Businesses in ChatGPT launched in beta on 10 November 2026. Claiming is free and takes minutes on Shopify. It gives you a verified profile, a Business Agent and your first AI search numbers, but it doesn't change how often ChatGPT recommends you.
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On 10 November 2026 OpenAI opened Businesses in ChatGPT in beta. Brands can now claim their profile in ChatGPT, verify it, add their own product, delivery and returns details, and, for US ecommerce stores, launch a Business Agent that shoppers can chat to inside ChatGPT. Shopify stores can connect in a few clicks.
It's free to claim at launch, and it's worth doing this week. But it's worth being clear about what it does and doesn't change, because the part most brands care about, whether ChatGPT recommends them in the first place, isn't part of it.
What OpenAI launched
- Business Hub: the place you claim and manage your business in ChatGPT, at chatgpt.com/business-hub. A claimed, verified profile gets a blue check.
- Profile details you control: website, description, category, logo, delivery and return policies, plus a product feed with prices and availability. OpenAI reviews edits before they go live.
- Insights: mentions, website clicks and discovery topics from conversations where ChatGPT cited your website. You never see the conversations themselves.
- Business Agents: for eligible US ecommerce and online-service businesses, an AI agent that answers questions about your products and policies when a shopper opens your profile. Conversations are labelled and kept separate from the shopper's own chat.
- An ads tie-in: you can sponsor your Business Agent and use it as the destination for ChatGPT ads. Sponsored placements are labelled.
OpenAI lists no fee for claiming. Ads are a separate, paid product.
How to claim your business in ChatGPT on Shopify
This is the flow in launch week. It's a beta, so screens may change.
- Open Business Hub. Sign in to ChatGPT and go to chatgpt.com/business-hub, or pick Business Hub in the sidebar.
- Search for your business. Find your listing and confirm which ChatGPT account will manage it. If the listing says "Contact support", it's locked and you'll need to ask OpenAI for access.
- Choose "Online store". At launch, physical locations and services weren't fully open yet.
- Verify your website with "Connect Shopify". Review the permissions and log in to your store. If you're not on Shopify, you can add a DNS TXT record to your domain instead, and some businesses are offered phone or email verification.
- Fill in the profile. Contact details, your category, what ChatGPT can share about you, and your delivery and returns policies. It saves as a draft.
- Wait for review, then verify your identity. OpenAI emails you when the claim is approved. Identity verification runs through Persona and can ask for government ID, business registration details and proof that you're authorised. The blue check, edits, feeds, insights and agents unlock after it.
- Check your catalog and your agent. Your Shopify catalog syncs to ChatGPT. Review the draft Business Agent, preview it, then publish it.
A few practical notes:
- Use a shared work account. Each teammate needs their own ChatGPT account, so decide up front who owns the profile.
- Get your policies right first. The agent answers from your delivery, returns and product information. If your returns page is out of date, the agent will repeat it.
- Already claimed by someone else? Open the profile, choose the "•••" menu and "Dispute ownership".
- Big advertisers and Enterprise customers claim through their OpenAI representative instead.
Who can claim right now
You need to be the owner or an authorised representative, and the business needs a website. Claiming is open where ChatGPT is available, but Business Agents are limited to ecommerce and online-service businesses in the US for now. OpenAI can turn a business down, and coverage of the launch differs on how open claiming is outside the US, so check your own account rather than assuming.
What the insights actually measure
Business Hub gives you three numbers over the last 28 days:
- Mentions: how many times ChatGPT referenced your website. Your brand name on its own doesn't count.
- Website clicks: how many times people clicked through to your site. A click isn't a visit that converted, let alone an order.
- Discovery topics: the common themes in the answers that cited you.
Insights only appear above a reporting threshold, so a blank counter isn't the same as zero. It's the first time OpenAI has shown brands any of this directly, which makes it worth claiming even if you never publish an agent.
What it won't tell you is whether that traffic made money. Tag and track ChatGPT as its own channel, and judge it on contribution margin per order, not clicks.
