OpenAI × Shopify: What the New Partnership Means for Merchants

AI has already slipped into our daily routines, helping out with tasks like job applications, recipes, and social posts (to name a few). Now, it’s entering the checkout aisle, reimagining how people discover and buy products online. In April 2025, OpenAI quietly teamed up with Shopify, bringing real-time product discovery into ChatGPT. 

Whether it’s sneakers, skincare, or smart home gadgets, shoppers can now find your products directly in the chat. For merchants, this marks the start of a brand-new traffic source, and potentially a whole new sales channel.

The catch? Your storefront has to be firmly on the digital high street, not lost in the back alleys. Your structured data becomes your window display, ensuring ChatGPT can showcase your products to the right audience.

Data Is Already Flowing Into ChatGPT

When you ask ChatGPT about “the best running shoes under $100,” you might notice something interesting: product cards pop up, not just from Amazon or random websites, but from Shopify stores, too.

Alongside Bing, Shopify is now an official data partner for ChatGPT’s shopping feature. Translation? Your store’s catalog is already on OpenAI’s radar—and those product cards you see are organic recommendations rather than paid placements.

Here’s how it works right now:

• OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI’s web crawler) can index your product pages if you’re not blocking it.
• Shopify’s structured product data (JSON-LD, schema markup, etc.) makes it easier for ChatGPT to grab your titles, prices, images, and reviews.
• Any clicks from ChatGPT show up in your analytics with utm_source=chatgpt.com.

Magic? Nope. Just metadata. Specifically, structured data like schema markup gives ChatGPT the clean signals it needs (titles, prices, images, and reviews) to display your products accurately. In short, if your site is crawlable and well-structured, ChatGPT can promote your products through natural conversation.

Merchant Feeds: The Next Level

Crawlers are fine, but they’re essentially the dial-up internet of product discovery. The real breakthrough is coming soon: merchant feeds.

OpenAI has already announced plans to let store owners submit their product catalogs directly to ChatGPT—think of it like Google Merchant Center, but for AI.

With feeds, you’ll be able to:

• Push live updates on pricing and inventory.
• Ensure product descriptions and availability are accurate.
• Stop worrying about whether the crawler “caught” your latest sale.

Shopify may even roll out a one-click tool to auto-submit your catalog, meaning Shopify merchants should keep a sharp eye on OpenAI’s announcements. The moment that product feed tool drops, it’ll be an open door between your store and ChatGPT, so you’ll want to be first in line.

The Big Finish: Checkout Inside ChatGPT

Here’s where things get a little sci-fi (i.e., the Overton window is about to be blown wide open): OpenAI and Shopify are reportedly working on native checkout inside ChatGPT. Combine that with ChatGPT’s ability to remember user preferences (think favorite brands, colors, etc.), and you start to see how personalized, one-stop shopping could look.

That means a shopper could ask, “Find me eco-friendly laundry detergent sheets,” see your product card, and make a purchase, all without leaving the chat. This also means:

• No tab-hopping.
• No abandoned carts because someone got distracted by TikTok reels.
• Personalized, conversational shopping, end-to-end.

While there’s no monetization in place yet, OpenAI will likely take a small commission down the road. For merchants, though, the broader story is more conversions, less friction—a win-win.

What Store Owners Should Do Right Now

This is all moving at breakneck speed, but here’s what you can act on today:

1. Check your robots.txt and ensure you’re not blocking OAI-SearchBot.
2. Polish your structured data. Make sure your product titles, images, and reviews are clean and accurate.
3. Track traffic. Look for utm_source=chatgpt.com in your analytics.
4. Interested in integrating products into ChatGPT but not on Shopify? Submit a merchant application to be considered for onboarding.

Note: Shopify and Etsy merchants do not need to apply. Your catalogs will be included automatically once integrations go live.

And then? Keep your eye on the checkout rollout—because the moment people can purchase directly inside ChatGPT, e-commerce will no doubt see a gigantic industry shakeup.

Shopify and OpenAI Are Reshaping The Future of E-Commerce

Since time immemorial, SEO has been about ranking on Google. Now, we’re squinting at the dawn of the AI SEO epoch, where your products need to be discoverable by chatbots, not just search engines.

Shopify’s partnership with OpenAI puts its merchants in a prime position. Data is already flowing. Merchant feeds are next. And in-chat checkout could be about to revamp ChatGPT into a conversational storefront.So go ahead—let ChatGPT sell your socks, mugs, or $300 sneakers. Just make sure the AI can actually find them first.