OpenAI has updated ChatGPT's search function to display product suggestions when users make shopping-related queries. According to an official blog post by the company, this feature will provide item recommendations with specifications and purchase links in response to queries that implies shopping intent, for example, "best birthday gifts for teens" or "durable luggage for travel", etc.

As per the OpenAI blog, the system generates recommendations independently by analysing product information from across the web, including pricing, descriptions, and customer reviews. OpenAI states these results are not advertisements, and the company receives no compensation for purchases made through the platform. 

For websites to appear in these search results, they must permit access to OpenAI's web crawler, OAI-SearchBot, through their site permissions, explains the blog. The crawler operates similarly to those used by conventional search engines, and website owners can track traffic originating from ChatGPT through standard analytics tools. 

The feature is powered by GPT-4o, OpenAI's current AI model, and covers multiple product categories including electronics, home goods, and apparel.

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This update comes as ChatGPT's search functionality reports processing over one billion web searches in the past week, showing growing user interest in ChatGPT's search capabilities since their introduction last year, according to a recent report by Reuters.

Technical documentation from the company confirms the web crawler is used exclusively for search functionality and not for training OpenAI's AI models. The feature has been made available to both logged-in and guest users across free and paid subscription tiers.

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