As of 13 August 2026, AI can compare product catalogues from different suppliers.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, power-user skill, and roughly 1 hour until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open the current catalogue or price list for each supplier and save the complete PDFs or spreadsheets, including specification pages, price pages and delivery terms.
   2. Gather the product categories, required specifications, delivery location, VAT treatment and purchasing constraints that matter to your business.
   3. Paste the prompt into a chatbot and attach the catalogues, replacing the bracketed requirements with your information.
   4. Ask the model to produce the comparison table, unmatched-product sections and list of ambiguous matches using only the attached catalogues.
   5. Open the original catalogues beside the result and check every product code, unit, pack size, price, VAT entry, lead time and minimum order against its source.
   6. Send the flagged ambiguous matches and any missing questions to the relevant suppliers, then add their written answers to the comparison.
   7. Ask a colleague who understands the products or purchasing rules to approve the final matches before using the table for an order.

   Prompt

   Compare the supplier catalogues I provide below. Do not assume that products are equivalent because their names look similar. Extract and standardise, where available: supplier, product name, supplier product code, brand, model, description, dimensions, materials, unit of sale, pack size, price, VAT status, delivery charge, minimum order, lead time, availability, warranty and relevant certifications. Create a table with one row per possible product match and separate columns for each supplier. Include unmatched products in separate sections. Show the original catalogue wording beside any normalised value. Flag missing, conflicting or ambiguous information rather than filling gaps. Distinguish differences in product specification from differences in commercial terms. Calculate no totals or savings unless the necessary figures and units are explicit, and show the calculation if you do. End with a list of questions I should ask each supplier before ordering. Treat the catalogues as the only source of facts.
   
   Supplier A catalogue:
   [PASTE OR ATTACH CATALOGUE]
   
   Supplier B catalogue:
   [PASTE OR ATTACH CATALOGUE]
   
   Optional comparison requirements:
   [ADD PRODUCT CATEGORIES, REQUIRED SPECIFICATIONS, DELIVERY LOCATION AND ANY TERMS THAT MATTER]
   
   Return the comparison in a format I can paste into a spreadsheet, followed by a short list of matches that need a human decision. Do not recommend a supplier and do not claim that two products are interchangeable without evidence in the catalogues.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.