Meta Explores AI-Powered Shopping Research Tool

Meta is reportedly testing a shopping research function in its AI chatbot.

That’s according to a report late Monday (March 3) from Bloomberg News, which says this tool would rival a similar offering from OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini chatbot.

According to the report, the feature, which lets shoppers request product suggestions, is being offered to some American users of Meta’s AI web browser. Bloomberg, which tested the bot itself, says the tool responds with a collection of product images with information about the brand, price and website.

The bot’s recommendations are, when applicable, tailored to the information Meta knows about the user’s location. While the chatbot doesn’t offer a checkout or payment option, users can click on the provided merchant links to continue browsing.

The report notes Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s goal of building “super intelligence” as the company competes with Google and OpenAI, both of which have woven eCommerce features into their chatbots.

On the company’s most recent earnings call, Zuckerberg said Meta would soon begin to release products to demonstrate its ability to offer a “uniquely personal experience” based on users’ history, interests and relationships.

The report added that a Meta spokesperson declined to say whether the company gets referral commissions for its chatbot’s recommendations and would not comment on whether Meta AI prioritizes brands that already advertise on its social media platforms.

However, Zuckerberg had said on the earnings call that while Meta’s ads now help businesses target the specific customers, the company’s “new agentic shopping tools will allow people to find just the right, very specific set of products from the businesses in our catalog.”

The effort comes as consumers continue to warm to AI, with PYMNTS Intelligence data showing that more than 60% of Americans used the technology for some purpose in the prior year.

“More than a third of Gen Z consumers and power users now start their daily tasks on dedicated AI platforms first, including content discovery. And not in addition to Google search, but as a replacement,” PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote recently.

“As of January 2026, not only have 41% of consumers used dedicated AI platforms for product discovery, but 33% say they have fully replaced their prior methods. They’re not layering AI on top of old habits. They’re shutting the door and leaving them behind.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS spoke last week with Mladen Vladic, head of product, payment networks at FIS, about the shopping partnerships Google and OpenAI had formed with Walmart and Target, respectively.

These arrangements, he said, highlight how quickly the agentic commerce model is being legitimized. When retailers like Walmart shift toward this model, their suppliers, partners and service providers need to do likewise, Vladic added.

“This is a transformational inflection point in the industry,” he told PYMNTS. “Not only in this country, but globally.”