Core dna says ChatGPT is misquoting Black Friday prices

A Core dna test found ChatGPT gave wrong prices or wrong store recommendations for 21 of 40 Black Friday shopping answers in Australia, with every incorrect price coming in below the retailer’s actual charge. The findings raise concerns for shoppers heading into Black Friday on 27 November, when price accuracy can shift quickly across AI search tools.

Why it matters: - Shoppers using ChatGPT to compare Black Friday deals may be sent to the wrong store or given an outdated price. - Core dna found every incorrect price was lower than the retailer’s actual price, creating a risk that AI answers could steer shoppers away from the real cheapest option. - The issue matters more during Black Friday, when prices can change daily and AI listings can lag behind store websites.

What happened: - Melbourne-based digital experience platform Core dna asked ChatGPT where to buy 20 popular Black Friday products in Australia. - Researchers asked the same question twice for each product, in a new chat later the same day. - ChatGPT got 21 of 40 answers wrong. - Of the wrong answers, 16 quoted a price the store was not charging. - Some answers pointed shoppers to stores that did not sell the product. - One answer described a non-LEGO building set as the LEGO original. - The research covered gaming, audio, tech, appliances, barbecues, beauty and gifts.

The details: - For a Ninja air fryer, ChatGPT first sent shoppers to Amazon Australia at $199, then later switched to JB Hi-Fi at $127. - JB Hi-Fi charged $249 for the same air fryer. - For a Garmin Forerunner 265, ChatGPT sent shoppers to Kogan at $497, while Kogan’s lowest listed price for members was $779. - Across the wrong prices researchers could measure, ChatGPT’s figure was on average $71 below the store price. - Most price gaps were more than 10%. - JB Hi-Fi, Myer, Chemist Warehouse, Kogan, Bunnings, Bing Lee, Officeworks and The Good Guys were all misquoted at least once. - For 11 of the 20 products, the second answer named a different store or price. - For the other nine products, ChatGPT gave the same answer both times. - Six of those repeated answers were wrong both times. - ChatGPT quoted Myer at $458.15 for a Weber barbecue twice, while Myer charged $485.10. - ChatGPT quoted Chemist Warehouse at $16.99 for CeraVe Moisturising Cream twice, while the store charged $27.99. - The retailers’ prices did not change between the two asks. - Some answers flagged uncertainty and still recommended the price anyway. - One response called its Kindle prices an “older listing from August” and still told shoppers to check those stores first. - Another said it “couldn’t confirm” a $319 Dyson price at Bunnings and still made Bunnings the top pick. - Bunnings charged $382. - ChatGPT now shows ads under shopping answers, and almost every answer in the research had one. - Twice, a Bing Lee ad appeared directly below an answer that misquoted Bing Lee’s own price. - Those examples were a Kindle Paperwhite at $247 when Bing Lee charged $369, and a Ninja air fryer at $142 when it charged $199. - OpenAI’s help page says ChatGPT shopping information comes from “first-party and third-party providers,” and price changes may take time to appear. - Commerce and PayPal Australia research says one in five Australian online shoppers already use AI tools when shopping.

Between the lines: - The findings suggest AI shopping answers can be useful for discovery but unreliable for live pricing. - Third-party listings may help products surface in AI search, but those listings can quickly go stale during promotional periods. - Core dna’s test also shows a new tension: ad placement under AI answers may increase visibility for retailers without fixing the accuracy of the quoted price. - The pattern points to a bigger issue around who controls price presentation inside AI tools, not just who wins the search result.

What’s next: - Core dna recommends retailers ask ChatGPT where their top products are cheapest more than once before Black Friday on 27 November. - The company also recommends keeping prices current across product pages, product feeds and comparison listings. - Core dna says retailers should label members’ prices clearly and send prices directly to AI shopping platforms where possible. - Core dna plans to run the same 20 products through ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews during Black Friday week. - Screenshots of the answers and store pages are available in the full findings on the Core dna blog, with labeled image files available via Google Drive for publication.

The bottom line: - ChatGPT can surface shopping options fast, but Core dna’s test suggests its Black Friday price answers are not reliable enough for consumers to trust without checking the retailer directly.