# How ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google shop: what they read from your store

What each AI assistant’s maker says it reads from a store, which bots it sends, what robots.txt does to them, and how your products reach each one.

By Valerii Checha, 4 Nov 2026

How do ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google find products to recommend? Two ways: from feeds that stores send them, and from their own bots reading store pages. ChatGPT takes product feeds from approved partners and searches the web through OAI-SearchBot. Perplexity's pages describe its own crawler and no merchant feed. Google takes Merchant Center feeds and, in our reading, what Googlebot crawls for Search. Which of those reach your store depends on your platform, your feeds and your robots.txt.

This article goes through what each assistant's maker says it reads, which bots it sends, what robots.txt does to them, and how your products get in. Storewalk is ours: we build the scan, and its [robots.txt check](https://storewalk.ai/checks/DISC-001) is ours. The vendors are quoted from their own pages, read on 4 November 2026; where a page says nothing, we say so. For what agentic commerce is and how each assistant checks out, read [what is agentic commerce](https://storewalk.ai/blog/what-is-agentic-commerce), and for the five walls between an agent and a sale, [the hub article](https://storewalk.ai/blog/why-agents-cant-buy).

## Do AI assistants read your website or a feed?

Both, and it differs by assistant. A feed is a file of your products, with prices and stock, that you send to the assistant's maker; OpenAI and Google both take one, and Microsoft uses its Merchant Center feeds. A crawler is a bot that visits your pages and reads them itself, the way a search engine does. Either way, this is the one corner of retail where you hope someone copies your price list. On top of that sits a third kind of visit: a fetch that happens because a person asked the assistant a question just now, which the vendors treat differently from a crawl. In our reading, a store that wants to be recommended needs to be readable to all three.

Here is what each maker says, in its own words:

What each assistant reads from a store, in its maker’s words.

ChatGPT. Where it finds products: A product feed: feeds “give ChatGPT the catalog data it needs to index your products”, and “Onboarding product feeds in ChatGPT is currently available to approved partners.” Search answers come from the web, through OAI-SearchBot. The bots that visit: OAI-SearchBot “is used to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT’s search features”. ChatGPT-User visits a page when “users ask ChatGPT or a CustomGPT a question”. GPTBot “is used to make our generative AI foundation models more useful and safe.” What robots.txt does: “Sites that are opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.” For ChatGPT-User, “Because these actions are initiated by a user, robots.txt rules may not apply.” For you (our reading): Allow OAI-SearchBot. Apply for product feeds if you qualify. Blocking GPTBot keeps you out of training and, by OpenAI’s account, not out of search.

Sources: [OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots), [OpenAI: Commerce, get started](https://developers.openai.com/commerce/guides/get-started) and [OpenAI: Product feed specification](https://developers.openai.com/commerce/specs/file-upload/products).

Perplexity. Where it finds products: Its search index, built by PerplexityBot. Instant Buy is “currently available to all users in the United States”, with merchants “who are compatible with our agentic checkout experience”. The bots that visit: PerplexityBot “is designed to surface and link websites in search results on Perplexity. It is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models.” Perplexity-User visits a page when a user asks a question, to “include a link to the page in its response”. What robots.txt does: “To ensure your site appears in search results, we recommend allowing PerplexityBot in your site’s robots.txt file”. For Perplexity-User: “Since a user requested the fetch, this fetcher generally ignores robots.txt rules.” For you (our reading): Allow PerplexityBot. Perplexity says neither of its bots trains AI models, so blocking one costs you search, not training.

Sources: [Perplexity: Perplexity crawlers](https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/resources/perplexity-crawlers) and [Perplexity: What is Instant Buy?](https://www.perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/10352906-what-is-instant-buy).

Google AI Mode and Gemini. Where it finds products: Merchant Center, which Google calls “a free tool that helps millions of shoppers on Google discover, explore, and buy your products”, and, in our reading, what Googlebot crawls for Search. A Buy button needs the native_commerce(checkout_eligibility) product attribute, in a checkout Google says is in an early access program, “available for select merchants”, for products eligible in the United States, Canada and Australia. The bots that visit: Googlebot crawls for Search: preferences addressed to it “affect Google Search (including Discover and all Google Search features)”. Google-Agent is a user-triggered fetcher. Google-Extended is a robots.txt token with no crawler of its own. What robots.txt does: “Google-Extended does not impact a site’s inclusion in Google Search nor is it used as a ranking signal in Google Search.” User-triggered fetchers “generally ignore robots.txt rules”. For you (our reading): Keep your Merchant Center feed and your Product markup in step. Blocking Googlebot affects Google Search; Google-Extended only governs Gemini training and grounding.

