Imagine shopping through an AI chatbot and letting it handle the checkout process for you. That’s exactly what PayPal and Perplexity want you to do. But, is shopping on Perplexity really the best idea?
PayPal and Perplexity Team Up for Holiday Shopping
Ecommerce stores don’t always have the best checkout processes. So, it makes sense why not only shopping with an AI chatbot, but checking out with one, sounds like a good idea.
The way it works is you search for products using Perplexity’s AI chatbot. If you find something you like with one of the retailers currently participating, you can checkout directly in your current chat. No need to visit the retailer’s site, create an account, and go through the checkout process.
Instead, you enter your payment details via PayPal. If you have a PayPal account, you can simply login to PayPal and continue to pay.
Both companies point out that neither company takes your payment. Perplexity serves as a search engine and PayPal just works as a payment processor. The retailer receives the payment directly, just like they would if you paid directly on their site.
Perplexity is far from the only AI platform encouraging you to do your shopping via chat. Google introduced agentic AI to make purchases on your behalf to ease holiday shopping chaos. ChatGPT released Instant Checkout for the same purpose.
Does it this mean you should let AI handle every step of the shopping process? Probably not.
Two Types of Chat-Based Buying
You can shop on Perplexity with over 6,000 merchants, though products in the initial launch are still limited. Currently, you have two options:
- Instant Buy – Uses PayPal
- Shop Like a Pro / Buy with Pro – One-click checkout, but far more limited shopping options
Instant Buy is releasing to all Perplexity users in the US starting with the 2025 holiday shopping season. This utilizes the PayPal checkout flow. All you have to do is connect your PayPal account once and you’re all set. This is free to all users, though premium users are encouraged to use Pro Search for more tailored results.
With Shop Like a Pro and Buy With Pro, you must be a premium Perplexity subscriber. Any payment details you have saved with Perplexity are used to instantly buy items marked with these options. Fewer retailers and products are eligible versus Instant Buy.
Shop on Perplexity and Pay With PayPal
To get started, you’ll need both free Perplexity and PayPal accounts. Once all that’s set up, start a chat with Perplexity as usual. You can use the web version or Perplexity’s Comet browser. Use detailed prompts to filter your results, such as looking for headphones with noise isolation under $50.
Click the Shopping tab to just view shopping results with product cards. Look for any products that say Instant Buy or Shop Like a Pro / Buy With Pro (the latter may only show if you’re a premium subscriber).
Click Instant Buy if you want to purchase the product. You must be signed in to Perplexity to complete the purchase. If you want to see more details, click Visit website.
If this is your first purchase, you’ll have to sign in to PayPal to link the two accounts. Then, PayPal takes over to process your payment and send the money to the retailer.
If you’re new to both PayPal and Perplexity, it might not seem that quick or easy to shop on Perplexity. However, after the initial setup, you just have to click Instant buy and confirm you want to make the purchase.
Perplexity Helps Protect Users With PayPal
The good thing about Perplexity and PayPal teaming up is customers are protected with PayPal Buyer Protection. This keeps you safer from fraud or items that never arrive or are damaged.
It’s a little extra peace of mind. Of course, it’s not perfect. Any custom goods aren’t covered. Plus, claims have to be proven and you might not always win.
Problems With Checking Out With Perplexity
On the surface, all of this sounds like a good idea. But, it’s risky. AI gets things wrong. You could be purchasing an item that doesn’t exist, or you may think you’re buying one color, but when Perplexity and PayPal complete the order for you, the chatbot orders the wrong one.
Also, it’s not the best idea to trust a chatbot with your financial data. It’s too easy for AI to purchase the wrong thing, purchase extras you don’t want (such as accessories or warranties), or cause accidental purchases. You also don’t know how your financial data is stored or if it’ll be used for training purposes.
I even asked Perplexity why this is a bad idea and the answers confirmed this:
It’s safer to visit trusted retailers yourself and go through the checkout process directly. You’re able to confirm each step of the process and ensure there aren’t any extra fees. You might also discover special discounts by shopping directly on the retailer’s site.
For best results, only use a credit card for Perplexity and PayPal. Credit card issuers offer payment protection to limit fraud. Debit cards and checking accounts don’t offer those same protections.
For now, it’s okay to get shopping recommendations from chatbots, but it’s safer to checkout directly with retailers. Whether you shop on Perplexity or another chatbot, skip letting them do all the shopping for you. Instead, just focus on using chatbots and AI browsers for productivity and recommendations.
