ChatGPT now lets you claim your business. Do it this week

On Tuesday, November 10, OpenAI introduced Businesses in ChatGPT in beta. Through a new Business Hub, owners can claim their business, update its details and see how people engage with it in ChatGPT. OpenAI says 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT each week. That is the company's own count, not an outside audit, but even a generous discount leaves an enormous audience.

Once verified, a business can update key details and add product feeds with prices and availability. Shopify stores can connect from Business Hub or from the Shopify admin, and OpenAI notes that eligible Shopify products already reach ChatGPT through Shopify Catalog. Companies that already have an OpenAI representative, such as enterprise customers and advertisers, can claim through that person instead.

Claiming takes two steps, according to OpenAI's setup guide. First you prove the connection with your business phone, your business email, a TXT record on your website's domain, or your Shopify store. Then you verify your identity with Persona, which can ask for a government ID, business registration and proof that you represent the company. The blue check appears only after that second step is approved. You don't need an ads account or an enterprise contract to claim an eligible business.

After approval, Business Hub shows the past 28 days of activity: mentions, website clicks and discovery topics. The definitions matter more than the dashboard. For an online business, a mention counts only when ChatGPT references your website. Your brand name alone does not count. For a local business, a mention counts when ChatGPT shows a result for that location, even if nobody opens the listing.

Discovery topics are the common themes in answers that mentioned or cited you. OpenAI says businesses never see individual prompts or chats, and the numbers are aggregated and shown only above a privacy threshold. So a blank metric can mean there isn't enough data yet, not that nobody asked. Smaller businesses should expect a few blanks early on. Think of it as a dashboard that is still warming up.

The second piece is the Business Agent. When a business shows up in an answer, people can open its ChatGPT profile and, if an agent is live, start a separate, clearly labeled chat to ask follow-up questions, like which of two products fits their needs. For now, agents are open only to eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the U.S. that have a website. Local stores and restaurants can currently claim only an existing U.S. listing.

The Business Agents Policy reads like a good sales manager's rulebook. The agent must say it is AI. It can't invent prices, reviews or results, create false urgency, or keep selling after someone says no. It can't ask for unnecessary sensitive details such as health information or government IDs, and it can't give advice that legally requires a professional license. That last rule matters for doctors and law firms: an agent can explain services, but it can't practice.

Businesses can also sponsor their agent and use it as the destination for ChatGPT Ads. OpenAI says sponsored placements are clearly labeled and kept separate from ChatGPT's own answers.

This is not a niche audience. In a Pew Research Center survey taken in February, 44% of U.S. adults said they use ChatGPT, up from 34% a year earlier. About half said they use AI chatbots of any kind.

Shoppers are acting on what they read. Adobe's 2026 holiday forecast says AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites grew 127% year over year in August, and it projects 130% growth for the holiday season, with a 141% jump on Thanksgiving. Adobe also reports that 69% of people it surveyed are less likely to return an item they bought with an AI assistant's help. Fewer returns is the kind of number a finance team reads twice.

Claiming is not a ranking boost. OpenAI's Businesses in ChatGPT page says ChatGPT keeps making independent recommendations and comparisons, and that claiming does not guarantee higher placement or sales. Claiming also doesn't change whether ChatGPT shows you, according to the setup guide, and ChatGPT can still draw on other sources about you.

So the profile does two useful jobs: it lets you correct what ChatGPT says about you, and it shows which topics already bring your business into answers. One practical note from the setup guide: if someone else has claimed your business, you can dispute ownership, and OpenAI support can't unpublish or hide a published profile. Check yours before someone else claims it.

A claimed profile makes sure ChatGPT has your facts right. It doesn't make ChatGPT choose you. The businesses that show up most will be the ones whose websites answer real customer questions clearly enough to be worth citing, and now there is finally a scoreboard for it.

Want help claiming your listing and turning your discovery topics into pages that get cited? Our founders can walk you through it. Talk to them below. See you in the next edition.