YouTube Adds Shopping Features to Its AI Search Tool Ask YouTube

YouTube announced on September 23, 2026, that its AI-powered conversational search feature, Ask YouTube, will expand to help users make shopping decisions. The announcement was made at the company’s Made On YouTube event.

The updated feature will present organized product recommendations when users search for specific items, including comparison tables that display product attributes based on user preferences. Users will also be able to ask follow-up questions directly on a video’s watch page.

Ask YouTube originally launched as a conversational search experiment before growing into a broader part of the YouTube experience. The tool allows users to search using natural language queries — more complex and detailed than traditional search — and returns a mix of Shorts and long-form videos covering topics such as travel planning, skill-building guides, and product recommendations.

YouTube says the shopping expansion reflects existing user behavior, noting that viewers already turn to creators to learn about and evaluate products. The company reported that more than 140 million people used Ask YouTube in June 2026 alone, representing a jump of over 500% since December 2025.

Emily Moxley, VP of Product Management for Viewer AI at YouTube, attributed the growth to the underlying technology. “Behind that growth is a custom Gemini model that maps the viewer’s most complex questions to the exact second that the video provides the answer, turning a passive search into an instant, meaningful connection with the video and with the creator,” she said in a briefing ahead of the event.

The expansion of Ask YouTube into shopping suggests the platform may be positioning itself as a destination for product discovery, leveraging the trust users already place in creator recommendations.