Businesses in ChatGPT: OpenAI Opens Business Profiles. What a Small Company Can Do Today
OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta: companies claim their profile, update their information and see how people find them. Who can do it, how it works and what it means outside the US.
Source: OpenAI, openai.com
More and more people ask ChatGPT which product to buy or which shop to go to. Now OpenAI is giving businesses an official way to have a say in how they show up in those answers.
On 10 November OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta. Companies can claim their profile, manage their information and see how people interact with them inside ChatGPT. Eligible ones can also create a Business Agent that answers customer questions.
In this pill we look at what changes, who can do it and what the steps are. Everything here comes from OpenAI's announcement and the official guide in its help center. We have not used Business Hub on a real company yet.
Before we start: 4 words to know
- Profile: your company's page inside ChatGPT, with website, contacts, description and products. People open it when ChatGPT mentions your company in an answer.
- Claim: proving to OpenAI that the business is yours, or that you are authorized to represent it, so you can manage its profile.
- Business Hub: the space inside ChatGPT where you claim and manage the profile.
- Business Agent: an AI assistant for your company that answers customers using the information you give it.
What changes, in plain words
According to OpenAI, 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT every week. With Businesses in ChatGPT a company gets three new things:
- A profile to manage. Once verified, you can update key details and, if you sell products, add a product feed with prices and availability.
- Data on how people find you. Business Hub shows mentions, clicks to your website and the topics of conversations where your website is cited.
- An agent that answers customers. Eligible businesses can build, test and launch a Business Agent.
Source: OpenAI, openai.com
Who can do it, and what about Europe?
This needs a careful read, because there are two different rules.
Claiming a profile. OpenAI writes that any eligible business located where ChatGPT is available can do it. The guide adds that availability depends on the business's location and type, and that a supported verification method is required. You don't need an Ads account or a ChatGPT Enterprise agreement.
Creating a Business Agent. For now this is limited to ecommerce and online service businesses in the United States with a website that meet the industry requirements in OpenAI's policy.
And Italy, or Europe? OpenAI names neither. ChatGPT is available in Italy, but the guide also says that local stores and restaurants can currently claim only an existing US listing. For an Italian online shop or online service, the honest way to find out is to open Business Hub and see whether your company shows up and which verification methods you are offered.
OpenAI says it plans to bring Businesses in ChatGPT and Business Agents to more markets and categories over time, with no dates.
How to claim your profile
According to OpenAI's official guide, these are the steps:
- Sign in to ChatGPT and open Business Hub from the sidebar. Search for your business by name.
- Pick the right listing and confirm the ChatGPT account you will use to manage it.
- Verify your link to the business with one of the methods offered: business phone, business email, website domain (by adding a TXT record to your DNS) or Shopify store.
- Wait for approval. OpenAI reviews the claim and replies by email.
- Complete identity verification with Persona. You need it to publish changes, see insights and create an agent. You may need a government ID, business registration details and proof that you can represent the business. Once approved, the profile gets a blue check.
If your business doesn't show up and you sell online, you may see an option to add it. If someone else has already claimed it, the profile menu has a Dispute ownership option.
A useful detail: whoever claimed the profile can add teammates or give an agency access, each with their own ChatGPT account.
What the data shows
Business Hub shows aggregated data for the last 28 days:
- Mentions: for an online business they count only when ChatGPT references your website, the brand name alone is not enough.
- Website clicks: how many people go from ChatGPT to your site.
- Discovery topics: recurring themes in the answers where you appear.
Source: OpenAI, openai.com
The numbers in the video are OpenAI's example, not real data. OpenAI states that it does not share people's conversations with businesses, including Business Agent chats, and that data only appears above certain thresholds. A blank metric does not necessarily mean zero activity.
The Business Agent: what it does and what it doesn't
When your company appears in an answer, people can open its profile and, if there is an agent, choose to talk to it. For example, someone comparing two products can ask about the differences and which one fits their needs. The conversation is clearly labeled and kept separate from the original chat and from ChatGPT's independent answers.
Source: OpenAI, openai.com
To set it up, the guide says, you review the information it will use, write instructions on how it should answer, test it with a common customer question and then select Publish. Customers can only chat with a published agent.
What it does not do today: according to OpenAI it doesn't complete purchases, take bookings or check orders. It explains products and policies and links to your website. Businesses can also sponsor their agent with ChatGPT Ads, and those placements are labeled as sponsored.
What a small company can do today
Without promising anything OpenAI doesn't say, here are three sensible steps:
- Search for your company in Business Hub. It is the fastest way to see whether the feature is already open for you.
- Fix your information at the source. OpenAI writes that ChatGPT may also use other sources and that claiming a profile doesn't guarantee more visibility. A clear website, with prices, return policy and up-to-date contacts, is still the foundation.
- Prepare tomorrow's answers today. The questions customers ask most often, written well, will be useful for a Business Agent if and when it reaches your market.
In short
Businesses in ChatGPT is OpenAI's first step toward giving companies a profile they can manage inside ChatGPT: up-to-date information, aggregated insights and, for some US businesses, an agent that answers customers. It is a beta, and OpenAI gives no clear indication yet for Italy or Europe.
Want to understand how ChatGPT and other AI assistants describe your company? Get in touch and let's talk.
In short: With Businesses in ChatGPT a company can claim its profile in ChatGPT, keep it up to date and see aggregated data on mentions and clicks. Business Agents, the assistants that answer customers, are for now limited to some online businesses in the US. OpenAI does not name Italy or Europe: the practical move is to search for your company in Business Hub and see what is available.
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