Which tool to choose
These are two different jobs and they call for two different qualities.
- To search for new suppliers you need an AI that reads the web in real time and cites the source: Perplexity is built for this, it returns every statement with the link it took it from, and it lets you unmask an invented supplier on the spot. Alternatively, the web-search-enabled versions of ChatGPT and Gemini work fine.
- To compare quotes you already have, what counts is the ability to read messy documents and order them into a table. Here ChatGPT and Claude work well even on uploaded PDFs and spreadsheets; Claude handles long, item-dense comparisons better.
If a tool doesn't show you the web-search button, write it directly in the text: ask the AI to "search online and cite the sources". Interfaces shift, the instruction in words stays valid.
How to do it
The path is the same on computer and app: only the convenience of pasting the documents changes.
- Define what you're looking for in one line. Type of good or service, area, order volume, constraints (certifications, timing). The more precise you are, the less the AI fills the gaps at random.
- Ask for the suppliers with the source mandatory. The operative syntax:
Search the web for Italian wooden pallet suppliers for a small business that orders about 200 pieces a month. For each one give me: name, official website, location, price range if public, and the link to the page you took the information from. List only suppliers for which you find a verifiable online source; if you can't find the source, don't include them.
- Open the links and keep only the real suppliers. This is the step that separates a useful list from a dangerous one. If a link doesn't exist or leads to a different page, discard that name.
- Gather the real quotes (emails, PDFs, sheets) and paste or upload them all into the same chat.
- Ask for the comparison table with a ban on inventing. The operative syntax:
Act as an expert buyer. Below are five quotes for the supply of pallets. Put them in a single table with these columns: supplier, total price, unit price, delivery times, payment terms, extra costs (shipping, VAT, minimum orders). Convert everything into euros and into the same unit of measure. If a figure isn't written in the quote, report "not indicated"; don't estimate it. At the bottom, list the non-comparable items as they are and tell me what information is missing to make them comparable.
After this step, check two or three cells at random against the original quote: it's the fastest way to notice if the AI misread a number.
A concrete example
Marta runs a small cosmetics e-commerce and needs to stock up on shipping boxes. She asks Perplexity for Italian packaging suppliers for small volumes: she gets six names, each with a link to the website. Two links lead to non-existent pages and she discards them at once. She contacts the remaining four and receives four quotes, two in PDF and two in the body of an email, with different units (per box and per pallet).
She pastes everything into ChatGPT with the table prompt. In thirty seconds she has the comparison on equal units: she discovers that the supplier with the lowest unit price imposes a minimum order double her needs, while the second, slightly more expensive, ships in 48 hours with no minimums. She chooses the second. The table showed her the hidden cost she hadn't spotted by eye.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If the AI invents suppliers or prices
It's the most insidious failure: AI can produce plausible but non-existent company names, or a believable price never published by anyone. That's why the prompt imposes the source and the "not indicated". The operative rule is only one: no supplier enters your short list without you having opened their real website, and no price counts until you read it in the original quote.
If the quotes are scanned PDFs
If a quote is the photo or scan of a sheet, the AI can misread the figures. First run the file through a free OCR (Optical Character Recognition, the recognition of text in images) service like iLovePDF or Adobe, which turns it into selectable text, and only then upload it to the chat.
If you're comparing non-comparable items
An "all-inclusive" quote and a "plus VAT and shipping" one don't compete on the bare price. When the AI flags the non-comparable items, go back to the supplier and ask for the missing figure, or ask the AI to calculate the realistic total cost by adding the missing items, declaring the estimates it made.
A tip from someone who really uses it
Keep a single chat per supplier-type and reuse it over time. When a new quote arrives for the same good, you paste it there and ask the AI to add it to the existing table: you notice at once whether the price has gone up or down compared to the last rounds. In a few months you have a small history of your suppliers without having built any spreadsheet by hand.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI contact the suppliers for me?
No, AI writes the email but doesn't send it: you make the contact. You can ask it to prepare a clear, courteous request for a quote, with the right questions about prices, times and terms, and then send it from your address after rereading it.
Do I have to pay to search for suppliers with AI?
No to start. The free versions of Perplexity, ChatGPT and Gemini search the web and give you the sources. The paid plans are useful if you do many searches a day or upload lots of heavy documents, because they raise the usage limits.
Can I trust the comparison table and sign the order?
No, and here lies the misunderstanding to clear up: AI doesn't assess a supplier's reliability, it reorders their data. The table is the starting point for deciding, not the decision. Reviews, the company's soundness and the test of the first order remain a judgment of yours, which no model can take on in place of your signature.