OpenAI Lets Businesses Claim ChatGPT Profiles and Publish Shopper-Facing Agents

OpenAI announced Tuesday a beta called Businesses in ChatGPT that lets any eligible company claim a profile inside the chatbot and lets U.S. online retailers and service providers publish an AI agent that answers shoppers' questions on their behalf. The launch gives companies a direct channel into a product OpenAI says reaches 1.2 billion people a week, and it pairs an organic listing with a paid ad format in which a business can sponsor its agent as the destination for a ChatGPT ad. Both the profile and the agent are free at launch.

The move matters because discovery is shifting. OpenAI said people increasingly turn to ChatGPT to find products and compare options, and businesses until now had no way to control what the chatbot says about them or to measure how often it sends users to their sites. Businesses in ChatGPT addresses both gaps, and it arrives as third-party firms sell AI visibility tracking to brands that want the same answers.

What does a claimed profile include?

Claiming is the simpler half of the product. After OpenAI approves a claim, the owner completes an identity check through Persona and can then edit the business's description, logo, and return and delivery policies, and upload a product feed with prices and availability. A blue check marks a verified profile. Shopify merchants can connect their stores to speed up verification.

Business Hub, the dashboard, reports mentions, website clicks, and "discovery topics" — the themes in answers that cited the business — for the past 28 days. OpenAI said it does not share users' conversations or agent chats with businesses.

The dashboard stops short of full transparency. OpenAI's help center says the topics "don't reveal individual prompts or directly measure customer intent." An OpenAI spokesperson told Digiday that "Share of voice isn't part of this beta."

Greg Isenberg, CEO of Late Checkout and host of The Startup Ideas Podcast, posted ten numbered reactions to the launch and called the product feed "your new seo." He faulted the dashboard's limits: it "tells you how often chatgpt mentions you but HIDES the prompts and your competitors, so you still can't see why you're winning or losing."

Is this a Google My Business moment?

Isenberg thinks so. "this could be the google my business moment for ai," he wrote, noting that "a lot of agencies made a great living (millions!) in the 2010s just claiming and fixing listings for local businesses." His comparison suggests a new services market: intermediaries that manage business profiles and agent instructions inside ChatGPT, the way agencies managed local search listings a decade ago.

Debra Aho Williamson, founder of Sonata Insights, said the data OpenAI now provides directly will "take some of the power away from the third-party companies" that sell AI visibility tracking, though she expects demand for those services to remain strong.

How do the agents work?

The agent is the larger change. When ChatGPT names a business in an answer, a user can open its profile and, if the business has published an agent, start a separate, labeled chat with it — to ask how two products differ, for instance. The business supplies the information and instructions, previews the agent, and publishes it.

The limits are strict. Agents are available only to eligible U.S. ecommerce and online-service businesses with a website; local stores and restaurants can claim an existing U.S. listing but cannot publish an agent. The help center says an agent can explain products and policies and link to a company's website, but cannot complete purchases, make bookings, or check an order. Benji Shomair, OpenAI's vice president of monetization, said: "it's up to the business on how they want to close the transaction."

In OpenAI's demo video, a fictional toy shop called Colorful Clatter fills in its hours and product list, writes instructions for its agent, and clicks Publish. A shopper then asks for a gift for a 6-year-old niece who loves drawing, with a budget under $30. The agent suggests an $18 travel drawing kit and a $24 watercolor set.

Agents are built entirely from the instructions and product feed a business supplies. OpenAI does not let companies bring their own agent infrastructure. "We aren't allowing folks to bring their own agents," Shomair said. Isenberg warned that "every business agent runs on context the company writes, and most brands are going to be bad at it."

How do agents connect to ChatGPT's ads?

Shomair framed the two tiers plainly at a press briefing: "Think of the business agent as the organic experience. The sponsored agent is the paid experience, but the agent that sits behind it should be the same." OpenAI's help center says sponsored agents are in a limited test with selected advertisers. Isenberg identified what that changes for advertisers: ads "can now click through to a conversation with your agent instead of your website."

Business Hub and agents are free for now, and Shomair did not rule out charging later.

Does claiming improve ranking?

No. OpenAI says claiming "does not guarantee higher placement or sales," and ChatGPT will keep making independent recommendations. Shomair said claiming a business "should not have an impact on how frequently it appears," though fuller information could help ChatGPT surface a company in more relevant conversations. Companies with several brands must claim each one separately; OpenAI's help center says central management for a parent company is not yet available.

Will shoppers actually talk to brand agents?

Isenberg doubts it. "i'm not sure people want to talk to a brand's agent," he wrote. "i think they'll want their own agent to talk to it for them." That distinction — brand-side agents versus consumer-side agents negotiating on a shopper's behalf — frames the next stage of the market, and OpenAI's current product sits only on the brand side.

OpenAI said it plans to expand Businesses in ChatGPT and Business Agents to more markets and business categories, and to build tools for organizations with more complex needs. Shomair declined to share a timeline for further rollout, Digiday reported. Isenberg expects local services to follow: "plumbers, dentists etc are next," he wrote, "and so lots of opportunity to help main street here."