Gemini and ChatGPT now have built-in shopping tools, and Google wants Gemini to be your .
Black Friday deals are already everywhere, and many are inflated "was" prices that make it look like you're getting a huge discount. So I gave both chatbots the same shopping list.
I asked the free tiers of both AI tools, since those are what most people use, to find the best deals on four gadgets with a combined full price of $1,450.
Here's how it went.
Same gadgets, very different deals found
ChatGPT saved me $322 despite second-guessing itself
I asked Gemini and ChatGPT for the lowest current price from a reputable US retailer on the (128GB, unlocked), Samsung , (41mm, Wi-Fi), and Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen).
Then I asked whether they could find anything cheaper and if each discount was real.
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$80, P.C. Richard |
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Three of ChatGPT's four prices matched what the store showed, and they were all in stock: the Buds, the Pixel Watch 4, and the Echo Dot.
But it glitched with the Pixel 10. It first showed a correct $599 offer at Best Buy.
Then, when I asked it to dig deeper, it wrongly claimed that its previous result was a Pixel 10a and that Best Buy charged $799 for the Pixel 10.
It then pointed me to a $585 Walmart listing that turned out to be $635 from a third-party seller.
That listing also had a $675 "was" price with a strikethrough. But Google and Best Buy both list it at $599. That's exactly the kind of inflated reference price a tracker like Droplert will help you spot.
Not every link went straight to the product, either. Some landed on search results with numerous items, and I had to find the exact one myself.
Gemini wanted me to pay $115 above retail for a Pixel Watch
Gemini picked a $465 Pixel Watch 4 on Newegg.
The listing actually exists, but it's $115 more than Google's price, and Walmart had the same watch for $299. Gemini told me to "proceed with caution," but still called it the lowest price.
The Buds were worse.
Gemini's $130 Newegg link opened a search results page full of cases and ear tips. And its follow-up $138 Best Buy option was actually $150.
Gemini's picks only came to $156 off full price, less than half of what ChatGPT found.
ChatGPT is better at spotting fake discounts
It checked the price history
If you've exhausted your budget on fake Black Friday deals before, checking price history is the surest way to avoid a repeat.
When I asked both tools to confirm whether the discounts were real, ChatGPT found the Buds' $250 "was" price misleading, since it had been $150 for weeks.
It also flagged the Echo Dot's $80 as above its typical price and told me not to buy it.
Gemini picked an expired deal
Gemini called the $80 Echo Dot "fake" and said Amazon had it for $32.
However, that figure came from an old deal from a tech site. When I checked, Amazon listed the Echo Dot at $80.
ChatGPT built the better $300 basket
ChatGPT shopped for my phone, not just any phone
I asked both AI tools to fill a $300 budget with earbuds, a fast phone charger, and a smart speaker.
ChatGPT built a $106 basket with the JBL Vibe Beam 2 ($40, Target), Anker Nano 45W ($26, Best Buy), and Echo Dot ($40, Best Buy).
It picked a $26 Anker 45W charger because it knows I use a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and the price checked out.
The rest didn't hold up, though. The JBL link opened Target's homepage instead of the earbuds, and the Echo Dot was $80 at Best Buy, not $40.
That's the same price ChatGPT gave me in the first round. With the real Echo Dot price, the basket came to $146, still well under budget.
Gemini guessed prices instead of looking them up
Gemini's $110 basket used estimated Black Friday prices, not current ones.
Also, every link was an Amazon search page, rather than a direct product. And its 30W charger won't reach my S24 Ultra's 45W top speed.
Use ChatGPT, but verify before you buy
On the free tiers, ChatGPT saved me about $166 more than Gemini and was much more attentive to inflated discounts.
But both models got at least one price wrong, so treat the deal results you get from a chatbot as a starting point. Open every link, check the seller, and compare the price before you add it to your cart.
If you'd rather let Google watch prices for you, its Universal Cart can track your wishlist through Black Friday.