How to enable ChatGPT checkout for Shopify (and what to do next)

Let’s be honest, the way we shop online hasn’t really changed much in years. You find a site, click around, add something to your cart, and go through a checkout process. It works, but it’s not exactly a conversation.

Well, that’s all about to get a serious shake-up. OpenAI, the team behind ChatGPT, has partnered with Shopify to let customers buy your products directly inside a chat. No more hopping over to a new website, no more clicking "add to cart," and no more navigating a multi-step checkout flow. A customer can just ask a question, get a recommendation for one of your products, and tap "Buy."

This whole new way of doing things is sometimes called "agentic commerce," which is really just a fancy way of saying the AI acts as a personal shopper, collapsing the entire buying journey into a single, easy conversation. For anyone running a Shopify store, this is a huge deal, it opens up a brand new sales channel with millions of potential customers.

But getting your products to show up in ChatGPT is only the first piece of the puzzle. This guide will walk you through how to get your store ready and, more importantly, how to prepare for the new customer support questions that will definitely pop up.

What to know before you enable ChatGPT checkout for Shopify

The feature is officially called "Instant Checkout," and it’s a smart system that OpenAI built with Stripe. It basically transforms ChatGPT from a helpful chatbot into a personal shopping assistant that can handle a transaction from start to finish.

Here’s what it looks like for a customer. Someone might ask, “What are some good running shoes for under $100?” or maybe “I need a birthday gift for a friend who loves pottery.” Instead of just getting a list of links, ChatGPT will show them actual products. If one of your items catches their eye, they can buy it right then and there.

A screenshot showing the ChatGPT interface recommending products to a user, which is what happens when you enable ChatGPT checkout Shopify.

For Shopify merchants, this opens up a direct line to ChatGPT’s enormous user base and creates a much smoother path for people to buy your products. One of the most interesting parts is how products get recommended. OpenAI has been clear that the results are organic; they’re ranked based on how relevant they are to what the user asked for, not based on who paid the most for ads.

This setup puts everyone on a more even footing, but it also means your product descriptions and data have to be absolutely top-notch.

A step-by-step guide to enabling ChatGPT checkout for Shopify

While Shopify has confirmed its merchants are a key part of this new integration, you can’t just flip a switch and watch the sales roll in. Getting a few things in order now will seriously improve your store’s chances of getting noticed and ensure you’re ready when the feature becomes more widely available.

Step 1: Get your product data structured and AI-ready

Before an AI can recommend your products, it has to understand what they are. This is where structured data comes into play. Think of it as a super clear, organized label on a box. The AI doesn’t have to guess what’s inside; it can just read the label.

This "label" is a standardized format (like JSON-LD) that helps AI models and search engines read key information on your pages, like price, availability, images, and product specs. Your product titles and descriptions also need to be really clear. Write them like you’re describing the product to a friend. What makes it great? What are the key features? This information needs to be easy for a machine to understand.

If you’re comfortable with code, you can add this data manually. But if not, don’t worry, there are plenty of Shopify apps that can automate the whole process and save you a ton of time.

Step 2: Allow OpenAI’s web crawler access

To find your products, OpenAI uses a web crawler named "OAI-SearchBot". Its job is to scan websites and index content so ChatGPT knows what’s out there. If this bot can’t get into your site, your products simply won’t show up in the results.

Think of it like a doorman for your website. You need to make sure "OAI-SearchBot" is on the guest list. By default, Shopify is pretty welcoming to most crawlers, but it’s always a good idea to double-check your "robots.txt" file. This file gives instructions to web bots. You can usually find yours by adding /robots.txt to your store’s URL (like "yourstore.com/robots.txt"). If you see a rule in there that blocks "oai-search," you’ll need to remove it to let the crawler in.

Step 3: Cultivate reviews and build brand trust

We all do this, right? When you’re stuck between two products online, you read the reviews. It turns out AI is learning to do the same thing.

According to OpenAI, its model looks at product ratings and customer reviews when deciding what to recommend. In a world without paid ads, your brand’s reputation and what other people are saying about you become incredibly important. Positive reviews and a good reputation act as signals to the AI that your products are high-quality and your brand is trustworthy, making it more likely to suggest them to a user. So, keep encouraging those authentic reviews.

Step 4: Sign up for product discovery

OpenAI is still in the process of rolling this out, so they haven’t opened the door to all product submissions just yet. To get on their radar early, you can fill out their product discovery form. This adds you to a notification list for when they start accepting direct product feed submissions. It’s a small step that could put you ahead of the game.

