Build a reusable Gemini shopping-assistant prompt with live product links

Posted

Jan 23, 2025 by Nigel Powell (Tom's Guide)

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Last checked

Oct 17, 2026

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Method:

How we verify

Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.

Outcome

A tech columnist asked Gemini 2.0 to write him a shopping-assistant prompt (role, workflow, follow-up questions and web search), loaded it into a chatbot wrapper with web browsing on, and fine-tuned it to return live product links. He says it delivered almost exactly what he needed in early tests, and lets him weight three key features, e.g. 'wet and dry', 'cheap' and 'rotary' for a men's shaver.

Agent

Gemini

The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.

Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about anything important that's missing below. Keep them quick. Then do the task, checking in with me at the key points.

Goal: Act as my shopping assistant: ask what I need, search the web and recommend products with live links.

What I can give you (ask for whatever's missing):
- What I'm buying
- Three features that matter most
- Budget and where I like to shop

Rules:
- Ask 1-3 questions first if my needs are unclear.
- Rank options by how well they match my three features, and say why.
- Give a live link and current price for each, with the date checked.
- Don't buy anything; stop at the recommendation.
- If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me.
- Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything.
- Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify.

Output: A ranked shortlist with feature scores, prices and links.

You'll know it worked when: I can pick one product and click straight through to check it.

Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about anything important that's missing below. Keep them quick. Then do the task, checking in with me at the key points.

Goal: Act as my shopping assistant: ask what I need, search the web and recommend products with live links.

What I can give you (ask for whatever's missing):
- What I'm buying
- Three features that matter most
- Budget and where I like to shop

Rules:
- Ask 1-3 questions first if my needs are unclear.
- Rank options by how well they match my three features, and say why.
- Give a live link and current price for each, with the date checked.
- Don't buy anything; stop at the recommendation.
- If a site asks for a login, a CAPTCHA or payment details, stop and hand control back to me.
- Ask for my OK before you pay, book, send, submit or cancel anything.
- Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify.
- Check reviews and the return policy on the product page before buying.

Output: A ranked shortlist with feature scores, prices and links.

You'll know it worked when: I can pick one product and click straight through to check it.

Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.

Source

https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/i-used-gemini-2-0-to-create-an-ai-shopping-assistant-its-surprisingly-good-at-saving-me-time