AI shopping assistants are becoming increasingly common, and three leading tools—ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity’s new shopping feature—were recently tested to find the best laptop under $800. The comparison highlights how each AI approaches product research and helps users make purchasing decisions.
ChatGPT’s Shopping Research mode functions like a guided buying assistant. When prompted for laptops under $800, it asks users multiple-choice questions about screen size, battery life, performance, gaming needs, touchscreen preferences, and portability. After collecting this information, ChatGPT generates a structured buying guide featuring several suitable models, complete with pros and cons, spec comparisons, estimated pricing, and even a comparison chart. Most links direct users to Best Buy, and ChatGPT notes that pricing may not always be perfectly up to date due to its multi-source aggregation.
Google Gemini leverages Google’s vast retail ecosystem and differs from ChatGPT by emphasizing scale and data over personalization. Using the Google Shopping Graph, which includes more than 50 billion product listings across multiple retailers, Gemini presents laptop options within budget without asking follow-up questions. It provides links to multiple stores and, when available, displays price histories. Beyond Gemini, Google’s AI tools can surface deals, track price trends, and even contact local retailers to confirm stock or promotions, giving it an advantage in coverage and real-time data accuracy.
Perplexity’s shopping feature builds on its AI search engine, offering a modern, store-like browsing experience. Its shopping tab displays a grid of product cards with prices, ratings, pros and cons, and notes on upgradeability. Users can even make instant purchases through partner merchants. While the interface is fast and visually intuitive, filtering accuracy can be inconsistent, as one of its top laptop suggestions exceeded the $800 budget during the test.
Overall, each AI tool has its strengths. ChatGPT excels at personalized, guided decision-making, Gemini provides the broadest retailer coverage and most detailed pricing information, and Perplexity offers an efficient, store-like browsing and purchase experience. While these AI shopping assistants make research and comparison easier, traditional manual research remains important to ensure accuracy and make fully informed purchases.
