I am playing around with ChatGPT Atlas and have done a few trial searches from an ecommerce perspective. Here are a few initial takeaways.
Results may vary across ChatGPT Atlas and ChatGPT
Big stores dominate the results
Price tracking for the consumer, but only sometimes.
How Google and ChatGPT Atlas compared
Let's dig in.
1. Atlas results are fairly different than what I get by going directly to ChatGPT. Is this by design?
Not sure why there is a discrepancy between the two, but they were different enough. Here is a quick side-by-side.
In this instance, I preferred the Atlas results better. They were more aligned with my expected results.
2. Almost all of the products recommended were either Shopify stores or major retailers.
With the online coffee recommendations, Shopify was the big winner. I also did a search for other products, like mesh workout pants. Here, I got a variety of options.
At this stage, it asked me if I wanted a list of 20 options, with the five best identified. I asked to give me a list of 20. Here is what I got:
This list had no links or associated stores. I had to ask for the links to be provided. The results included product cards, but most were available via major retailers (video below). As you can see, clicking on the product image brings up the right rail that will link out to different stores. This is nice, but I don't like how clicking a link opens it in the same window. I'd prefer a new tab.
»» I know it's early, but where does/will this leave the mom-and-pops of the world? Sure, they may be included, but will they be playing a constant game of catch-up to retailers with bigger budgets and tech teams?
3. Price tracking ... maybe?!?
With one product search, I asked to be reminded when the price dropped below a certain threshold. It said it would. In another search (those mesh pants), it said it could not do that. Is there something bigger going on here?
Why can they do it for one and not the other?
I don't know if it will actually work, but we shall see. Interestingly, it says in the Monitoring Setup (pictured below) that it will check "major US retailers," again giving nod to the larger stores.
»» I this examples below, it says it can not monitor price for me?
4. What about Goog .... errr, never mind.
When someone wants coffee, they want coffee. So I took that same coffee bean search to Google and was treated to a, well, horrend... less optimized experience. I mean, take a look at this.
This SERP has everything from local roasters and sponsored products to videos and listicles. Where would one even begin? While I don't think the GPT experience was insanely better, it was able to understand my intent and continue to guide me along that journey.
This is really what matters: Intent --> desired result.
p.s. I buy espresso beans from Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC. :)
My takeaway
It's only day 1 for me, so we'll see how it goes. I am hopeful this does not transform into another platform that separates the haves and have-nots. Now is probably a good time for both ecommerce and local stores to focus on schema for their sites and make every effort to be as discoverable as possible for AI platforms.
As Omar said, “You come at the king, you best not miss.” Well, their aim seems to be pretty good at the moment.