OpenAI opens ChatGPT to businesses with custom AI agents

For years, shopping started with a frantic tab overload on Google or Amazon. Today, millions of people just ask their favorite chatbot for a product recommendation instead.

OpenAI is now moving to capture that intent directly. The company just launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta, rolling out new tools for companies to reach its 1.2 billion weekly active users.

Turning chat into a digital storefront

At the center of this update is the Business Hub. Any eligible business in regions where ChatGPT is available can now claim and verify its profile.

Once verified, companies can manage their public details and upload live product feeds with current pricing and inventory availability. Shopify merchants can even link up directly through Business Hub or their existing Shopify admin panel.

Eligible U.S. ecommerce and online service brands can take things a step further by deploying their own Business Agent.

These branded AI assistants live inside ChatGPT to help shoppers compare items, ask product-specific questions, and get official support. OpenAI notes that these interactions happen in clearly labeled conversations, kept strictly separate from ChatGPT’s independent answers.

Addressing privacy concerns, OpenAI stressed that it does not share raw customer conversations with merchants. Businesses only get access to aggregated insights, such as brand mentions, outbound website clicks, and common discussion topics.

Tech watcher testingcatalog pointed out that OpenAI previously enabled targeting custom AI agents from ads. Adding verified profiles and Business Agents means the full conversion funnel is finally taking shape.

Why it matters

For consumers, this should finally kill one of the most annoying AI shopping habits: getting excited about a great recommendation only to find out it was discontinued two years ago. Live product feeds bring grounded truth to pricing and stock.

For brands, claiming a profile is a no-brainer. Even if you are not ready to deploy a full-blown AI sales rep, securing your verified presence ensures ChatGPT uses your real product specs rather than hallucinating from outdated web scrapes.

For the tech landscape, OpenAI is aiming straight at Google and Amazon's traditional search advertising turf. When consumers can research, compare, and get official answers directly in a prompt, the classic blue-link search engine starts looking like an unnecessary detour.

We think OpenAI made a smart choice by visually separating branded agents from default answers. But keeping that boundary clean will get much harder as commercial incentives grow, and preserving user trust in ChatGPT's unbiased recommendations will be a delicate balancing act.