Guide · Businesses in ChatGPT · business agents
ChatGPT Business Hub: claim your business and build a business agent
Last updated · By Chris Tabb, founder · Sources checked November 13, 2026
§ 01
What is ChatGPT Business Hub?
ChatGPT Business Hub is OpenAI’s dashboard for Businesses in ChatGPT. An owner or authorized representative uses it to claim the company’s profile, update its details and product feed, and see aggregate insights such as mentions and website clicks. Eligible US businesses can also build a business agent there. OpenAI Help Center
OpenAI announced Businesses in ChatGPT in beta and says it is a way to reach the 1.2 billion people who use ChatGPT each week. A claimed profile shows a blue check after Persona verification is approved. You do not need an Ads account or a ChatGPT Enterprise agreement to claim an eligible business.
What the dashboard looks like (observed in a Business Hub dashboard, November 2026): a left menu with Overview, Agent builder and Products. A newly claimed business shows as DRAFT with a verified-domain check, and a banner asks you to verify your identity with a government-issued ID before you edit business info or publish your business agent.
§ 02
Definitions: Businesses in ChatGPT, in plain words
These are the terms OpenAI uses, written short enough to quote. Each one comes from OpenAI’s help center, announcement or policies, linked in the sources below. Use them when you brief your team, so marketing, IT and whoever owns your DNS are all talking about the same thing before anyone starts the claim.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Businesses in ChatGPT | OpenAI’s beta program, launched November 10, 2026, that lets companies claim and manage how their business appears in ChatGPT. |
| Business Hub | The dashboard inside ChatGPT (chatgpt.com/business-hub) where you claim a business, edit its profile and product feed, and see insights. |
| Business agent | An AI agent that answers customer questions about your products and policies, using information and guidelines you provide, in a separate labeled chat. |
| Agent builder | The Business Hub section where you review the agent’s information, write its instructions, preview answers and publish. |
| Persona verification | The identity check OpenAI uses before you can publish profile changes, connect a product feed, view insights or create a business agent. |
| Mention | For an online business, a ChatGPT answer that references your website. Your brand name alone does not count. |
| Discovery topics | Aggregate themes in ChatGPT answers that mentioned or cited your business. Not individual prompts. |
§ 03
How do I claim my business on ChatGPT?
Sign in to ChatGPT, open Business Hub from the sidebar, search for your business, and select its listing. Verify by business phone, business email, a DNS TXT record on your website domain, or Shopify. After OpenAI approves the claim, complete identity verification with Persona to unlock editing, insights and the business agent. OpenAI Help Center
For the domain method, OpenAI says to add the TXT record shown in ChatGPT to your DNS, copying the type, host and value exactly, and to ask whoever manages your domain if that is not you. DNS changes can take time. Then return and select Verify domain. For Persona, you may need a government-issued ID, business registration information and proof you can represent the business.
| Verification method | What you do | Good fit when |
|---|---|---|
| Website domain (TXT) | Add the TXT record to DNS, then select Verify domain | You or your IT team control the company domain |
| Business email | Get a code sent to the email tied to the business | The listing shows an address you can receive |
| Business phone | Get a code by text or automated call | The listed number reaches you |
| Shopify store | Connect Shopify and sign in to that store | You sell through Shopify |
| Persona (always required after) | Submit ID and business details to Persona | Every claim, before editing, insights or an agent |
Our honest take
Do the domain TXT method if you can. It ties the claim to the asset you clearly own, and it does not depend on a phone number or inbox someone may have set up years ago.
§ 04
What is a ChatGPT business agent?
A ChatGPT business agent is an AI agent that represents your business in a separate, clearly labeled chat. It answers customer questions about your products and policies using information and guidelines you control, then links people to your website. It cannot complete purchases, make bookings or look up orders. OpenAI Help Center
When your business appears in a ChatGPT answer, people can open your profile and, if an agent is published, choose to chat with it. OpenAI says the conversation is separate from the customer’s original ChatGPT conversation and distinct from ChatGPT’s independent answers. Business agents are available to eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the US with a website, and OpenAI says it considers both the business category and the agent’s intended use before allowing publication. Verification alone does not guarantee eligibility.
You can also sponsor your business agent and use it as the destination for ChatGPT Ads. Sponsored placements are labeled. See ChatGPT Ads vs being recommended.
§ 05
How does the ChatGPT agent builder work for a business?
