IndiaMART sues OpenAI for allegedly excluding its platform from ChatGPT search results
IndiaMART filed a lawsuit in India's Calcutta High Court alleging that ChatGPT deliberately and systematically excludes its platform from AI-generated search results while displaying competitors like DHgate, Pinduoduo, and Taobao. The court found a prima facie case of selective discrimination without logical justification, noting the exclusion causes commercial injury and loss of goodwill to the marketplace.
What happened
IndiaMART filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in the Calcutta High Court, alleging that ChatGPT 'specifically and consciously' excluded its website and listings from AI-generated search results while displaying competitor platforms including DHgate, Pinduoduo, Shopee, and Taobao.
On December 24, 2025, Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur observed that a strong prima facie case of 'selective discrimination' had been made, noting that the exclusion appeared to be 'without any logic.' The court acknowledged that such exclusion causes direct commercial injury, loss of goodwill, and trade libel through implied disparagement.
Reported impact
IndiaMART, one of India's largest B2B marketplaces with a presence in 40 countries and a 3,000-member workforce, faces significant economic harm as users increasingly use ChatGPT to discover products and suppliers.
Index analysis
IndiaMART alleged that OpenAI justified the exclusion based on reports from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which had previously flagged IndiaMART regarding counterfeit concerns.
IndiaMART argued that OpenAI's application of these reports was arbitrary, as other international entities mentioned in the same USTR reports, such as Taobao, were not excluded from ChatGPT. The marketplace claimed it was never given notice or an opportunity to defend itself against the USTR findings before being 'de-indexed' by the AI.
Governance controls
The plea before Justice Ravi Krishna Kapur sought a declaration that the USTR reviews containing findings against IndiaMART were not binding on ChatGPT and could not exclude its website and listings from search results generated on AI engines.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.