Businesses in ChatGPT, how to claim your business profile and why it matters

On 10 November 2026 OpenAI introduced Businesses in ChatGPT, still in beta. For the first time, a company can go into ChatGPT, say “this business is mine”, correct what the assistant knows about it and see how often it shows up in answers.

Until now, what ChatGPT said about a company depended entirely on what it found on the web. That does not go away, but there is now an official route as well. According to OpenAI, 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT every week, so it is worth understanding what changes and what does not.

What did OpenAI announce?

Everything revolves around Business Hub, a dashboard inside ChatGPT with three parts:

• Business profile. You claim your company, verify it and update its details: website, description, category, logo, and delivery and return policies. Shops can also upload a product feed with prices and availability.
• Insights. How many times your business was mentioned, how many clicks your website received and which conversation topics you appear in.
• Business Agents. An assistant of your own that answers customer questions using your information. For now it is only available to ecommerce and online service businesses in the United States.

The first two are the ones that matter to nearly any company today.

Why does it matter for GEO?

GEO is the work of getting AI assistants to find, understand and cite a company. Before this announcement it was done blind in two ways, and both change.

There is a source of information you control. Previously you could only influence things indirectly, by looking after your site and what others published about you. Now you can hand ChatGPT the correct details: what you do, which site is yours, how your delivery and returns work. For anyone who has seen an outdated description of their company in an answer, that alone is reason enough.

There are official figures. Measuring presence in an assistant meant asking questions by hand and checking referral traffic. Business Hub shows mentions, clicks and topics, which is the closest thing to a Search Console an assistant has offered.

It is early. Something similar happened with business listings on Google: for years they were optional, and today nobody would consider running a local business without one. Claiming the profile takes little work and avoids having to dispute it later.

It helps to keep expectations in check. OpenAI is direct about it: claiming your business does not guarantee better placement or more sales, and ChatGPT keeps making its recommendations independently. The profile corrects and measures; it does not buy a place in the answer.

Who can claim a business?

Anyone who owns the business or is authorised to represent it. You do not need an Ads account or an Enterprise agreement: a ChatGPT account is enough.

Availability has some nuances worth knowing before you start:

• Initially, only businesses with a website.
• It depends on business type and location. OpenAI refers to eligible businesses where ChatGPT is available and the required verification is supported.
• Online businesses can be added if they are not listed yet. Local shops and restaurants can, for now, only claim an existing listing in the United States.
• Business Agents are US only, for ecommerce and online services.

For a company outside the United States with a website, the way to find out is to open Business Hub and search for yourself: the dashboard shows which options exist for your case.

How to claim your business step by step

1. Open Business Hub and search for your company

Sign in to ChatGPT and go to Business Hub. OpenAI’s guide says it is in the sidebar, but not every account shows it there yet. The safest route is the direct link: chatgpt.com/business-hub.

Search for your business by name, select the matching listing and confirm which ChatGPT account will manage it. Use a company account rather than an employee’s personal one.

If your business does not appear and it is an online business, you may see an option to add it.

You may have to wait. The programme is in beta and access is opening in stages. When we claimed our own business, the request was placed on a waitlist and Business Hub did not appear in the account’s sidebar. If the same happens to you, you did nothing wrong: it is still worth submitting the request, so you are in the queue for when your business type or country is enabled.

2. Verify the business is yours

ChatGPT offers one or more methods depending on the business:

Method	How it works
Business phone	You receive a code by SMS or automated call on the number shown in the listing.
Business email	You receive a code at the address associated with the company.
Website domain	You add a TXT record to your domain’s DNS and return to ChatGPT to select “Verify domain”.
Shopify store	You connect the store and sign in to Shopify.

The domain method is the most robust if you have access to the DNS, or someone on your team does. Type, name and value must be copied exactly, and the change can take a while to show. You can check whether the record is visible yet with the DNS propagation checker; the reason for the wait is covered in DNS propagation explained.

3. Wait for approval

OpenAI reviews the claim and replies by email, with its decision or a request for more information. You can cancel in the meantime.

If the business has already been claimed by someone else, the profile menu has a Dispute ownership option for proving you are the one who represents it.

4. Complete identity verification

This is the step most often overlooked. Once the claim is approved you can see your business in Business Hub, but to publish changes, connect a feed, view insights or create an agent you must complete identity verification with Persona, the provider OpenAI uses.

You may be asked for a government-issued ID, business registration details and proof that you are authorised to represent the business. Name, address and registration number have to match the official records.

Two important details:

• The blue verification check appears when this step is approved, not when you claim.
• If you are creating a new profile, approval publishes it automatically. There is no separate publish button, and OpenAI does not delete or hide a published profile. Continue only when the information is ready.

5. Fill in the business information

With everything approved, the Business tab lets you update the website, description, product or service category, logo, and delivery and return policies, and add a cover photo.

OpenAI reviews changes before publishing them and they can take time to appear. ChatGPT also keeps using other sources: what you put in the profile should match what your website says.

6. If you sell products, connect the feed

You can upload a CSV file in the format OpenAI specifies, provide the URL of a hosted feed or connect your Shopify catalogue. That gives ChatGPT current prices and availability. Connecting a feed does not guarantee your products get recommended.

What do the insights show?

The Insights panel summarises the past 28 days:

• Mentions. For an online business, a mention counts when ChatGPT references your website. Naming the brand without citing the site does not count.
• Website clicks. How many people reached your site from ChatGPT.
• Discovery topics. The conversation themes where your business appeared.

What you will not see is each person’s question: the data is aggregated and OpenAI does not share conversations. A blank metric does not mean zero either; activity may simply not have reached the reporting threshold.

Discovery topics are the most valuable part for content. If you show up in conversations about a service your site barely explains, there is a page waiting to be written.

What about Business Agents?

When a business appears in an answer, the person can open its profile and, if an agent exists, chat with it. The agent answers using the information and guidelines the company defined, in a separate, clearly labelled chat.

For now it explains products and policies and links to the website. It does not complete purchases or bookings, or check an order’s status. It is also only available in the United States, although OpenAI says it will expand to more markets and categories.

What claiming the profile does not do

• It does not improve your placement. Claiming or disputing a profile does not change its visibility.
• It cannot be bought. OpenAI states that advertising does not influence ChatGPT’s independent answers.
• It does not replace your website. The assistant keeps reading other sources. A flawless profile with an outdated site produces contradictory answers. Where those other sources come from is covered in how ChatGPT search works and why Bing matters.
• It is not easily undone. A published profile cannot be deleted through support.

What should you have ready before starting?

• A company ChatGPT account, on an email address at your domain.
• Access to the DNS for the domain, or to whoever manages it.
• The company’s documents and those of its representative, with details exactly as they appear in the official registry.
• A clear description of the business, the same one used on your site and other profiles.
• Delivery and return policies published on the site, if you sell products.
• Up-to-date structured data on your site, so profile and website say the same thing.

The official details are in OpenAI’s announcement and in the OpenAI Help Center guide. Since this is a beta, requirements and availability may change.

Claiming the profile is the quick step. The underlying work stays the same: a website assistants can read, with clear answers and verifiable facts. To review that foundation, start with what GEO is and why it does not replace SEO.