Sources: [Google Merchant Center Help: About Merchant Center](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/188924?hl=en), [Google Merchant Center Help: UCP checkout](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16837055?hl=en), [Google: Common crawlers](https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-common-crawlers) and [Google: User-triggered fetchers](https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-user-triggered-fetchers).

Microsoft Copilot. Where it finds products: Microsoft Merchant Center feeds: “Although MMC is not required to sell through Copilot Checkout, product feeds from MMC help inform organic Copilot results.” Shopify merchants are “automatically enrolled” in Copilot Checkout. The bots that visit: Not stated on the page we read. We found no Copilot crawler in Microsoft’s own pages that we could read. What robots.txt does: Not stated on the page we read. For you (our reading): Submit a Microsoft Merchant Center feed. On Shopify, check Copilot Checkout in your admin.

Source: [Microsoft Advertising: Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents](https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/post/january-2026/conversations-that-convert-copilot-checkout-and-brand-agents).

Amazon (Alexa and Buy for Me). Where it finds products: Amzn-SearchBot for search: “your content is eligible to appear in search experiences such as Alexa.” Buy for Me, a beta for “a subset of U.S. customers”, buys on brands’ own sites, and “brands have the choice if they want to participate”. The bots that visit: Amazonbot “may be used to train Amazon AI models.” Amzn-SearchBot “is used to improve search experiences in Amazon products and services.” Amzn-User “supports user actions, such as responding to Alexa queries”. Amazon does not say which User-Agent Buy for Me uses. What robots.txt does: “If robots.txt files don’t mention Amzn-SearchBot but allow other search bots, Amzn-SearchBot will crawl in accordance with the robots.txt directives given to other search bots.” Amzn-User “may not follow all robots.txt directives.” For you (our reading): Allow Amzn-SearchBot if you want to be found through Alexa. Buy for Me fills in your own checkout, so a checkout agents can use matters here too.

Sources: [Amazon: Web Search crawlers](https://developer.amazon.com/amazonbot) and [About Amazon: Buy for Me](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-shopping-app-buy-for-me-brands).

Claude. Where it finds products: No shopping product of its own in Anthropic’s pages we read. Claude in Chrome “is a browser extension that allows Claude to read, click, and navigate websites alongside you.” The bots that visit: ClaudeBot collects “web content that could potentially contribute to their training”. Claude-SearchBot “navigates the web to improve search result quality for users.” Claude-User visits a page “When individuals ask questions to Claude”. What robots.txt does: Anthropic says disabling Claude-User “prevents our system from retrieving your content in response to a user query, which may reduce your site’s visibility for user-directed web search.” For you (our reading): Allow Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User if you want to show up in Claude’s answers; ClaudeBot is the training one.

Sources: [Anthropic: Does Anthropic crawl data from the web?](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler) and [Claude Help: Getting started with Claude in Chrome](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12012173-getting-started-with-claude-in-chrome).

## What does ChatGPT read from your store?

A feed if you have one, and your pages if you let OAI-SearchBot in. OpenAI's commerce docs say product feeds "give ChatGPT the catalog data it needs to index your products", and that "Onboarding product feeds in ChatGPT is currently available to approved partners." Each product in the feed carries flags: `is_eligible_search`, where "false disables it and checkout eligibility", and the spec adds that "Checkout requires a separately enabled integration."

Without a feed, ChatGPT's search reads the web. OpenAI says "OAI-SearchBot is used to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT's search features", and is blunt about the opt-out: "Sites that are opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers." Its other two bots do different jobs. "GPTBot is used to make our generative AI foundation models more useful and safe", and ChatGPT-User visits a page "When users ask ChatGPT or a CustomGPT a question". OpenAI also says its robots.txt settings are independent of one another, so a store can let OAI-SearchBot in while keeping GPTBot out.

