OpenAI lets businesses claim ChatGPT profiles and run their own Business Agents

OpenAI announced the beta in a post on its own site. The Next Web and Digiday covered the details the same day. The pitch is reach: OpenAI says about 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT every week.

For sales and marketing teams, this turns ChatGPT into a storefront you can partly manage, a bit like a business listing on a map app. The difference is that the listing can now talk back to buyers on your behalf.

Many companies won't qualify yet. B2B firms, local service businesses and anyone outside the US can't publish a Business Agent today, and even eligible brands only get themes back, not transcripts. Teams that want an assistant they fully control can start with a lean MVP of their own on-site sales assistant, test it on real enquiries and keep every conversation in their own CRM.

What did OpenAI launch?

OpenAI launched two connected tools under one beta, Businesses in ChatGPT:

• Business Hub is the control panel for a company's presence in ChatGPT. It is open to eligible businesses in every market where ChatGPT is available.
• Business Agents are branded chat agents that answer questions about a company's products, services and policies. Only eligible ecommerce and online-service businesses in the US can publish one.

Both are free at launch. OpenAI says it will extend them to more markets and business categories over time, without giving dates.

What does Business Hub give a business?

Business Hub gives a verified business a blue check and control over the facts ChatGPT shows about it. According to The Next Web, a business can:

• claim its profile and update its details;
• add product feeds with prices and availability;
• see aggregated numbers: how often ChatGPT mentions it, how many people click through to its website and which topics come up in those conversations.

OpenAI says it does not share individual ChatGPT conversations with businesses. The insight layer is aggregated, so you learn what people ask about, not who asked.

How do Business Agents work?

A Business Agent answers in a separate, clearly labelled chat that opens from the company's profile. When a business appears in a ChatGPT answer, a user can open the profile and talk to the agent, which replies from the company's own product details.

What rules do the agents follow?

• An agent must say it is an AI.
• Prices must stay accurate, and pressure tactics are not allowed.
• A purchase or sharing of personal data needs the user's explicit approval.
• For now, buyers are sent to the brand's own website to check out. The Next Web reports OpenAI is building agent payments with Visa.

How do the agents connect to ChatGPT Ads?

The same agent can be sold as an ad. Businesses can sponsor their Business Agent as the landing spot for ChatGPT Ads, building on the Sponsored Agents format OpenAI began testing in September. OpenAI told Digiday the business agent is "the organic experience" and the sponsored agent "the paid experience", with the same agent behind both. Digiday also reports that paying does not change how often ChatGPT recommends a business.

OpenAI's ad business passed a $1 billion annual run rate in August and now has 100,000 advertisers, according to The Next Web.

What does it mean for small sales and marketing teams?

• Your product data becomes your pitch. The agent answers from the feed and details you supply. Out-of-date prices or vague descriptions get repeated straight to buyers.
• Leads arrive without their history. You won't get transcripts, so the context a sales rep would normally see in the CRM stays with OpenAI. Only the click-through reaches your website, which makes good landing pages and forms more important. Our CRM integration guide covers how to keep web leads flowing into one record.
• Topic insights are a free research feed. The themes Business Hub reports are a way to see which questions buyers ask before they reach you. Use them to sharpen segments and nurture content.
• The chat window keeps winning. After Attentive opened its data to ChatGPT and Claude, this is another sign that vendors expect more sales and marketing work to happen inside the chat window.

What should you do this week?

1. Claim your profile. If your business is eligible, claim it in Business Hub and fix any wrong details ChatGPT shows today.
2. Audit your product facts. Check prices, availability and policies in one place before feeding them to an agent that will quote them word for word.
3. Tag the traffic. Make sure visits from ChatGPT are tracked separately in analytics and land on pages with a form that writes to your CRM.
4. Decide on ads later. Start with the free, organic agent and compare its click-throughs before paying to sponsor it.

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