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Update What changed

OpenAI’s new Business Hub lets verified businesses update key details and add self-service product feeds with pricing and availability. The company’s archived announcement says the beta is open to businesses in places where ChatGPT is available; Shopify merchants can connect through Business Hub or Shopify’s admin, while existing Enterprise customers and advertisers can work with their OpenAI representative.

The Hub also provides aggregated insights, including business mentions, website clicks and common topics in conversations where a business’s site is cited. OpenAI says these insights are only shown above certain interaction thresholds and that businesses do not receive users’ conversations or Business Agent chats.

Eligible ecommerce and online-service businesses in the United States can build and launch Business Agents.

Sources and evidence

• Introducing Businesses in ChatGPT - OpenAI: OpenAI’s announcement describes Business Hub features for verified businesses, including product feeds and aggregated engagement insights, plus Business Agents for eligible US ecommerce and online-service businesses.

Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.

Update What changed

OpenAI is allowing eligible US businesses to sponsor their Business Agents as landing spots for ChatGPT ads, The Next Web reports. The article says the same agent customers can chat with from a business profile can be promoted this way, extending OpenAI’s advertising push into its new business tools.

OpenAI says paying will not affect how often ChatGPT recommends a business, according to the report. Agents must identify themselves as AI, keep prices accurate and avoid pressure tactics. Purchases and sharing personal data require the user’s explicit approval.

For now, customers are sent to the business’s own website to buy. OpenAI is building agent payments with Visa, The Next Web reports. The article also says OpenAI’s advertising business passed a $1 billion annual run rate in August and now has 100,000 advertisers.

Sources and evidence

• OpenAI lets businesses claim ChatGPT profiles and launch their own agents - The Next Web: The Next Web reports that eligible US businesses can sponsor Business Agents as ChatGPT ad landing spots, that OpenAI says payment will not affect business recommendations, and that agent purchases are currently directed to business websites while OpenAI works on payments with Visa.

Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.

Update What changed

Search Engine Roundtable says OpenAI’s Business Hub analytics include profile views as well as mentions and website clicks. That gives businesses a broader picture of how people encounter their listings in ChatGPT, though the report does not say how the figures are calculated.

The report says businesses can claim a listing by verifying their main business number through text or phone, or by using DNS verification. Its author says he completed verification through DNS, but saw no data yet. So businesses can get through the front door; the dashboard may take a little longer to furnish the room.

These details add practical information about verification and the analytics available in the beta. The report does not establish when data will appear for newly verified businesses.

Sources and evidence

• Businesses in ChatGPT Now Live - Business Hub: Search Engine Roundtable reports that OpenAI’s Business Hub analytics include profile views, mentions and website clicks, and that businesses can verify listings by text, phone or DNS; its author says no data appeared after DNS verification.

Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.