## What does Perplexity read?

Its own index, built by PerplexityBot, which Perplexity says "is designed to surface and link websites in search results on Perplexity. It is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models." Perplexity asks for it plainly: "To ensure your site appears in search results, we recommend allowing PerplexityBot in your site's robots.txt file". When a user asks a question, Perplexity-User "might visit a web page to help provide an accurate answer and include a link to the page in its response", and of that fetcher Perplexity says "Since a user requested the fetch, this fetcher generally ignores robots.txt rules."

For buying, Perplexity's help centre says Instant Buy is "currently available to all users in the United States", and only "with merchants who are compatible with our agentic checkout experience". Its pages we read do not describe a product feed for merchants.

## What do Google AI Mode and Gemini read?

Merchant Center and, in our reading, what Googlebot crawls for Search. Google calls Merchant Center "a free tool that helps millions of shoppers on Google discover, explore, and buy your products", and for a Buy button in AI Mode, "Only product listings using the native_commerce(checkout_eligibility) product attribute will display the "Buy" button." Google says that checkout is in an early access program, "available for select merchants at this time", for products eligible in the United States, Canada and Australia.

On the crawling side, Google is careful to separate Search from Gemini. Preferences addressed to Googlebot "affect Google Search (including Discover and all Google Search features)". Google-Extended is a robots.txt token with no crawler of its own, used to manage whether content may be used for training Gemini models and for grounding, and "Google-Extended does not impact a site's inclusion in Google Search nor is it used as a ranking signal in Google Search." Google-Agent, which visits pages on a user's request, is one of the user-triggered fetchers that "generally ignore robots.txt rules".

## What about Copilot, Alexa and Claude?

Microsoft points merchants to its own feed: "Although MMC is not required to sell through Copilot Checkout, product feeds from MMC help inform organic Copilot results." MMC is Microsoft Merchant Center. We found no Copilot crawler named on Microsoft's pages that we could read, so we do not name one.

Amazon names three bots. Amzn-SearchBot "is used to improve search experiences in Amazon products and services", and allowing it makes your content "eligible to appear in search experiences such as Alexa". Amzn-User "supports user actions, such as responding to Alexa queries", and "may not follow all robots.txt directives." Amazonbot "may be used to train Amazon AI models." Buy for Me, Amazon's beta for a subset of US customers, buys from other brands' sites by filling in the brand's own checkout; Amazon does not say which User-Agent it uses.

Anthropic has no shopping product of its own in the pages we read. Its bots are ClaudeBot for training, Claude-SearchBot, which "navigates the web to improve search result quality for users", and Claude-User for questions people ask. Anthropic says disabling Claude-User "may reduce your site's visibility for user-directed web search". Claude in Chrome, a browser extension that can "read, click, and navigate websites alongside you", visits your shop the way its user would.

## What does your robots.txt change for each assistant?

Each kind of bot answers to it differently. Blocking a training crawler asks its vendor to leave your pages out of training: OpenAI says disallowing GPTBot indicates "that crawled content should not be used for training", and Anthropic says a ClaudeBot block "signals that the site's future materials should be excluded". Blocking a search crawler can take you out of that assistant's answers: OpenAI says opted-out sites "will not be shown", and Anthropic that it "may reduce your site's visibility". Blocking a user fetcher may do little, since four vendors say those fetchers may not follow robots.txt. Tick the bots your file turns away:

Your robots.txt and each assistant: what turning a bot away does.

On the page, you tick the bots your robots.txt turns away and read what each vendor says that does. Each bot, in its vendor's words:

- GPTBot: Training only: GPTBot “is used to make our generative AI foundation models more useful and safe.”
- OAI-SearchBot: “Sites that are opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.”
- ChatGPT-User: “Because these actions are initiated by a user, robots.txt rules may not apply.”
- PerplexityBot: Perplexity recommends “allowing PerplexityBot” “To ensure your site appears in search results”.
- Perplexity-User: “this fetcher generally ignores robots.txt rules.”
- Googlebot: Preferences addressed to Googlebot “affect Google Search (including Discover and all Google Search features)”.
- Google-Extended: “Google-Extended does not impact a site’s inclusion in Google Search”; it covers Gemini training and grounding.
- Amazonbot: Amazonbot “may be used to train Amazon AI models.”
- Amzn-SearchBot: Allowing it makes your content “eligible to appear in search experiences such as Alexa”.
- Amzn-User: Amzn-User “may not follow all robots.txt directives.”
- ClaudeBot: It “signals that the site’s future materials should be excluded from our AI model training datasets.”
- Claude-SearchBot: It “may reduce your site’s visibility and accuracy in user search results.”
- Claude-User: It “may reduce your site’s visibility for user-directed web search.”

