Using AI Chatbots to Identify Potential Suppliers
The 2025 tariff war has created a new workload for purchasing teams – first to understand the ever-changing tariffs and trade policies, then to implement actions to mitigate cost increases.
One of the mitigation strategies for manufacturers importing materials to the U.S. is to evaluate reshoring and nearshoring opportunities.
Finding capable suppliers can be time consuming. Luckily, the first step – identifying potential suppliers – is a task that AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot are well suited for.
Here are five tasks with example prompts you can adapt that don’t require a paid subscription and can save you hours of time.
1. Identify Suppliers with Specific Capabilities and Location
List your requirements that are likely to be available on company websites. Always confirm the results by checking the websites – AI chatbot results are good but not perfect.
“As a buyer for an automotive supplier, list 10 plastic injection molding suppliers that are IATF 16949 certified, have manufacturing locations in Northern Mexico, and identify overmolding as a service. Provide links to their web sites (English-language if available).”
2. Find All the Products or Services Available from Current Suppliers
Check if your current suppliers can provide additional products or services you need before searching for potential new suppliers.
“You are a buyer at a manufacturing company. Current suppliers for corrugated packaging include Golden West Packaging and Becket Packaging. Read the websites of these companies and for each company, create a bullet point list of products they offer in addition to corrugated packaging.”
3. Identify Alternative Suppliers for a Product or Service
Leverage AI to search the web for competitors to your current suppliers.
“You are a buyer at a manufacturing company. You currently buy hot-rolled steel coils for your Canadian plants from Samuel & Son, Yieh, and Diversified Ulbrich. Identify five other potential suppliers of hot-rolled steel coils that can deliver in Canada.”
4. Identify Established Foreign Suppliers that Manufacture in Your Region
Expand consideration of local suppliers to include foreign companies that have added or expanded operations in your geography.
“As a buyer, you want to identify suppliers of EPDM gaskets with headquarters located outside of the U.S. that have established or expanded manufacturing operations in the U.S. in the past four years. Search the web to create a table with up to 5 suppliers showing the company name, headquarters country, and url.”
5. Find Contact Information at Potential New Suppliers
Identify sales contacts and email addresses at potential alternative suppliers.
“Search the web to build a table with the names and titles of sales leaders (Vice Presidents or Directors of Sales or Business Development) at the following companies: Olympic Steel, Kloeckner Metals, Skana Aluminum, Atlas Steel. Include email addresses if available – if not available, include a contact us email address.”
Looking for more helpful tips for making AI work for you? Check out the AI for Procurement deep dive topic hub articles and on-demand webinars on getting the most out of AI for purchasing tasks.
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