What Products Are Prohibited From ChatGPT Commerce Results?
OpenAI's Commerce Policies, last updated on June 24, 2026, list the products and services that cannot be sold, promoted or facilitated through ChatGPT's shopping features. They cover adult products and gambling; illegal and prescription drugs and ingestible supplements marketed for health effects; alcohol over 0.5% ABV, tobacco and nicotine; firearms, self-defence weapons, explosives and hazardous chemicals; counterfeit, stolen and recalled goods; surveillance and hacking tools; fake documents and social media manipulation; payment-restricted services such as crypto, debt relief and some travel; and in-game currency and similar digital top-ups. The rules apply to product listings and feeds, to merchants and to the pages they link to. OpenAI says it can remove products or sellers for any reason, and merchants are also barred from deceptive practices.
What is prohibited?
| Category | Examples from OpenAI's policy |
|---|---|
| Adult content and gambling | Explicit content, adult sexual products, real-money gambling |
| Drugs, medications and supplements | Cannabis and THC, psychedelics, drug paraphernalia, prescription-only medicines, ingestible supplements marketed for weight loss, sexual enhancement, bodybuilding, detox or other health effects |
| Illicit and sensitive goods | Counterfeits, fraud tools, pirated content and shared credentials, stolen goods, wildlife contraband and live animals, products designed to evade laws or impersonate officials, human body parts and fluids |
| Surveillance and unauthorised access | Malware and spyware, covert tracking equipment, offensive-security products |
| Tobacco, nicotine and alcohol | Alcohol over 0.5% ABV and distilling kits, tobacco, vapes, nicotine pouches and accessories |
| Weapons and harmful materials | Firearms, ammunition and accessories, explosives and certain fireworks, restricted weapons, pepper spray, stun guns and tasers, extremist merchandise, acutely hazardous chemicals |
| Recalled and unsafe products | Items under recall, stop-sale or safety alert; products with clear serious hazards, especially for children |
| Privacy, identity and manipulation | Fake IDs, personal data and lead lists, fake followers and engagement |
| Payment-network restricted | Debt relief and credit repair, unregulated financial services, crypto and NFTs, identity theft monitoring, bail bonds, and high-chargeback travel such as charter flights, timeshares and cruise tickets |
| Unsupported commerce formats | In-game currency, boosts and top-ups; services to unlock, recover or boost accounts. Conventional software, licences and complete video games are allowed |
OpenAI's merchant guide summarises the same idea: only products that are legal, safe and appropriate for a general audience, with adult content, age-restricted products, dangerous materials, weapons, prescription medicines, unlicensed financial products and deceptive practices named as examples.
Which categories catch legitimate businesses by surprise?
Several restrictions go further than people expect:
- Supplements. The rule covers ingestible supplements marketed for health effects, not only illegal ones. A protein powder sold for bodybuilding or a tea sold for detox falls inside it as described.
- Low-alcohol drinks. The cut-off is 0.5% ABV, so most beers, wines and spirits are excluded, along with distilling kits.
- Self-defence products. Pepper spray, stun guns and tasers are excluded because of legal restrictions in many places.
- Fireworks in certain categories, as explosive-related items.
- Travel. Charter flights, timeshares and cruise tickets fall under payment-restricted services.
- Digital goods. In-game currency and top-ups are out, although complete games and software licences are allowed.
Wording matters. OpenAI's policy describes supplements by how they are marketed, so claims on your product pages and feed can decide which side of the line a product falls on.
What merchant practices are prohibited?
Beyond products, OpenAI requires truthful listings and images and support through the partner platform's channels. It prohibits impersonating a business or brand, misrepresenting price, availability, origin, condition or key characteristics, deceptive marketing such as fake reviews, fabricated endorsements or inflated engagement, and unclear or unfair terms such as hidden fees or misleading return policies. Violations can lead to products being removed or a seller no longer being shown in ChatGPT.
Does this stop ChatGPT mentioning my products at all?
The Commerce Policies govern ChatGPT's commerce surfaces: product listings, feeds, merchants and linked pages in shopping results. Ordinary answers are governed by OpenAI's broader Usage Policies, so ChatGPT may still discuss a category, such as wine pairings, without showing products from it as shoppable results. Ads have their own rules; OpenAI's ad policies restrict financial products, for example. How ads fit in is covered in what ChatGPT ads mean for AI visibility.
How does this compare with Google's AI shopping rules?
Google separates showing a product from selling it inside the assistant. Products in Merchant Center follow Google Shopping policies to appear as listings, and a narrower set can use checkout in AI Mode and Gemini. Google's UCP guide makes several kinds of product ineligible for checkout: subscriptions and installment plans; used and final-sale items; pre-orders; items needing special shipping; gifting; in-store activation; personalized goods and bundled services such as warranties or installation; services, rentals and virtual items such as in-game currency; goods that need specific software installed first; age-restricted goods such as alcohol and tobacco; and anything prohibited under Shopping policies. These can still appear as ordinary listings where Shopping policies allow. OpenAI's list applies to ChatGPT's commerce surfaces as a whole, so a product can be shoppable in one assistant and absent from another. Google's checkout requirements are covered in what Google's UCP setup requires.
What should you do if you sell near the line?
- Check your catalogue against the list and set affected products as not eligible for search in your OpenAI feed, rather than letting them be removed.
- Review product wording. For supplements and wellness products, health-effect claims can bring a product inside the rule.
- Keep eligible products separate in your feed, so a few restricted items do not put your whole store at risk.
- Keep listings truthful, with accurate prices, stock, condition and return terms.
- Watch for counterfeits of your brand, which are prohibited and which you can report, as covered in how to check what ChatGPT says about counterfeits.
How to submit products is covered in whether you can submit products directly to ChatGPT, and why retailer apps show some products and not others in why the Walmart app in ChatGPT recommends some products. Handmade sellers without GTINs are covered in whether ChatGPT can recommend handmade products.
We have not tested how strictly OpenAI enforces each category. This page is based on OpenAI's Commerce Policies as updated on June 24, 2026, and its merchant documentation. Policies change, so check the current version before relying on it.
What might this look like in practice?
Consider an illustrative wellness store, Stavquay, selling teas, protein powders and yoga mats. Its product descriptions promised “detox” and “fat burning” effects. After reading OpenAI's policy, the team marked the protein powders and slimming teas as not eligible for search in its feed, rewrote herbal tea descriptions to describe flavour and ingredients without health claims, and kept yoga mats and accessories fully eligible. Its mats and tea gift sets continued to appear in ChatGPT shopping answers, and the team avoided having the whole store flagged.
What do people ask about prohibited products in ChatGPT?
Can I sell wine or beer through ChatGPT shopping?
No. OpenAI prohibits alcoholic beverages over 0.5% ABV.
Are dietary supplements allowed?
Not when they are ingestible and marketed for effects such as weight loss, sexual enhancement, bodybuilding or detox.
Are video games allowed?
Complete video games, conventional software and licences are allowed. In-game currency, boosts and top-ups are not.
What happens if I list a prohibited product?
OpenAI says it may remove the product or stop showing the seller in ChatGPT.
Published by The Kovmere Team · updated Sep 29, 2026 · More resources