PayPal’s coupon and discounts tool Honey will integrate ChatGPT and other generative AI models to provide conversational shopping assistance, TechCrunch reported on 2025-09-30. The integration aims to help shoppers find deals, discover hidden coupon codes and get tailored product recommendations while they browse, turning passive coupon tools into proactive shopping assistants.

Why conversational AI meets coupon tools

Honey began as a browser extension that automatically applied coupon codes at checkout. Since its 2019 acquisition by PayPal, the service has focused on reducing friction in online shopping. Now, by adding conversational AI, PayPal is bringing e commerce AI and chatbot integration into the user flow so shoppers can ask natural language questions like "find the best deal" and get context aware responses without switching tabs.

What the integration will do

• Conversational assistance — Users can interact with a ChatGPT powered shopping assistant to ask about products, deals and coupons in natural language.
• Deal discovery and coupon application — The AI will surface available coupons and, where possible, automatically apply them at checkout as an AI coupon finder.
• Personalized product recommendations — The assistant can make suggestions based on stated preferences and browsing context, improving personalization in AI shopping.
• Cross site comparison — AI driven comparison shopping aims to find the lowest price and simplify feature comparisons across retailers.

Practical benefits for consumers

For shoppers this represents faster, more intuitive deal finding. Instead of clicking through multiple sites, a shopper can say "save money online using ChatGPT and PayPal Honey" and receive a concise recommendation that includes coupons and price comparisons. That voice friendly, long tail phrasing mirrors how people now search for products and services.

Implications for merchants and affiliates

AI assisted recommendations may shift conversion and attribution. Merchants and affiliate platforms should expect negotiation pressure around placement and visibility inside AI powered recommendation flows. Smaller retailers could face competitive pressure if assistants favor merchants with deeper integrations or better commission terms.

Operational and regulatory considerations

Transparency about how recommendations are generated will be critical. Regulators and consumers will want clear disclosure if affiliate relationships influence results. Data handling and privacy also matter when tying browsing signals to third party models. Finally, bias and accuracy need continuous monitoring to ensure fair and up to date suggestions.

What to watch next

• Merchant response and API partnerships to influence AI behavior
• Disclosure rules for affiliate influenced results
• User experience metrics such as conversion lift and coupon redemption rate

In short, PayPal’s move to integrate Honey with ChatGPT and other AIs signals a shift from passive coupon tools to active, conversational shopping assistants. If successful, this will make deal discovery more conversational and proactive, changing how consumers search for bargains and how merchants capture sales in the evolving world of AI shopping and purchase automation.