxes bulging with alarmist articles (mostly written by AI). But this new feature feels like a direct challenge to the might of Google and Amazon, and – potentially – the death of internet search as we know it (there, I said it). ☠️

As with AI generally, Instant Checkout is both a threat and an opportunity. It’s a threat to ecommerce businesses who’ve been completely reliant on Google Ads or Amazon for sales and neglected the finer details (schema and product markup, content, detailed product descriptions, consistent reviews).

For businesses who’ve worked hard and holistically on their ecommerce sites and building their brand, but become frustrated with diminishing returns on mainstream PPC or Amazon, Instant Checkout offers an opportunity for increased visibility and sales at a fraction of the cost of PPC (merchants pay a ‘small fee’ – undisclosed at the time of writing).

The risk for every business is that OpenAI/ChatGPT holds all the cards. It can make you, or destroy you. It can get hacked and disappear for 24 hours. It can choose to show your competitor over you, just because they’re £0.01 cheaper.

So, while you should absolutely get ready for Instant Checkout (like, now), do not put all your eggs in one basket. Diversifying your marketing strategy to strengthen email, social media and offline (yes, really) communications has never been more important.

While the rollout is US-first, now is the window for UK (and international) shops to prepare for 2026. Here’s what to do now:

1. Check Platform Compatibility

• Etsy sellers: No further action – as with the US rollout, you’ll be automatically eligible. Sit back and relax (while cursing Etsy’s increased seller fees).
• Shopify merchants: Shopify is a bit flimsy on the details at the moment, but integration options will be possible via the app store. Ask your developer what the plan is (you can also sign up for updates here).
• Bespoke sites. Ask your developer what their roll-out plan is for OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol. If they don’t have an answer for you – or respond with ‘what?’ – find another developer.
• Other ecommerce platforms: As OpenAI releases more merchant integrations (WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix, Squarespace), platform hosts will provide instructions for activating ChatGPT compatibility. If you don’t manage your site yourself, now is the time to contact your developer and make sure they’re on the case. In most instances, there will be a Plugin, Add-On or App that makes this a relatively straightforward task and shouldn’t cost you an extortionate amount.

• Etsy sellers: No further action – as with the US rollout, you’ll be automatically eligible. Sit back and relax (while cursing Etsy’s increased seller fees).
• Shopify merchants: Shopify is a bit flimsy on the details at the moment, but integration options will be possible via the app store. Ask your developer what the plan is (you can also sign up for updates here).
• Bespoke sites. Ask your developer what their roll-out plan is for OpenAI’s Agentic Commerce Protocol. If they don’t have an answer for you – or respond with ‘what?’ – find another developer.
• Other ecommerce platforms: As OpenAI releases more merchant integrations (WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix, Squarespace), platform hosts will provide instructions for activating ChatGPT compatibility. If you don’t manage your site yourself, now is the time to contact your developer and make sure they’re on the case. In most instances, there will be a Plugin, Add-On or App that makes this a relatively straightforward task and shouldn’t cost you an extortionate amount.

I’m sure you’ve already optimised your product data because you know how vital it is for search visibility, Google Shopping performance and free listings, right? Thought so. Here’s a list for the other, bad people, who haven’t been doing it as diligently as you.

1. 1. Implement detailed structured data (Schema.org, Product markup) on your website and in your product feeds. This enables ChatGPT to accurately interpret and match your products to shopper queries.
   2. Regularly update feeds with the latest product information, pricing, inventory, and images.
   3. Ensure product descriptions are clear, keyword-rich, and customer-centric, as ChatGPT ranks results by relevance, not sponsorship.

ChatGPT’s ranking heavily weights seller and product ratings. Encourage reviews on both your site and trusted external platforms. Aggregate reviews in your data feeds so they’re visible to AI systems.

Get editorial mentions, coverage on industry review sites, and build links from trusted domains. ChatGPT factors these signals (where available) into its sense of trustworthiness, making them crucial for ranking well.

Does this all look a bit… familiar? Yep – best practice for ChatGPT shopping visibility is basically SEO. So, if you’ve been working consistently on your organic visibility, you have a huge head start.

I’ve written previously on not being the dog chasing the AI car. While online marketing experts are getting themselves in a lather about AI Answer Inclusion Rate, Attribution Frequency and Featured Snippet Retention, the only metric that matters – for ecommerce sites – is sales. Here’s how to see if ChatGPT is driving them for you:

1. Open GA4 and navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Monetization > Ecommerce Purchases
2. Click the blue + sign to add a new dimension to the table and choose session source/medium
3. Type chatgpt into the search box

ChatGPT shopping links now include referral tags (e.g. utm_source=chatgpt.com), and GA4 will pick up this parameter automatically.

As adoption grows and international access expands, UK businesses who optimise for ChatGPT Shopping now will be well-positioned to capture the next wave of ecommerce growth. If it all turns out to be a giant, expensive and ultimately doomed AI bubble (as investor and writer Paul Kedrosky predicts in this excellent interview then, well, you’ll be perfectly optimised for organic search. Win win.