ChatGPT opens its business directory. Claim it or get described

You know the moment a customer tells you what ChatGPT said about your company, and you think: where did it get that? OpenAI just turned that moment into a product. And frankly, it's the right move.

What's new

• Business Hub (beta): companies claim their profile in ChatGPT, update key details once verified, and add product feeds with pricing and availability.
• Who's eligible: per OpenAI, any eligible business located where ChatGPT is available. The post doesn't spell out what "eligible" means. Shopify merchants can connect their store directly.
• Insights: number of mentions, website clicks and "discovery topics", the themes of conversations where your website is cited. Aggregated, and only above certain thresholds. Nobody sees the conversations.
• