Google, Microsoft, Perplexity, Meta and both ChatGPT routes on one table — gate, cost, time, and the honest split between what we can do and what only you can do. Built from a real WooCommerce setup on 3 September 2026.
Shopify and Etsy stores were integrated into ChatGPT Shopping automatically and have one-click channels to Google, Microsoft and Meta. A WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento or custom store has to enter every AI shopping surface itself. The surprising part, after doing it for a WooCommerce store on 3 September 2026: most of it fits in one day, most of it is free, and none of it needs a card. Here is the whole map — what each surface gates, what it costs, how long it takes, and the honest split between what a service can do and what only the merchant can do.
Two files do most of the work: a Google Shopping-format product feed (accepted by Google, Microsoft, Meta and Perplexity) and, for ChatGPT, an OpenAI-spec feed plus a Shopify-format import CSV. The free connect form builds all three from a store URL. Everything else is accounts.
| Surface | Gate | Cost | Time to set up / review | What we can do | What only the merchant can do |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Shopping, AI Mode, Gemini Google Merchant Center free listings | Google account, registered business address, target countries with delivery settings, returns policy that matches your page, Google-format feed URL | Free; no Google Ads account | About 1 hour; products under review up to ~3 business days | Build and host the Google-format feed, verify every field, walk through delivery and returns settings | Own the Google account, give the legal address, choose countries, confirm delivery times and returns terms |
| Bing Shopping, Copilot Microsoft Merchant Center | Microsoft Advertising account (location locked at creation, phone number, legal business name and address), store imported from Google or a feed file | Free; no card (payment can be set up later) | About 20 minutes after Google; store approval up to 3 business days | Prepare the same feed, submit product URLs through the Bing API with your key, IndexNow on WordPress | Create the advertising account, verify the phone, allow the Google sign-in pop-up, click Create store |
| Perplexity shopping answers Perplexity Merchant Program | Five-step form in the perplexity.ai footer; must sell and ship to the US | Free; no commission | About 5 minutes; review time not published, reported in weeks | Draft every answer, have the feed hosted, keep PerplexityBot unblocked | Submit the form as the legal entity |
| Meta AI shopping (optional) Meta Commerce Manager | Facebook login and a Business Portfolio; catalog via a scheduled data feed (Google format accepted) | Free | About 30 minutes; catalog review by Meta | Provide the scheduled feed URL and the field mapping | Own the Facebook business login and portfolio |
| ChatGPT Shopping Shopify Catalog via Shopify’s free Agentic plan | A Shopify account on the free Agentic plan; catalog imported from a Shopify-format CSV; checkout stays on your own site; Shopify looks for a track record of genuine sales | Free plan | About 30 minutes to import; inclusion timing is Shopify’s and OpenAI’s | Write the Shopify import CSV from your store, prepare the catalog | Create the Shopify account, accept the plan terms, import |
| ChatGPT Shopping Merchant application at chatgpt.com/merchants | Spec-compliant OpenAI feed, OAI-SearchBot allowed, application reviewed from a waitlist; after approval, feed pushed by SFTP or API (OpenAI does not fetch URLs) | Free to apply | About 15 minutes to file; small merchants report long silences | Build and validate the OpenAI-spec feed, draft the application, push by SFTP once approved | Be the applicant of record; OpenAI decides |
| Search foundations Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, sitemap | DNS TXT record for Google; one-click import for Bing; a sitemap URL | Free | About 20 minutes | Tell you where DNS lives, submit sitemaps and URL batches with your API key | Add the TXT record, sign in to both tools |
No row in this table is an inclusion promise. We prepare, validate and submit with you; each platform decides whether, when and where products appear.
The sequence matters: later steps import from earlier ones, and the two surfaces that approve within days should be done before the ones that answer in weeks.
Total: roughly ninety minutes of account work plus waiting. Then a week later, read the Products pages in Google and Microsoft and fix whatever they flag.
Google and Microsoft respond in days and say exactly what is wrong when something is. Perplexity and OpenAI respond on their own schedule, if at all, and neither publishes a timeline. Shopify Catalog is documented as integrated with ChatGPT but wants sales history. So for a store that is not on Shopify: enter the four gate-free surfaces today, keep the ChatGPT tracks filed and feed-ready, keep Bing crawling your pages, and let the surfaces that respond start producing the orders that make the slower ones easier.
Enter your WooCommerce or Shopify store. We read the public catalog and build the Google-format feed, the OpenAI-spec feed and the Shopify import CSV, validated and hosted with a daily refresh. Then follow the guides above, or have us do the setup with you. You own every account; each platform decides.
Free eligibility check — your feeds are generated on the spot. Want it done for you? Launch and Hosting pricing is on the homepage · how it works.
Google, Microsoft, Perplexity and Meta free listings cost nothing and need no card. Shopify’s Agentic plan for Shopify Catalog is free. The OpenAI merchant application is free. The only spend is your time, roughly ninety minutes of account creation, and optionally a service like ours to build and host the feeds and do the setup with you.
Two routes exist. Shopify Catalog: OpenAI documents Shopify’s catalog as integrated, and Shopify’s free Agentic plan lets a non-Shopify store import its catalog while checkout stays on its own site; Shopify checks for a track record of genuine sales. The OpenAI merchant application at chatgpt.com/merchants: free to file, reviewed from a waitlist, with approved merchants pushing a feed by SFTP or API; small merchants report long silences. Bing indexing helps ChatGPT’s web search find your pages regardless. None of these is inclusion by right; each platform decides.
Google and Microsoft both ask for a registered business address and Microsoft wants the legal business name; Perplexity asks for the legal entity. A sole proprietor can enter their own name and address, but the answers must be consistent across platforms and match what the store’s pages say.
Two. The Google Shopping format covers Google, Microsoft, Meta and Perplexity. OpenAI has its own field set (a different file) for the merchant application, and Shopify Catalog wants a Shopify product-import CSV. Our connect form writes all three from one read of your store.
A service can read your catalog, build and host the feeds, validate them against each spec, draft every application, and sit with you through setup. Only you can own the accounts, supply the legal entity and phone number, accept each platform’s terms, and be the applicant of record. The table above marks the split for every surface.