Archive · 1 Dec 2025
Amazon Blocks ChatGPT's Shopping Research Feature
ChatGPT has a new tool to help people shop online by giving them product suggestions based on their budget and preferences.
But Amazon, a big online store, has stopped this tool from using its website.
This means the tool can't show Amazon's products, prices, or deals.
Amazon did this to keep its important shopping data safe and to stop other companies from using it.
Now, if you ask the ChatGPT tool about Amazon products, it might send you to other websites or tell you to check Amazon yourself.
This is a big deal because the tool was supposed to make shopping easier, especially during the busy holiday season.
Amazon has blocked ChatGPT's Shopping Research tool from accessing its marketplace.
The block prevents the tool from viewing live product data, including prices and customer reviews.
Amazon updated its 'robots.txt' file to deny OpenAI's web crawlers access.
The move is aimed at protecting Amazon's e-commerce data and preventing competing platforms from influencing consumer purchases.
Users will either be redirected to other websites or instructed to manually verify product availability and pricing on Amazon.
- Who
- Amazon and OpenAI
- What
- Amazon blocked ChatGPT's Shopping Research feature from accessing its marketplace
- When
- Days after the feature's launch, ahead of Black Friday and holiday shopping season
- Where
- Globally, affecting users of ChatGPT's Shopping Research tool
- Why
- To protect e-commerce data and prevent competing platforms from influencing consumer purchases
- Feature Blocked
- ChatGPT's Shopping Research tool
- Blocked By
- Amazon
- Reason for Block
- Prevent data scraping and protect e-commerce data
- Impact
- No Amazon-specific product recommendations or gift ideas
- Amazon's Action
- Updated 'robots.txt' file to deny OpenAI's web crawlers
- Amazon's Motivation
- Protect competitive pricing and proprietary customer insights
- Alternative for Users
- Redirect to other websites or manually check Amazon