OpenAI's Businesses in ChatGPT beta lets you claim a verified profile, add product feeds, see mentions and clicks, and in the US publish a Business Agent. How it works and what it won't do.
OpenAI introduced Businesses in ChatGPT in beta on November 10, 2026. In OpenAI's words ↗, it gives companies "a new way to connect with the 1.2 billion people who use ChatGPT each week." It has two parts:
Business Hub, where you claim your company's profile, keep its details current, add product feeds and see insights.
Business Agents, a chat that represents your business inside ChatGPT. It starts with eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the US.
TechCrunch ↗ said it makes ChatGPT "just a little bit more like Google." The Verge ↗ and VentureBeat ↗ covered it too.
| Feature | Who can use it | Key limits |
|---|---|---|
| Claim a profile | Eligible businesses where ChatGPT is available | Local stores: existing US listings only |
| Insights | Verified profiles | 28 days, aggregated, no prompts |
| Product feeds | Verified sellers | CSV, hosted URL or Shopify |
| Business Agent | US ecommerce and online services with a website | Can't sell, book or check orders |
The rules come from OpenAI's Business Hub help article ↗. You don't need an ads account or a ChatGPT Enterprise contract to claim a profile. VentureBeat, citing Digiday, reports that claiming a profile and publishing an agent are free at launch. OpenAI's VP of monetization left room to charge later.
Open Business Hub from the ChatGPT sidebar and search for your business.
Verify with one of the methods offered: business phone (SMS or call), business email, a DNS TXT record on your domain, or your Shopify store.
Wait for OpenAI to approve the claim by email.
Complete identity verification with Persona. You need this before you can publish changes, connect a feed, see insights or build an agent. You may need a government ID and business registration documents.
The blue check only appears after Persona approves you. Claiming alone doesn't get you the badge. If someone else already claimed your listing, there's a "Dispute ownership" option in the profile menu.
This is the part site owners will care about most. After verification, Insights shows the past 28 days:
Mentions. For an online business, a mention counts only "when ChatGPT references the business's website. The brand name alone doesn't count." For a local business, it counts when ChatGPT shows that location.
Website clicks from ChatGPT to your site.
Discovery topics: "common themes in ChatGPT answers that mentioned or cited your business."
You don't get individual prompts or conversations, including chats with your own Business Agent. A blank metric "doesn't necessarily mean zero activity." It can mean you haven't reached the reporting threshold yet.
OpenAI is also clear about one thing: claiming your profile "doesn't guarantee increased visibility," and "advertising doesn't influence ChatGPT's independent answers." The agent can be sponsored and used as a destination for ChatGPT Ads, but those placements are labeled.
SEO people compared it to tools they already use. "ChatGPT just got its own version of Google Business Profile," wrote Noah Igler ↗. "Kind of a Search Console for ChatGPT, but without the queries," posted @luseen_ai ↗.
Outside the US, some hit a wall. "Tried to claim SEO for Small Business Australia in ChatGPT today. Waitlist," wrote Bill Vasiliadis ↗. He still argued that "the 'we can't measure AI search' conversation is over."
On Hacker News ↗, juddlyon ↗, writing as a marketer, was "glad this is finally available," because "so far only Bing Webmaster Tools has offered anything of value" for first-party AI data. Others saw ads coming. "Here we go, the ad machine is beginning to whir," wrote crsv ↗.
Reddit wasn't reachable for this story, so these reactions come from X and Hacker News.
If you run a website or an online store, claim your profile this week. It's free right now, and DNS verification is quick if you control your domain. More importantly, this is first-party data from OpenAI on how ChatGPT sends people to you. Third-party "AI visibility" trackers can only estimate that, even if Business Hub won't show you prompts.
Don't expect it to raise your rankings. OpenAI says claiming doesn't change ChatGPT's independent answers. The value is accurate details (prices, return policy, delivery) and measurement. What gets you cited is still the content on your site.
Be careful with the Business Agent. It can only answer from what you give it and link to your site. It can't take orders or bookings. Test it with your most common customer question before you publish, as OpenAI suggests. A wrong answer about your return policy would appear under your verified name. If you need a support bot that does more than answer questions, our no-code AI agent builders review covers tools for building your own.
Shoppers should notice the label. A Business Agent chat is the seller talking, not ChatGPT's own answer. OpenAI keeps the two separate and labeled. For independent comparisons, other assistants are in our ChatGPT alternatives guide.