AI tools to support Black Friday shopping are more available than ever ChatGPTWith google’s new shopping feature Gemini and Perplexity (below), discerning shoppers have plenty of options.
But what is better? I contacted each of them to ask them to find the best laptop that costs $800 or less and went on a journey to demonstrate their different approaches to the idea of helping me find the best product and the best deal. So everyone came to collect my laptop.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT’s store survey feature turns the chatbot into a curated store concierge of sorts. I first told chatgpt that I wanted a laptop under $800 and immediately answered a series of multiple choice questions to clarify my interest.
What screen size do I prefer? Is battery life more important than performance to me? Is portability important or am I more concerned about power or pure storage? Do I care about the touchscreen or the discrete GPU or mostly about basic productivity tasks?
After replying, ChatGPT spent a few minutes investigating. I quickly got a quick buying guide: a handful of laptops under $800 that fit my needs, along with pros, cons, trade-offs, spec comparisons, and estimated current prices.
It also had a utility room. What is notable is that all the links provided led to Best Buy. No Amazon deals or anything else. And since it’s collected from multiple sources, prices and availability aren’t always completely up-to-date, something ChatGPT themselves warns against.
Twins
Using Gemini for shopping is now easier because you have access to Google’s broader shopping ecosystem. While ChatGPT offers concierge-level advice, Google relies heavily on scale, depth and multi-retailer integration.
The backbone here is Google’s Shopping Graph, which reportedly contains more than 50 billion constantly updated product listings from various retailers.
The twins asked no more questions. Instead, it adopted reasonable standards and a variety of options. For each item there were links to multiple retailers and, in some cases, details of its price history.
Gemini Search was useful, but it’s worth noting that Google has a much more complex set of AI-powered shopping features. You can search in AI mode, see offers and price history, and even set up an AI agent to make a purchase on your behalf based on price.
Searches on Google’s standard platform also use artificial intelligence to make purchases. Depending on what you’re looking for, you may see the “Call Store” option, which tells Gemini to call local retailers and ask them about a product’s stock, promotions, or availability.
confusion
Perplexity’s procurement-specific AI tools are completely new, but build on Perplexity’s standard AI research expertise. Shopping search is set as a tab option. Once you enter what you’re looking for, you’ll be presented with an organized grid of product listings. When reviewed, the cards showed excellent ratings, prices, and positive and negative attributes, such as whether they were upgradeable.
I liked the feel of browsing: familiar, like browsing a well-designed online store, but with AI-enabled context. I also liked the “Buy Now” button, which offered integrated payment options through partnerships with supported sellers.
Perplexity’s direct purchase option has made it more of a combination of browsing and buying. However, one of the first options was higher than the price I wanted, which made the choice questionable.
All of the AI assistants had some advantages when it came to shopping, though I’d shy away from completely ignoring the most useful search methods. I like how ChatGPT helped me narrow down my search and how quick and easy the purchase options are through Perplexity. The same goes for the depth of Google search results for businesses.
Ultimately, you can still buy ChatGPT’s recommended laptop today, but I’d keep the Gemini and Perplexity tabs open.