OpenAI Puts Verified Business Profiles and Agents in ChatGPT

OpenAI is letting businesses claim their profiles in ChatGPT and launch AI agents that talk to customers on their behalf, The Next Web reported on Tuesday. The beta, called Businesses in ChatGPT, is aimed at the 1.2 billion people OpenAI says use ChatGPT each week.

Through a tool called Business Hub, verified companies get a blue check and can update their details, prices and stock. The hub also shows them "how often ChatGPT mentions them, how many people click through to their website and common topics in those conversations." OpenAI says it does not share users' chats with businesses.

Eligible U.S. e-commerce and service firms can also launch a Business Agent. When one of those businesses shows up in a ChatGPT answer, a user can open its profile and chat with the agent, with those exchanges labelled and kept apart from ChatGPT's own replies.

The same agents double as ads through ChatGPT Ads, extending the Sponsored Agents OpenAI began testing in September. According to the outlet, "paying does not change how often ChatGPT recommends a business." Advertising passed a $1B annual run rate in August and now covers 100,000 advertisers.

"Agents must say they are AI, keep prices accurate and avoid pressure tactics," The Next Web reports. "Purchases and sharing personal data need the user's explicit approval." Transactions still redirect to brand websites while OpenAI develops agent payments with Visa. It lands the same week our tracker logged OpenAI's ChatGPT Enterprise listing on AWS.