When people ask an AI assistant what to buy or where to go, businesses usually have little say in how they appear. On November 10, 2026, OpenAI introduced Businesses in ChatGPT, a beta that lets companies claim a verified profile, keep their details current and, for some, talk to customers through a Business Agent.
OpenAI says ChatGPT reaches 1.2 billion people each week, which is the audience it is pitching to businesses. The launch has two main pieces: a self-service Business Hub and the Business Agents that sit on top of it.
Claiming a business in ChatGPT
In Business Hub, a company can claim its organization and, once verified, update key details and add self-service product feeds with pricing and availability. The idea is that ChatGPT can describe products and services using accurate, up-to-date information supplied by the business itself rather than whatever it can find elsewhere.
OpenAI says any eligible business located where ChatGPT is available can claim a profile. Existing OpenAI Enterprise customers and advertisers can work through their OpenAI representative. Shopify merchants can connect a store from Business Hub or the Shopify admin to streamline verification, and eligible Shopify products are already integrated through Shopify Catalog.
Insights without reading conversations
Business Hub also offers aggregated insights: how many times a business is mentioned, how many website clicks it receives, and “discovery topics,” the common themes in conversations where its website is cited. These can show how a business is represented and where its information could improve.
OpenAI stresses privacy here. It says it does not share users’ conversations or Business Agent chats with businesses, and insights appear only when enough conversations or interactions meet certain thresholds.
Business Agents
After claiming a profile, eligible organizations can build, test and launch a Business Agent. When a business appears in a ChatGPT answer, people can open its profile and, if an agent exists, choose to start a conversation to explore offerings and ask follow-ups. OpenAI’s example is a shopper comparing two products and asking which features fit their needs, with the agent answering from the business’s own information.
The company says the Business Agent conversation is clearly labeled, kept separate from the customer’s original ChatGPT conversation, and distinct from ChatGPT’s independent answers. Businesses can also sponsor their Business Agent and use it as the destination for ChatGPT Ads, with sponsored placements labeled and separate from ChatGPT responses.
Business Agents are available now to eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the United States, with eligible categories set out in OpenAI’s Business Agents policy.
How the pieces fit together
The flow OpenAI describes is simple. A business claims its profile and supplies product feeds. ChatGPT can then surface that profile when the business appears in a model response. A customer who wants more can open the profile, visit the website, or start a chat with the Business Agent if one exists. Behind the scenes, the Hub reports mentions, clicks and discovery topics back to the business.
That loop matters because it connects three things that used to live apart: the information a company publishes, the answer an assistant gives, and the follow-up conversation. OpenAI calls the launch the foundation for bringing businesses more deeply into ChatGPT, starting with accurate information, useful insights and conversations that help people make informed decisions. Its stated priority throughout is protecting the trust people place in ChatGPT.
Because the product is in beta, details such as eligible categories and policies may change. Businesses interested in joining should read OpenAI’s Business Agents policy before building an agent.
What it means
For small and mid-size companies, this is a new kind of storefront: a profile inside an assistant that people already use to compare options. Keeping product feeds accurate may matter as much as a website once more shoppers start with a chat. The insights dashboard also gives a first view of how an AI assistant mentions a brand, something that has been hard to measure.
For customers, the labeling and separation of Business Agent chats are the key trust features to watch. Sponsored placements, brand agents and independent answers will sit close together, so clear labels will matter in practice.
Open questions include how verification works at scale, how well agents stay within the data a business provides, and how quickly coverage expands beyond the U.S. and beyond ecommerce. OpenAI says it plans to expand to more markets and business categories and to build tools for organizations with more complex needs.
Conclusion
Businesses in ChatGPT is an early step, and OpenAI describes it that way. But it points to a near future where being discoverable means maintaining a verified profile and a conversational agent inside the assistants people already use, alongside a website and search listing.