ShopGPT vs SEO: What E-Commerce Brands Need to Know Now
The way customers find products online is changing fast. Traditional SEO is no longer the only route to visibility. With AI tools like ChatGPT now offering product recommendations, we’re entering a new era of digital discovery.
This shift is known as ShopGPT, and it affects not only e-commerce brands but also service-based businesses and digital creators.
What is ShopGPT?
ShopGPT refers to the rise of AI-powered shopping assistance, where users rely on ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) to research, discover, and purchase products.
Instead of searching with fragmented keywords, people now ask full, conversational questions like:
– “What are the best luxury outdoor sofas for 2025?”
– “Where can I buy handmade ceramic bowls online?”
– “Which everyday jewellery brands are affordable and stylish?”
ChatGPT responds by pulling from trusted, up-to-date web content. If your brand isn’t showing up in helpful, well-structured sources, you’re missing out.
How LLM Search Differs from Traditional SEO
While traditional SEO relies on keyword optimisation, LLMs prioritise:
1. Natural language queries – answering full questions, not just targeting keywords.
2. Trusted sources – AI prefers content that shows authority and expertise.
3. Third-party validation – being mentioned in blogs and listicles often carries more weight than your own website.
This means your brand needs to think beyond meta titles and backlinks.
You need to speak your customer’s language and earn your way into the conversations AI is having on their behalf.
My Take: Why This Matters Now
On 29 April 2025, OpenAI officially announced that ChatGPT will now help users shop for products. This is huge. Not just for e-commerce brands, but for all businesses. It’s the first step in ChatGPT becoming a sidekick that offers product and service recommendations based on individual needs.
You may have seen the coffee machine screenshot circulating online. It’s an example of ChatGPT recommending specific models and retailers. That’s just the beginning. While AI shopping still has friction – like needing to prompt correctly – it’s evolving quickly.
Does this mean you can ignore it for now? Absolutely not. Here’s what I’ll be advising my clients:
– Write blog posts that answer FAQs in your customer’s own language. If you don’t know what those are, ask ChatGPT.
– Take PR seriously. AI scrapes third-party sites to find product recommendations. Get your brand featured in listicles and gift guides.
– Use ChatGPT as your customer. Ask it for recommendations related to your product. See who’s getting mentioned and why.
– Optimise your product pages with natural, informative copy. Describe use cases and answer common questions, not just specs.
The tsunami of change is already in motion. Brands that build visibility into their growth strategy now will have a powerful edge.
How to Optimise for ShopGPT and AI Search
1. Create Helpful Blog Content
Start writing in your customer’s voice. Address their questions directly and write as if you’re having a conversation. Posts like ‘Best Ways to Style Everyday Jewellery in 2025’ or ‘How to Set Up a Luxury Outdoor Living Area’ are far more likely to show up in AI search responses than a basic product description.
2. Optimise Product Pages for AI
Move beyond keyword stuffing. Focus on clarity, benefits, and customer-focused copy. Add schema markup like ‘Product’, ‘Review’, and ‘FAQ’ to help AI and search engines understand the structure and purpose of your content.
3. Get Featured on Trusted Third-Party Sites
PR, affiliate features, and listicle-style articles will become even more valuable. These are the sources AI scrapes and trusts. If your product isn’t mentioned anywhere but your own website, it’s much harder for ChatGPT to find you.
4. Use ChatGPT as a Research Tool
Ask it for product or service recommendations and see what comes up. This reveals competitors, tone of voice examples, and common answers. It’s a goldmine for reverse-engineering what’s working right now in your space.
5. Take PR and Outreach Seriously
AI shopping models look for external validation. That means your next PR pitch, media placement or affiliate feature could help you show up in conversations people are having with ChatGPT.
Final Thoughts
This new phase of AI-assisted discovery is only just beginning, but the impact will be massive. Your future customers are already talking to AI. If your brand is not part of that conversation yet, now is the time to make sure it is.
By updating your growth strategy to include natural content, authority building and structured information, you’re not just adapting to ShopGPT – you’re preparing to lead in it.