The presets: Allow them all (nothing blocked); Block training only (GPTBot, Amazonbot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended); Block every AI bot (GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User, Google-Extended, Amazonbot, Amzn-SearchBot, Amzn-User, ClaudeBot, Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User).

Sources: [OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots), [Perplexity: Perplexity crawlers](https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/resources/perplexity-crawlers), [Google: Common crawlers](https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-common-crawlers), [Amazon: Web Search crawlers](https://developer.amazon.com/amazonbot) and [Anthropic: Does Anthropic crawl data from the web?](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler).

Two notes on reading it. The quotes are each vendor's claim about its own bots, which you can check in your logs but cannot otherwise verify; the [AI agent traffic guide](https://storewalk.ai/guides/ai-agent-traffic-analytics) shows how. And our own robots.txt check, [DISC-001](https://storewalk.ai/checks/DISC-001), sorts the bots the same way. The "Block training only" preset gets a warning from it, because search and shopping agents can still read the store. A file that fully blocks a search crawler or a user fetcher fails. The [robots.txt guide](https://storewalk.ai/guides/robots-txt-for-ai-agents) has a generator for the file itself.

## How do your products get to each assistant?

That depends most on your platform. Shopify connects its stores to several assistants itself: its help centre says "Your products are made available to AI channels through Shopify Catalog" or, for Google, through the Google & YouTube channel or Merchant Center. It names ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Meta, and says agentic storefronts "is active by default for eligible stores". Anyone else applies channel by channel.

How your products reach each assistant, by platform.

On the page, you choose your platform and see how your products reach each assistant. On Shopify:

- ChatGPT: Shopify Catalog: “Your products are made available to AI channels through Shopify Catalog”, and ChatGPT users finish on your online store checkout. Shopify says agentic storefronts “is active by default for eligible stores”.
- Google AI Mode and Gemini: Shopify Catalog, with Google & YouTube or Merchant Center, and the channel’s “Shopify-powered direct checkout” where it is on.
- Microsoft Copilot: Shopify Catalog; Copilot Checkout “automatically enrolled”, managed in your Shopify admin.
- Perplexity: Not on Shopify’s list. Its search crawler, PerplexityBot, reads your pages.
- Amazon: Not on Shopify’s list. Amzn-SearchBot reads your pages; Buy for Me, a beta for some US customers, works through your checkout if you take part.
- Claude: Not on Shopify’s list. Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User read your pages.

On any other platform:

- ChatGPT: A product feed, “currently available to approved partners”; otherwise OAI-SearchBot reads your pages.
- Google AI Mode and Gemini: Merchant Center, plus the native_commerce(checkout_eligibility) attribute for a Buy button: early access, “available for select merchants”, for products eligible in the US, Canada and Australia.
- Microsoft Copilot: Microsoft Merchant Center feeds “help inform organic Copilot results”; non-Shopify merchants apply for Copilot Checkout.
- Perplexity: PerplexityBot reads your pages; Instant Buy, for users in the United States, needs a merchant “compatible with our agentic checkout experience”.
- Amazon: Amzn-SearchBot reads your pages; Buy for Me, a beta for some US customers, works through your checkout if you take part.
- Claude: Claude-SearchBot and Claude-User read your pages.

Sources: [Shopify Help Center: Agentic storefronts](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts), [OpenAI: Commerce, get started](https://developers.openai.com/commerce/guides/get-started), [Google Merchant Center Help: About Merchant Center](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/188924?hl=en), [Google Merchant Center Help: UCP checkout](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16837055?hl=en), [Microsoft Advertising: Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents](https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/post/january-2026/conversations-that-convert-copilot-checkout-and-brand-agents), [Perplexity: What is Instant Buy?](https://www.perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/10352906-what-is-instant-buy) and [About Amazon: Buy for Me](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-shopping-app-buy-for-me-brands).

