Sacha Lefebvre Founder, Paid Ai Search · LinkedIn

Issue 9 - Sources

Primary sources and screenshots behind every factual claim in Issue 9.

Republic of Tea ranks first on Google for “green matcha tea,” a keyword with over 100,000 monthly searches.

Image 1: Google results for “green matcha tea,” June 6, 2026. Screenshot on file.

Republic of Tea ranking first on Google for green matcha tea

Republic of Tea’s product page lists “Japanese matcha from premium tencha leaves” but does not state region, cultivar, harvest, or producer.

Image 2: Republic of Tea matcha product page, June 6, 2026. Screenshot on file.

Republic of Tea product page missing region, cultivar, and harvest detail

ChatGPT recommended Encha, Matchaful, Ippodo, Kettl, and Matcha Konomi, and explained the picks by Japanese sourcing, packaging, color/freshness, reviews, and clear intended use. Republic of Tea did not appear across three fresh sessions.

Image 3: ChatGPT response to “recommend me some green matcha tea,” June 6, 2026. Screenshot on file.

ChatGPT explaining why it recommends Encha, Matchaful, Ippodo, Kettl, and Matcha Konomi

Republic of Tea’s own matcha guide acknowledges Japanese quality is judged by leaf color, harvest time, cultivar, growing region, and processing method.

The Republic of Tea, “Matcha Green Tea.” https://www.republicoftea.com/matcha-tea/c/matcha/

ChatGPT shopping research is an intermediary that pulls product details from sources and brings options back for users to refine.

OpenAI, “Introducing shopping research in ChatGPT,” November 24, 2025. https://openai.com/index/chatgpt-shopping-research/

ChatGPT shopping weighs availability, price, quality, seller status, and checkout support when deciding which merchants to surface.

OpenAI, “Buy it in ChatGPT: Instant Checkout and the Agentic Commerce Protocol.” https://openai.com/index/buy-it-in-chatgpt/

Merchants can provide a direct product feed so ChatGPT reflects more accurate product information.

OpenAI Help Center, “Shopping with ChatGPT Search.” https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11128490-shopping-with-chatgpt-search

Correction policy

If any claim in Issue 9 or in this sources post is wrong, it will be corrected here. Corrections are dated and attributed. We do not silently edit. See the commit history for a full record of changes. Email sacha@paidaisearch.com to flag an error.