The regular google search AI doesn’t do thinky thinky mode. For most buying decisions these days I ask ChatGPT to go off and search and think for a while given certain constraints, while taking particular note of Reddit and YouTube comments, and come back with some recommendations. I’ve been delighted with the results.
I use ChatGPT to find products and opinions about those products, same way I'd use Google. I'd never just click on the top sponsored result in Google and buy it, and I'd never just click on a result in ChatGPT and buy it. And yeah, there are lots of reasons I might change my mind in the future - I no longer buy anything from Amazon, for example, because there's no way for me to trust what I'm getting. But right now it's a great way of researching options.
I wouldn’t be surprised if ChatGPT was Pareto optimal for buying decisions… but I suspect there are a whole pile of Pareto optimal ways to make buying decisions, including “buy one of the Wirecutter picks” or “buy whatever Costco is selling”.
Even in the case where you have a good shortlist of items, the ability to then ask follow up questions in a conversational format is very useful for me. Anyway, just explaining why one might use ChatGPT for this rather than the Google search box, obviously your mileage is welcome to vary.