Agent builder is where you set up the business agent after your claim and Persona verification are approved. You review the information it will use, such as product details and your return policy, write instructions that follow the Business Agents Policy, preview it with real customer questions, fix wrong answers, and select Publish. Publishing is optional. OpenAI Help Center
In the dashboard (observed in a Business Hub dashboard, November 2026), the Get started cards read “Get ready to chat with customers” (review your business agent’s guidelines and business context before publishing), “Upload your product catalog” (add products from a file so customers can browse what you sell), and “Upgrade to a ChatGPT Business plan.” OpenAI’s help center does not list a paid ChatGPT plan among the requirements to claim.
| Part | What goes in it | OpenAI’s rule to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Guidelines (instructions) | How the agent should answer: tone, what to recommend, when to send people to your site | It must say it is AI representing your business, not a human or an independent adviser |
| Business context | Facts it should use: delivery and return policies, service details, who you serve | Don’t invent prices, availability, credentials, reviews or results, and don’t hide fees or conditions |
| Products | A CSV product feed, a hosted feed URL, or Shopify | Products must follow OpenAI’s Commerce policies; a feed doesn’t publish an agent |
| Preview | Test with questions customers really ask | If an answer is wrong, fix the information or instructions and test again |
| Publish | Make it available to customers | Customers can chat only with a published agent |
Our honest take
Write the business context like a sales engineer’s cheat sheet, not a brochure. Specific, true answers to the ten questions prospects always ask beat any amount of adjectives, and OpenAI’s policy rules out the adjectives anyway.
§ 06
What do Brand insights and Agent insights show?
Insights show aggregate activity over the past 28 days: mentions, website clicks and discovery topics. For an online business, a mention counts only when ChatGPT references your website, not just your brand name. Businesses never receive individual prompts or chats with their business agent, and a blank metric does not necessarily mean zero activity. OpenAI Help Center
In the dashboard (observed in a Business Hub dashboard, November 2026), insights are split into Brand insights and Agent insights tabs, each showing Mentions and Website clicks with a 7D or 28D view.
OpenAI says insights are only available when there are enough conversations or interactions to meet certain thresholds. To change what ChatGPT says about you, the profile helps, but so do the sources it cites. See how to get recommended by ChatGPT.
§ 07
How is a business agent different from custom GPTs, workspace agents and private plugins?
A business agent faces customers in public ChatGPT and only explains your products and policies. Custom GPTs, workspace agents and private plugins serve your own team inside your workspace. OpenAI says the business agent’s chat doesn’t use data from your plugin or connect to its capabilities, so the two are separate builds with separate audiences.
- Workspace agents run repeat work for your team on a schedule, in Slack or from an API trigger.
- Custom GPTs retire on December 11, 2026; OpenAI’s path is plugins. See what to do next.
- A custom MCP server is how a private plugin reaches a system like your CRM. See connecting QuickBooks, HubSpot or your CRM.
| Tool | Who uses it, and where | What it connects to and can do |
|---|---|---|
| Business agent | Customers and prospects, from your public business profile in ChatGPT. Beta, eligible US businesses only. | No connection to your systems; it uses the information and product feed you provide. No purchases, bookings or order lookups. |
| Workspace agent | Your team, inside a ChatGPT Business or Enterprise workspace. | Apps, custom MCP servers, skills and files. Runs on a schedule, in Slack or from an API trigger, within admin controls. |
| Custom GPT | Your team. Retires December 11, 2026. | Apps and custom actions. Custom actions don’t carry over when a GPT is migrated to a plugin. |
| Private plugin or connector | Your team, in ChatGPT, Claude and the other assistants you use. | Your own systems, through a custom MCP server, with approval before anything is written or sent. |
Our honest take
Most B2B companies need both: a claimed profile so ChatGPT describes you correctly to buyers, and private plugins so your team can work from your real systems. They are different jobs.
§ 08
Step-by-step: how to get your business in ChatGPT
Here is the full checklist, in order, from choosing the owner account to reading insights. Steps 1 to 6 get you a verified, claimed profile with the blue check. Steps 7 to 10 fill it in and, if your business is eligible, put a business agent in front of customers. Keep the TXT record in DNS while the claim is reviewed.
- Pick the owner account. Decide which ChatGPT account will own the claim. Use an account tied to the company, not a contractor’s. Teammates and an agency can be added later, each with their own ChatGPT account.
- Gather what verification asks for. Have DNS access for your domain (or a business phone or email that ChatGPT can reach), a government-issued ID, your business registration details, and proof you are authorized to represent the company. Make sure the business name, address and any registration or tax number match your official records.
- Find your business in Business Hub. Sign in to ChatGPT, open Business Hub from the sidebar, and search for your business by name. Select the matching listing and confirm the account. Eligible online businesses that are not listed may see an option to add one.
- Verify the claim. Choose one of the methods shown: business phone, business email, website domain or Shopify. For the domain method, add the TXT record ChatGPT shows to your DNS exactly as given, wait for DNS to update, then select Verify domain.
- Wait for OpenAI’s decision. OpenAI reviews the claim and emails a decision or a request for more information. You can cancel the claim while it is under review.
- Complete identity verification with Persona. From the business overview, select Verify and follow the Persona steps. Approval unlocks editing business info, product feeds, insights and the business agent, and adds the blue check.
