OpenAI opened Businesses in ChatGPT in beta on November 10, 2026. Through a new Business Hub, a company can claim its profile, correct the details ChatGPT shows about it, and check how often it shows up in answers and how many people click through to its site. Access is narrower than the name suggests: claiming starts with eligible businesses that have a website, and Business Agents, the part that chats with customers, are limited to some online businesses in the United States.
Two limits matter before anyone spends time on it. OpenAI’s product page says claiming does not guarantee higher placement or sales, and OpenAI has not published a price or a full list of eligible industries. We have not claimed a business ourselves; this explainer is based on OpenAI’s announcement, help center, and policies.
Businesses in ChatGPT at a glance
- Launched: November 10, 2026, in beta
- Where it lives: Business Hub, opened from the ChatGPT sidebar
- Three parts: a business profile, insights, and an optional Business Agent
- Audience size, per OpenAI: 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT each week
- Price: not published. No ads account or ChatGPT Enterprise agreement is needed to claim
- Business Agents: eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the United States only
What is new
1. A profile a company can claim and correct
Once a claim and the identity check are approved, a company can update its website, description, product or service category, logo, delivery policy, and return policy, and add a cover photo. Retailers can connect a product feed with prices and availability, including a Shopify feed.
Edits are not instant and not final. OpenAI’s help center says OpenAI reviews and publishes changes, updates can take time to appear, and ChatGPT may also use other sources when it answers questions about the business.
2. Verification in two stages
The first stage proves a link to the business. The options are a code by text message or automated call to the business phone, a code to the business email, a TXT record in the domain’s DNS settings, or a Shopify login. OpenAI then reviews the claim and sends its decision by email.
The second stage is an identity check run by Persona. It may ask for a government-issued ID, business registration information, and proof of authority to represent the business. Without it, a company cannot publish changes, connect a feed, view insights, or create an agent. The blue check on a profile appears only after this stage is approved.
One detail is easy to miss. A published profile stays up: the help center says support will not remove or hide it during a setup or ownership request, and deletion works only for drafts that were never published.
3. Insights that count references, not conversations
Insights show aggregate activity over the past 28 days in three measures.
| Measure | What it counts | What it does not show |
|---|---|---|
| Mentions, online business | Answers where ChatGPT references the business’s website | Answers that only name the brand |
| Mentions, local business | Answers that show a result for that location | Whether the person opened the listing |
| Website clicks | Clicks from ChatGPT through to the website | Purchases, bookings, or enquiries |
| Discovery topics | Common themes in answers that mentioned or cited the business | Individual prompts or customer intent |
Businesses never receive individual prompts or conversations. Figures show up only once activity passes a reporting threshold, and OpenAI keeps that threshold private. An empty field can therefore hide real activity.
4. Business Agents for some online businesses
A Business Agent is an AI agent that answers questions about one company’s products and policies using information the company provides. According to the announcement, the chat is clearly labeled and separate from the person’s original ChatGPT conversation. The agent can explain and link to the company’s website. It cannot complete purchases, make bookings, or check an order.
The Business Agents Policy sets the rules. An agent must be clear that it is AI representing the business, must not be set up to pressure people or create false urgency, and must not give advice that legally requires a professional license. Companies can sponsor an agent through ChatGPT Ads, and OpenAI says sponsored placements are labeled and that advertising does not influence ChatGPT’s independent answers.
Who can use which part
| Feature | Who can use it on November 11, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Claim a profile | Eligible businesses with a website, where ChatGPT is available and verification is supported |
| Add a business that has no listing | Eligible online businesses may see the option |
| Local stores and restaurants | Only listings that already exist, and only in the United States |
| Insights | Any claimed business after the Persona check is approved |
| Business Agent | Eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the United States with a website |
Eligibility also depends on industry and on OpenAI’s verification and integrity checks. The Businesses in ChatGPT policy says not every business can create or claim a profile and that requirements may change over time.
What it means for marketers and site owners
The way mentions are counted is the most practical detail for anyone working on visibility in AI answers. For an online business, ChatGPT naming the brand is not recorded as a mention; a reference to the website is. A site that ChatGPT can cite therefore matters more to these reports than brand awareness alone.
The insights are also coarser than search analytics. There is no query report, topics are aggregate themes, and small numbers stay hidden. A useful first check is whether a discovery topic points to something the company no longer offers, which is a cue to correct the profile.
A claimed profile is a way to supply accurate information, not a ranking lever. Our guides to ChatGPT for SEO and ChatGPT for business cover the wider workflow.
What changes for people who use ChatGPT
When a business appears in an answer, people can open its ChatGPT profile, and a blue check shows that the company has passed the identity check. If the company has published an agent, a person can choose to start a conversation with it. That chat speaks for the company, so treat its answers as the company’s own description of its products and not as ChatGPT’s independent comparison.
Published versus not published
| Question | Status on November 11, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Price of claiming a profile | Not published |
| Full list of eligible industries | Not published. The policy describes principles, not a list |
| Reporting threshold for insights | Not published |
| Review time for claims and identity checks | “Review time varies” |
| More countries and business types | Planned “over time”, no dates |
| What to do if Business Hub is missing from the sidebar | Not covered in the help center |