OpenAI Launches Business Hub and AI Sales Agents Inside ChatGPT

Quick Facts

• OpenAI launched Business Hub and Business Agents in beta on November 10, giving companies a free way to claim profiles inside ChatGPT.
• Business Agents are available now to eligible U.S.-based e-commerce and online service businesses, with Shopify merchants getting a direct integration path.
• Both products are free at launch, but OpenAI has not ruled out a paid tier.

OpenAI introduced Businesses in ChatGPT in beta on Tuesday, a new program giving companies two tools to manage their presence inside the world's most-used AI assistant: a profile dashboard called Business Hub and a conversational AI tool called Business Agents.

The company says 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT each week. That scale is the pitch to any brand wondering whether this matters.

Claim Your Profile

Business Hub lives at chatgpt.com/business-hub and in the ChatGPT sidebar. Companies sign in, find their business, verify ownership, and complete an identity check. OpenAI can verify claims through a phone number, email address, website domain, or Shopify account depending on the business type.

Once verified, businesses can update key details and add product feeds with pricing and availability. The dashboard also shows aggregated analytics: mentions, views, and website clicks over 7-day or 28-day windows. The data only appears after enough conversations meet OpenAI's privacy thresholds.

OpenAI's VP of monetization, Benji Shomair, told Digiday that claiming a business "should not have an impact on how frequently it appears," because ChatGPT's answers need to stay objective. Existing OpenAI Enterprise customers can work directly with their OpenAI representative to claim their business rather than going through the self-serve flow.

The Business Agent

After claiming a profile, eligible businesses can build and publish a Business Agent, an AI sales and support tool that activates when a user clicks on a business's ChatGPT profile. The agent uses the business's own information to answer questions and help users explore products or services.

The agent conversation is clearly labeled as separate from the user's main ChatGPT session and distinct from ChatGPT's independent answers. OpenAI's Business Agents Policy requires that agents identify themselves as AI representing the business. Agents cannot pose as humans, independent advisers, or as being endorsed by OpenAI.

The policy bans false urgency, pressure tactics after a user declines, exploitation of vulnerability, and requests for unnecessary personal information. OpenAI also states it does not become the seller of a business's products by hosting an agent and does not guarantee that agent responses will always be accurate or lawful.

Business Agents are currently available only to eligible e-commerce and online service companies in the United States.

Shopify Gets Direct Access

Shopify merchants have a more direct path. They can connect their store from either Business Hub or the Shopify admin. OpenAI notes that eligible products from Shopify merchants are already integrated into ChatGPT through the Shopify Catalog. Merchants can review catalog details shared automatically, then preview and publish an agent without additional configuration.

Pricing and Advertising

Both products are free at launch. Shomair confirmed this after a press briefing but did not rule out a paid model in the future. Businesses can also sponsor their Business Agent and use it as the destination for ChatGPT Ads, though claiming a profile, publishing an agent, and advertising are three separate things.

CFO Sarah Friar described the broader strategy to investors at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia conference as ChatGPT being "if Google and Meta had a baby," combining search intent with social engagement in one product.

What OpenAI Will Not Share

OpenAI says it does not share users' conversations or Business Agent chats with businesses. The only data provided is aggregated themes of conversations where the business appears. OpenAI declined to say how long mentions are tracked.

The Businesses in ChatGPT profile policy states that profiles may include information from other sources and that OpenAI does not verify every business-supplied detail or resolve every factual dispute. Founders building on top of this product should read that disclaimer carefully before treating profile data as authoritative.