Meta has begun testing a new shopping feature within its Meta AI assistant, adding a button called “purchase research” to its web version.
The tool, Available for now only in the United Statesallows users to receive personalized product recommendations and access detailed information without leaving the assistant environment.
The novelty marks another step in Meta’s strategy to integrate commercial services within its artificial intelligence tools. By activating the function, the user can search for a specific product—for example, a piece of clothing or an electronic device—and the system displays a carousel of images with descriptions, prices, and links to websites where the items can be purchased.
As reported by Bloomberg, the experience incorporates user data, such as location and gender, in order to personalize recommendations. In this way, the results may vary depending on the profile and context of each person. However, the purchase is not made directly within the assistant: the tool redirects to the corresponding merchant to complete the transaction.
The incorporation of purchasing functions in conversational assistants has become a growing trend among large technology companies. OpenAI already integrated similar capabilities into ChatGPTwhich allows you not only to receive recommendations, but also to make payments on certain compatible products, in addition to asking additional questions to adjust the suggestions according to the user’s preferences.
For its part, Google moved in the same direction with the so-called AI Mode of its search engine. This modality offers lists of products related to the query, including images, technical specifications, prices and comparisons between different options. Likewise, its Gemini system is also part of the commercial integration strategy based on artificial intelligence.
Another company that joined this trend is Perplexity AI, which incorporated a shopping experience within its conversational search engine, expanding the possibilities of interaction between user and e-commerce.
Google has pointed out that the so-called “agent commerce” —in which digital assistants act as active intermediaries in the selection and acquisition of products— could be consolidated by 2026.
To promote this scenario, the company presented a commercial protocol aimed at facilitating purchases directly from AI Mode and from Gemini, integrating recommendations, price comparison and eventual payment processing.
Meta’s initiative is part of a broader race to position artificial intelligence assistants as gateways to electronic commerce. The ability to receive personalized suggestions, based on conversational queries, transforms the traditional search experience and could change the way users discover and purchase products.
For now, Meta AI’s “purchase research” feature is in testing and limited geographically. The company has not specified a date for its expansion to other markets nor has it confirmed whether it will enable direct payments within the assistant in future updates.
With this move, Meta expands the reach of its assistant beyond generating text or responding to informational queries, incorporating a commercial component that seeks to integrate content, recommendations and purchase links in a single environment. The evolution of these tools will set the pace of competition between large technology platforms in the field of artificial intelligence applied to digital consumption.