- Update your business information. Edit your website, description, category, logo, delivery policy and return policy, and add a cover photo if you want one. OpenAI reviews changes before they appear.
- Add products if you sell them. Upload a CSV product feed that follows OpenAI’s product feed specification, link a hosted feed file, or connect Shopify.
- Build, preview and publish the business agent (optional). If your business is eligible, open Agent builder, review the information the agent will use, write its instructions within the Business Agents Policy, test it with real customer questions, then select Publish.
- Add teammates and review insights. The admin who claimed the business can add teammates and grant an agency access. Check Brand insights and Agent insights for mentions and website clicks over the past 28 days.
§ 09
Why can’t I claim my business or create an agent? Common blockers
The usual blockers are a locked or already-claimed listing, a Persona check whose details don’t match official records, a business that isn’t eligible for an agent, and verification that is still pending. OpenAI’s help center covers each one. You can’t create an agent while Persona verification is pending or after it fails. OpenAI Help Center
| Blocker | What OpenAI says to do |
|---|---|
| You see “Contact support” | The listing is locked. Select Contact support to request access. |
| Business already claimed | Open the profile, select ••• then Dispute ownership, and verify with Persona. |
| Can’t find your business | Eligible online businesses may see an option to add it. Local stores and restaurants can claim only an existing US listing. |
| Persona fails or expires | Follow the email. Make sure the business name, address and registration or tax number match official records. |
| No option to create an agent | Check you are on the claimed profile and Persona is approved. The business must meet the location, type and industry rules. |
| Agency invite blocked | The claiming admin adds teammates and agencies. Workspace-claimed businesses may require workspace membership. |
| Several brands | Each distinct brand is managed separately. Claiming the main brand doesn’t claim its locations. |
| Updates not showing | OpenAI reviews changes, and ChatGPT may also use other sources. |
| Blank insights | Activity may be below the reporting threshold or still being collected. |
Our honest take
One trap: if you use Persona to create a brand-new profile, OpenAI’s approval publishes it automatically. Have the description, logo and policies ready before you submit.
§ FAQ
Questions we hear
What is ChatGPT Business Hub?
ChatGPT Business Hub is OpenAI’s dashboard for Businesses in ChatGPT. It lets an owner or authorized representative claim the company’s profile, update its details and product feed, see mentions and website clicks, and, for eligible US businesses, build a business agent. It launched in beta on November 10, 2026.
How do I claim my business on ChatGPT?
Open Business Hub from the ChatGPT sidebar, search for your business, select the listing and verify by business phone, business email, a DNS TXT record on your domain, or Shopify. After OpenAI approves the claim, complete identity verification with Persona.
Is claiming a business in ChatGPT free?
OpenAI says you don’t need an Ads account or a ChatGPT Enterprise agreement to claim an eligible business, and its help center lists no paid plan as a requirement. Ads and sponsoring your business agent are separate and optional.
Does claiming my business make ChatGPT recommend it more?
No. OpenAI says claiming doesn’t guarantee increased visibility or give you control over ChatGPT’s independent recommendations, and advertising doesn’t influence them.
Who can create a ChatGPT business agent?
Eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the US with a website, after the claim and Persona verification are approved. OpenAI also reviews the business category and the agent’s intended use, so verification alone doesn’t guarantee eligibility.
Can a business agent take orders or bookings?
No. It explains products and policies and links to your website, where customers complete purchases or bookings. It can’t look up a customer’s order.
Can I see what customers ask my business agent?
No. OpenAI doesn’t share individual prompts or business agent chats. You see aggregate mentions, website clicks and discovery topics over the past 28 days, when activity meets reporting thresholds.
Can an agency manage my Business Hub profile?
Yes. The admin who claimed the business can add teammates and grant an agency access to manage the business or its agent, each using their own ChatGPT account.
Do I need Shopify to set up a business agent?
No. Eligible businesses can set one up without Shopify. Shopify can supply the product feed and may create a draft agent, but you still review and publish it yourself.
Keep reading
Sources · checked November 13, 2026
- OpenAI Help Center: Setting up your business on ChatGPT
- OpenAI: Introducing Businesses in ChatGPT
- OpenAI: Businesses in ChatGPT — claim your business
- OpenAI: Businesses in ChatGPT policy (updated November 10, 2026)
- OpenAI: Business Agents Policy (updated November 10, 2026)
- OpenAI Help Center: ChatGPT workspace agents for Enterprise and Business
- OpenAI Help Center: Plugins in ChatGPT
- OpenAI Help Center: Custom GPT retirement and migration FAQ
OpenAI figures are OpenAI’s, quoted as published on the date checked. Appearly is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a partner of OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, xAI, Microsoft or Google. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Grok, Copilot and Gemini are trademarks of their respective owners.