Where a vendor names a feed, the feed is what it reads; where it names a crawler, it reads your pages. A feed with prices that disagree with your pages gives an assistant two stories, and the [prices, stock and variants guide](https://storewalk.ai/guides/prices-stock-variants-for-agents) covers keeping them in line.

## What should a store do first?

This is our order, from the vendors' statements above:

1. Let the search crawlers in: OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Googlebot, Claude-SearchBot and Amzn-SearchBot. Each vendor ties its search results to its crawler.
2. Decide on the training crawlers separately. OpenAI and Amazon say each bot's setting is independent, Google says Google-Extended does not affect Search, and Anthropic lists a separate effect for each of its bots, so GPTBot, Amazonbot, Google-Extended and ClaudeBot can be blocked on their own.
3. Send feeds where you can: Merchant Center for Google, Microsoft Merchant Center for Copilot, and an application for ChatGPT's product feeds if you are eligible. On Shopify, check what Shopify Catalog already does for you.
4. Make your pages worth reading: [product structured data](https://storewalk.ai/guides/product-structured-data-for-ai-agents) with price and stock, and a checkout an agent can get through, which [why agents stall at checkout](https://storewalk.ai/blog/why-agents-stall-at-checkout) covers.

## Frequently asked questions

### How does ChatGPT find products?

From product feeds, which "give ChatGPT the catalog data it needs to index your products" and are "currently available to approved partners", and from the web through OAI-SearchBot. On Shopify, products reach ChatGPT through Shopify Catalog.

### Does blocking GPTBot remove my store from ChatGPT?

Not from ChatGPT search, by OpenAI's account: GPTBot is for training, OAI-SearchBot is for search, and OpenAI says the settings are independent. Blocking OAI-SearchBot is what keeps you out: "Sites that are opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers."

### Where does Google AI Mode get product information?

From Merchant Center and, in our reading, what Googlebot crawls for Search. A Buy button needs the native_commerce(checkout_eligibility) attribute in your feed, and Google says that checkout is in an early access program, "available for select merchants", for products eligible in the United States, Canada and Australia.

### Do AI assistants follow robots.txt?

Their crawlers say they do. Their user fetchers are another matter: OpenAI says robots.txt "may not apply" to ChatGPT-User, Perplexity says Perplexity-User "generally ignores robots.txt rules", Google says the same of its user-triggered fetchers, and Amazon says Amzn-User "may not follow all robots.txt directives".

### Does Claude shop for people?

Anthropic's pages we read describe no shopping product. Claude-User and Claude-SearchBot read pages for answers, and Claude in Chrome browses sites alongside its user. Our [agent readiness checker](https://storewalk.ai/) tells you whether your store lets these agents in.

The sources below were last checked on the date shown.

## Sources

- [OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots)
- [OpenAI: Commerce, get started](https://developers.openai.com/commerce/guides/get-started)
- [OpenAI: Product feed specification](https://developers.openai.com/commerce/specs/file-upload/products)
- [Perplexity: Perplexity crawlers](https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/resources/perplexity-crawlers)
- [Perplexity: What is Instant Buy?](https://www.perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/10352906-what-is-instant-buy)
- [Google: Common crawlers](https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-common-crawlers)
- [Google: User-triggered fetchers](https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-user-triggered-fetchers)
- [Google Merchant Center Help: About Merchant Center](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/188924?hl=en)
- [Google Merchant Center Help: UCP checkout](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/16837055?hl=en)
- [Microsoft Advertising: Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents](https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/post/january-2026/conversations-that-convert-copilot-checkout-and-brand-agents)
- [Amazon: Web Search crawlers](https://developer.amazon.com/amazonbot)
- [About Amazon: Buy for Me](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-shopping-app-buy-for-me-brands)
- [Anthropic: Does Anthropic crawl data from the web?](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler)
- [Claude Help: Getting started with Claude in Chrome](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12012173-getting-started-with-claude-in-chrome)
- [Shopify Help Center: Agentic storefronts](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/agentic-storefronts)

Last checked 4 Nov 2026