What claiming won't fix
OpenAI is direct about this: "Claiming does not guarantee higher placement or sales." ChatGPT keeps making its own recommendations and comparisons, and can show your business whether or not you've claimed it.
That matters, because recommendation is where most brands are losing. In October 2026 we ran the shopping questions real customers ask through five AI assistants for 135 online brands and read all 12,496 answers. Asked about a brand by name, the assistants recognised it in 100% of answers (median). Asked what to buy in that brand's category, the same brand turned up in 15%. Supplement brands were named in just 5%.
A claimed profile doesn't close that gap. What moves it is what ChatGPT reads about you elsewhere: the pages it cites, the comparisons you appear in, and whether your own site answers the questions shoppers ask. We cover how that works in how ChatGPT recommends products and the AEO playbook for ecommerce.
Should you set up a Business Agent before Black Friday?
If you're a US Shopify brand, it's worth publishing one, with three caveats:
- It answers, it doesn't sell. At launch the agent hands shoppers to your own site to buy. It can't take payment, make bookings or look up orders.
- It's only as good as your data. It uses your catalog, your policies and the instructions you give it. Agents have to say they're AI, can't invent prices or reviews, and can't pressure shoppers.
- Watch the margin, not the chats. Shoppers who arrive from ChatGPT are a new channel. Check what they buy and what each order leaves after product, shipping, fees and returns before you spend money promoting it.
Can you advertise it?
Yes. You can sponsor your Business Agent and use it as the destination for ChatGPT ads, with sponsored placements labelled and kept separate from answers. If you're weighing that up, start with the numbers in should your brand run ChatGPT ads: break-even CPA is the contribution margin your first order leaves before ad spend.
The verdict
Claim your brand this week. It's free, it takes minutes on Shopify, it puts your own delivery and returns details in front of ChatGPT, and it gives you your first look at how often ChatGPT cites your site. Publish a Business Agent if you're eligible and your policies are in good shape.
Just don't confuse a claimed profile with being recommended. To see where you show up in AI answers today, and what's keeping you out of the rest, run a StoreHero AI Search report.
Key takeaways
- OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta on 10 November 2026: claimable profiles, Business Hub insights and, for US ecommerce, Business Agents.
- On Shopify, claim at chatgpt.com/business-hub, pick Online store, verify with Connect Shopify, fill in your profile, then pass Persona ID checks.
- Insights count mentions only when ChatGPT cites your website; your brand name alone doesn't count.
- OpenAI says claiming does not guarantee higher placement or sales.
- In our benchmark of 135 brands, the median brand was named in 15% of shopping answers that didn't mention it, so recommendation is still the gap to close.
- Judge ChatGPT traffic on contribution margin per order, not mentions or clicks.
Frequently asked questions
Does it cost anything to claim my business in ChatGPT?
OpenAI lists no fee for claiming a business or using Business Hub at launch. ChatGPT ads, including sponsoring your Business Agent, are a separate paid product.
Will claiming my business make ChatGPT recommend me more?
No. OpenAI says claiming does not guarantee higher placement or sales, and ChatGPT keeps making its own recommendations and comparisons whether or not you've claimed your profile.
Can a Business Agent take orders?
Not at launch. The agent answers questions from your catalog and policies, then sends shoppers to your own site to buy. It can't take payments, make bookings or look up orders.
Can brands outside the US claim their business?
Claiming is open where ChatGPT is available, but Business Agents are limited to US ecommerce and online-service businesses for now, and launch coverage differs on how open claiming is elsewhere. Check Business Hub in your own account.
Sources
- OpenAI: Introducing Businesses in ChatGPT (10 November 2026)
- OpenAI Help Center: Setting up your business on ChatGPT
- OpenAI: Businesses in ChatGPT
- Reuters via SRN News: OpenAI lets businesses claim ChatGPT profiles (10 November 2026)
- Shopify: Agentic storefronts
- StoreHero: Supplement marketing in AI search (benchmark of 135 brands, October 2026)
