Meta Uses Generative AI to Drive More Sales on Instagram and Facebook

Meta is betting on AI commerce – and zeroing in on what actually drives purchases: product information and reviews.

At the Shoptalk 2026 conference this week, the company announced a new feature that gives consumers more product information and a summary of user reviews when they click on an ad or visit a website from Facebook or Instagram.

The concept is similar to what Amazon introduced in 2023, when it began using generative AI to summarize product reviews. Instead of requiring users to read through hundreds of comments, the AI provides a short paragraph summarizing what people think.

Meta is doing the same – but adding more. In the pop-up that appears, the AI feature can provide a round-up of "what people are saying" about the product, brand information, recommended products, and potential discounts. There's also a direct "Add to Cart" button.

The checkout flow is built in partnership with Stripe and PayPal, with Ayden and Shopify integrations coming. Customers complete the purchase without leaving Meta's app.

For advertisers, this is a dream: the user sees an ad, reads an AI-generated summary of others' opinions, and buys – all in one flow. For Meta, it's a way to make ad space more valuable without raising prices.

The question is whether consumers trust AI-generated review summaries enough to act on them. Amazon has shown it works in a search context. Meta is now betting it also works in a social context – where impulse purchases are already high.