How AI Search Handles Product Recommendations Differently Than Google
PB
Patrick Bushe
July 6, 2024 · 5 min read
Classic Google search answers "best running shoes" with a page of links and ads, and you do the comparing. AI search tools increasingly do the comparing for you: they read reviews and product pages, then recommend a short list. That changes which products get seen.
How classic search shows products
- Shopping ads at the top, paid for by sellers.
- Organic results: review sites, retailers and brand pages ranked by relevance and authority.
- Free product listings from Google Merchant Center feeds.
You click several pages and decide.
How AI search recommends products
- ChatGPT: since April 2025 it can show product cards with images, prices and links to sellers. OpenAI said these results aren't ads. In September 2025 it added Instant Checkout for buying some items inside the chat, starting with Etsy sellers and with Shopify merchants announced.
- Google AI Mode: answers shopping questions with product suggestions drawn from Google's Shopping Graph, its database of product listings, prices and reviews.
- Perplexity: offers shopping answers with product cards and, in some regions, buying options.
What's different
- Fewer options shown: a handful of products instead of pages of results.
- Reasons given: "best for wide feet" or "good value," based on reviews and descriptions the model read.
- Follow-up questions: you can narrow by budget or use, and the list changes.
- Less clear ranking: it's often unclear why one product made the list and another didn't.
What influences AI recommendations
The companies haven't published full details, but recommendations generally draw on:
- Structured product data: names, prices, availability and reviews, from merchant feeds and page markup.
- Mentions in reviews, comparison articles and forums.
- Clear product pages that describe who a product is for.
What sellers can do
- Keep product feeds complete and accurate in Google Merchant Center.
- Add product structured data to pages, including price, availability and ratings.
- Write descriptions that answer real questions: sizes, materials, who it suits, how it compares.
- Collect genuine reviews.
- Check whether your products appear when you ask AI tools the questions your customers ask.
What shoppers should keep in mind
AI recommendations can miss newer or smaller brands, and can get prices or details wrong. Check the seller's page before you buy. See how AI answers go wrong.
Getting found in AI answers
See optimizing for AI search, or get help with AI search optimization for your store.
