Overview
Businesses in ChatGPT is a merchant-facing release from OpenAI on November 10, 2026, in beta. It splits a merchant's presence in ChatGPT into three layers: a profile, analytics, and a brand agent that can hold a conversation.
The profile lives in Business Hub at chatgpt.com/business-hub. After claiming a business and passing verification, a merchant can update key details and attach a self-service product feed carrying prices and availability, so what users see in ChatGPT stays current. There are three routes in: any compliant merchant in a region where ChatGPT is available can claim a profile themselves; existing OpenAI enterprise customers and advertisers can ask their representative; and Shopify merchants can connect a store from Business Hub or from the Shopify admin, with eligible products already reaching ChatGPT through Shopify Catalog.
Analytics are aggregate: mentions, clicks from ChatGPT through to the site, the topics that come up when a merchant's site is referenced in conversations, and profile views on the dashboard. A privacy rule governs this: insights appear only after conversations or interactions pass a threshold, so thin volume reveals nothing, which keeps segment data from being used to infer what an individual asked.
Business Agent is the third layer and the most restricted. Once claimed, a merchant can build, test and launch an agent that answers product questions and explains differences. When a merchant appears in an answer, users can open the profile and, if an agent is attached, start a conversation. Today this is limited to US merchants selling ecommerce or online services, with a separate policy page governing eligible categories. Merchants can also sponsor the agent and use it as a destination for ChatGPT ads.
The privacy boundary is stated plainly: user conversations and Business Agent chat transcripts are not shared with merchants. Business Agent conversations are labelled and kept separate from the user's own ChatGPT history, and sponsored content is labelled and presented apart from model answers.
In practice this matters most to cross-border sellers, because it is a product surface attached to 1.2 billion weekly users and claiming is free. One caveat for merchants outside the US: profile claiming depends only on whether ChatGPT is available in the merchant's region, whereas Business Agent explicitly requires a US business. The two are not the same permission, so a claimed profile does not mean a brand conversation can be opened.
Key Features
- Claim a business profile: After claiming and verifying in Business Hub, a merchant can update key details, and that profile is what users see when they open the business from an answer.
- Product feeds: Self-service uploads of products with prices and availability keep listings current instead of leaving the model to infer them from a web page.
- Three ways in: Self-service claiming in any supported region, help from an OpenAI representative for enterprise customers and advertisers, or a Shopify store connection with eligible products routed through Shopify Catalog.
- Aggregate insights: Mentions, website clicks, discovery topics drawn from conversations that reference the merchant, and profile views, all reported as aggregates.
- Threshold protection: Insights appear only once conversations or interactions pass a volume threshold, so segment data cannot be used to infer individual behaviour.
- Business Agent: Build, test and launch a brand agent that answers questions about products and fit, currently limited to US merchants in ecommerce and online services, with eligible categories set by policy.
- Separated conversations: Business Agent chats are labelled and kept distinct from the user's own ChatGPT conversations, and sponsored content is labelled and shown apart from model answers.
- Sponsored brand conversations: Merchants can sponsor their Business Agent and use it as a destination for ChatGPT ads to reach prospective customers.
Use Cases
- Cross-border sellers and DTC brands that want an accurate profile and product data inside ChatGPT.
- Merchants curious how users describe their category in conversation, to inform titles and positioning.
- US ecommerce or online-service businesses that want a branded conversation for users with follow-up questions.
- Advertisers already running ChatGPT ads who want the brand agent as a landing destination.
- Shopify merchants who prefer syncing products and inventory over entering them by hand.
Pros
- Claiming and maintaining a profile is free, which keeps the entry bar low.
- Merchants control prices and availability directly rather than relying on scraping.
- Analytics stay aggregate, which draws a clear line around what merchants can see.
- Brand conversations are visibly separated from ordinary chats, so users know who they are talking to.
- Shopify merchants get a ready sync path instead of manual product entry.
Pricing
Claiming a business profile and viewing aggregate insights cost nothing. No standalone price has been published: Business Agent is part of the beta product set and can also be sponsored as an ad destination, with rates and buying handled through OpenAI sales or the ads surface. Business Agent itself is limited to US merchants, so claiming a profile elsewhere does not unlock it.
Summary
The weight of this release sits in the distribution, not the feature list. ChatGPT reaches 1.2 billion people a week, and merchants could previously only wait to be mentioned in an answer. Now they can claim a profile, feed in products and prices, see aggregate analytics and, in the United States, run a labelled brand conversation. Eligibility is where the limits are: profile claiming is open to compliant merchants in any region where ChatGPT is available, while Business Agent is limited to US merchants selling ecommerce or online services. The other boundary worth remembering is that neither user conversations nor Business Agent chats are handed to merchants, who only see aggregate numbers once volume passes a threshold.
Version History
- OpenAI launches Businesses in ChatGPT (beta) (2026-11-10): OpenAI released Businesses in ChatGPT in beta. Merchants can claim and verify a business profile in Business Hub, attach self-service product feeds with prices and availability, and view aggregate insights covering mentions, website clicks, discovery topics and profile views. Business Agent is available to US ecommerce and online-service merchants, can be built, tested and launched, can be opened by users from a merchant profile, and can be sponsored as an ad destination. OpenAI states that user conversations and Business Agent transcripts are not shared with merchants, and that insights appear only after interaction thresholds are met.