OpenAI launches ChatGPT Business Hub for companies

OpenAI has introduced Businesses in ChatGPT in beta, including a Business Hub that lets companies claim and manage their presence in ChatGPT.

The service is aimed at the 1.2 billion people who use ChatGPT each week.

Through Business Hub, eligible businesses in markets where ChatGPT is available can claim their organisation, verify it and update key information. They can also add self-service product feeds with pricing and availability, giving ChatGPT access to business-supplied details about products and services.

Existing enterprise customers and advertisers can work through their company representative to claim their business. Shopify merchants can connect their store through Business Hub or the Shopify admin system to streamline verification. Eligible products from Shopify merchants are already integrated into ChatGPT through the Shopify Catalog.

Insights tools

Business Hub also includes analytics intended to show how people engage with a business in ChatGPT. These aggregated insights include the number of mentions a business receives, website clicks and discovery topics, which OpenAI describes as common themes across conversations where a business website is cited.

The data is designed to protect user privacy. Businesses do not get access to individual user conversations or Business Agent chats, and insights are available only when interaction volumes meet specified thresholds.

The move gives companies a formal way to influence how they appear in ChatGPT responses at a time when consumers increasingly use AI tools to research products, compare options and decide which providers to use. It also gives OpenAI another way to deepen commercial relationships with merchants and service providers seeking visibility in AI-driven search and recommendation tools.

Business Agents

Alongside the hub, OpenAI is rolling out Business Agents for eligible eCommerce and online service businesses in the United States. After claiming its profile, a business can build, test and launch a Business Agent that users can speak to directly when exploring its products or services.

When a business appears in a model response, users can click through to its ChatGPT profile. If a Business Agent is available, they can start a separate conversation with the business to ask follow-up questions about its offerings.

These conversations are clearly labelled and kept separate from a user's original ChatGPT discussion, as well as from ChatGPT's own independent responses. OpenAI said this structure is intended to make clear whether a user is receiving an answer from ChatGPT or from the business itself.

The system is designed for common buying journeys. OpenAI gave the example of a user comparing two products and asking which features best fit their needs, with the Business Agent responding using information supplied by the business.

Commercial model

OpenAI is also linking the new business tools to advertising. Businesses can sponsor their Business Agent and use it as the destination for ChatGPT ads, allowing users to move from an advert into a direct exchange with the company inside ChatGPT.

Sponsored placements are clearly labelled and kept separate from standard ChatGPT responses. That distinction addresses one of the central issues for AI platforms introducing commercial content: how to monetise user attention without blurring the line between independent answers and paid placements.

For OpenAI, the beta launch extends a broader effort to turn ChatGPT into a platform where users not only ask questions but also interact directly with merchants and service providers. Rather than limiting business participation to advertising or passive listings, the new approach creates a managed profile, a feed of structured business information and, in some cases, a conversational channel operated by the company.

Wider push

The rollout begins with what OpenAI described as the foundations of a business presence in ChatGPT: accurate information, engagement data and direct conversations. It plans to widen access over time to more markets and categories, while also developing tools for organisations with more complex requirements.

That points to a larger contest over how AI assistants will shape digital discovery. Search engines, marketplaces and social platforms have long mediated how businesses are found online. By giving companies tools to manage profiles, submit product data and interact with potential customers inside ChatGPT, OpenAI is positioning its assistant as another venue for commercial discovery and customer enquiries.

Business Agents are available only to eligible eCommerce and online service businesses in the United States, while Business Hub is launching globally for eligible businesses wherever ChatGPT is available.