The new challenge after you enable ChatGPT checkout: Managing support

Making the sale feels great, but the customer’s journey is far from over. When someone buys a product in a conversation, it’s only natural for them to expect to ask follow-up questions in that same conversation.

Suddenly, you’ll have customers asking things like:

• "Where is the order I just placed?"

• "Can you help me track my shipment?"

• "What’s your return policy for this?"

• "I made a typo in the shipping address, can I change it?"

And here’s the snag: ChatGPT can’t answer them.

The Instant Checkout feature is built to handle the transaction, not the support that comes after. It doesn’t have access to your Shopify backend, so it can’t look up real-time order information, shipping details, or your specific return policies.

This creates a really clunky experience. Imagine you just had this amazing, smooth buying experience, and then you ask a simple question about your order, and the bot says, "Sorry, I can’t help with that." All that goodwill just evaporates. The customer is forced out of the chat and back to old-school support channels like email or phone, which kind of ruins the whole point of a smooth, conversational experience.

How to complete the loop after you enable ChatGPT checkout

So, how do you fix this broken loop? The answer isn’t to shy away from this new sales channel but to complete it. You need an AI support agent that can pick up right where the sale left off. This means it needs to connect with both your knowledge sources and your e-commerce platform. A tool like eesel AI is built specifically to close this gap.

Connect directly to your Shopify store

With its Shopify integration, eesel AI gives your support agent secure, real-time access to order data. Using custom "AI Actions," the bot can do things like look up an order status, check if an item is in stock, or even start a return process, all without leaving the chat. This creates the truly seamless, end-to-end experience that customers are starting to expect.

Unify all your knowledge sources

Good customer support is about more than just order numbers. Your AI needs to know your return policies, product details, shipping times, and FAQs. eesel AI plugs into all the places you already store this information, whether it’s in a help center, Google Docs, Confluence, or even past support tickets from help desks like Zendesk or Gorgias. This lets it give accurate, helpful answers that always sound like they’re coming from your brand.

Go live in minutes, not months

Jumping into a new era of e-commerce can feel complicated, but setting up your support shouldn’t be. eesel AI is built to be incredibly easy to set up yourself. You can connect your Shopify store and knowledge bases with simple one-click integrations and launch a smart AI chatbot in just a few minutes. There are no lengthy sales calls to sit through or developers to hire. You can be up and running before your first sale from ChatGPT even comes through.

Costs to consider when you enable ChatGPT checkout

When you’re running a business, unexpected costs are the worst. OpenAI has said that merchants will pay a small fee on purchases made through Instant Checkout, though the exact rates are still under wraps. This means a new, variable cost to factor into your budget.

When it comes to your support costs, however, you need predictability. That’s why you need a solution with a clear, transparent pricing model. eesel AI’s plans are based on a flat monthly rate for a certain number of AI conversations. Unlike a lot of other platforms, there are no hidden fees or extra charges per ticket resolved, so you’re never penalized for being efficient. Your costs stay predictable, even when you’re having a busy month.

Plan	Monthly (bill monthly)	Effective /mo Annual	Key Unlocks
Team	$299	$239	Train on website/docs; Copilot for help desk; Slack; reports.
Business	$799	$639	Everything in Team + train on past tickets; AI Actions (API calls); bulk simulation.
Custom	Contact Sales	Custom	Advanced actions; multi-agent orchestration; custom integrations.

Why you should enable ChatGPT checkout for Shopify and embrace the future

The launch of ChatGPT Checkout on Shopify is more than just a cool new feature; it’s a peek into the future of e-commerce. It’s a genuine opportunity for brands to meet customers right where they are, in the apps they use every day.

But getting your products listed and ready for purchase is just the first step. The brands that truly succeed in this new landscape won’t just be the ones making the sale. They’ll be the ones providing a seamless, end-to-end experience that includes fantastic post-purchase support. That’s how you build loyalty and turn a one-time buyer into a long-term fan.

This video explains the new reality of in-app purchasing with the ChatGPT and Shopify integration.

Next steps to enable ChatGPT checkout for Shopify

Ready to build a complete conversational commerce strategy? A great checkout experience deserves equally great support. With eesel AI, you can build a powerful AI support agent that connects to Shopify and all your knowledge in minutes.

Start a free trial or book a demo today.