Perplexity Unveils AI Shopping Assistant to Simplify Online Shopping

 

Perplexity has introduced a new AI shopping assistant for its platform, making the feature available at no cost to users in the United States. The tool blends the company’s AI assistant with product discovery and a built-in checkout system powered by PayPal. Perplexity has not yet shared when this feature will launch in India. The update arrives shortly after OpenAI and Google rolled out similar AI shopping assistant tools.

Perplexity Shopping Assistant: What You Can Expect

Perplexity’s AI shopping assistant lets people browse and compare products through a simple conversation instead of scrolling through long lists or extensive product grids. The assistant carries forward your preferences as you refine your queries, such as climate, size or style. It also presents product cards with key specifications and user reviews to help with quick comparisons.

Checkout happens inside the same flow through PayPal. Perplexity says retailers stay the merchant of record, meaning sellers continue managing customer details, returns, loyalty programs and post-purchase interactions. The company believes this approach helps reduce abandoned carts by shortening the time between decision and payment.

How Perplexity Handles Context

The AI shopping assistant remembers earlier queries and user patterns so it can prioritise results that match a shopper’s interests. It maintains context across the conversation, making follow-up questions smoother. For example, if you ask “show me boots” after looking at jackets, it uses the same criteria to guide the results.

How It Compares With OpenAI and Google

OpenAI’s Shopping Research also uses an AI shopping assistant model that guides users through conversation to narrow down product choices. It asks clarifying questions, gathers updated information from multiple sources and produces a comparison-style buying guide. The tool runs on a version of GPT-5 mini and is available for Free, Go, Plus and Pro ChatGPT users on both mobile and web.

Google follows a similar path with AI-driven product discovery and integrated buying flows but adds more real-world automation. With AI Mode and Gemini, users get comparison results, stock checks through Duplex calls to nearby stores and an “agentic checkout” that can complete a purchase when a tracked price drops to a target level. The feature is rolling out for select US merchants such as Wayfair, Chewy, Quince and some Shopify sellers.

Perplexity’s AI shopping assistant highlights an embedded checkout powered by PayPal while keeping retailers in charge of customer relationships. It does not include automated price-triggered checkout like Google’s system.

Availability

Perplexity’s AI shopping assistant is now available on desktop and the web for users in the US. The company says the iOS and Android versions will launch in the coming weeks.