— A practical guide. Why Structured Data, Conversational Copy and Fresh Feeds Matter for Every E-Commerce Team
Back in late 2024, OpenAI quietly launched Shopping Cards inside ChatGPT. Since then, the feature has expanded massively – and if you sell products online, it’s a new channel you can’t afford to ignore.
In this guide, I’ll explain what’s changed, how you can get your products included, and the practical steps to take right now.
If you search for products in ChatGPT – think queries like “best running shoes under £100” or “eco-friendly kitchen gadgets” – you’ll often see a scrollable carousel of products. Each card shows:
The big difference: these results are organic, not paid ads. That makes them a high-value way to get in front of buyers without paying per click.
Sources: OpenAI docs openai.com, Community thread community.openai.com, ConnectCX recap connectcx.ai.
The good news: you don’t need to be a big retailer or an ad partner. What you do need is a site that’s easy for ChatGPT to crawl and understand. Here’s what matters most in 2025:
Structured data is the main signal ChatGPT relies on.
At minimum, include:
name, description, imagebrand, sku, gtinoffers (price, currency, availability)For best results, also add:
aggregateRatingreviewThese extras give ChatGPT richer information to display in cards.
Example:
1{
2 "@context": "https://schema.org/",
3 "@type": "Product",
4 "name": "Factory Widget",
5 "image": "https://example.com/widget.jpg",
6 "offers": {
7 "@type": "Offer",
8 "priceCurrency": "GBP",
9 "price": "29.99",
10 "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock"
11 }
12}
13
Paste this in a <script type="application/ld+json"> tag on each product page, within the <head> tag.
OpenAI’s crawler (OAI-SearchBot) is what indexes your content.
✅ Check it’s not blocked in robots.txt
✅ Make sure your product pages are linked from your sitemap
✅ Use clean, accessible URLs
If ChatGPT can’t see your products, they won’t appear in the carousel.
This part has become even more important. ChatGPT now shows live availability, and nothing hurts trust more than seeing “In Stock” in ChatGPT when you’ve sold out.
👉 Automate updates where possible (Shopify Flow, Zapier, custom scripts)
👉 Keep your sitemap’s lastmod field accurate
👉 Test regularly using rich results tools
Remember: people don’t ask ChatGPT like they type into Google. They phrase queries as natural questions.
So instead of optimising only for “Bluetooth headphones”, also cover:
Think like a shopper, not a search engine.
Until recently, the only way into Shopping Cards was through crawling and schema. Now OpenAI is testing direct feed submission for merchants.
This isn’t fully rolled out yet, but it’s worth keeping an eye on. Submitting a feed could give you more reliable control over how your products show up.
Add utm_source=chatgpt.com to links and check your analytics for referral traffic.
Search for your products in ChatGPT yourself – do they appear? How do they look?
Small tweaks (better images, clearer titles, more complete schema) can make the difference between being buried or featured prominently.
OpenAI is already experimenting with in-chat checkout (starting with Shopify). At some point, users will be able to buy directly inside ChatGPT, with OpenAI taking a small commission.
Merchants who’ve already nailed their schema and feeds will be in the best position when this rolls out wider.
ChatGPT Shopping Cards aren’t a niche experiment anymore – they’re now visible to all users, free and paid, even logged-out.
That means the opportunity is bigger than ever. If you:
…you’ll be well placed to get your products in front of buyers at exactly the moment they’re looking.
The earlier you start, the bigger the advantage.
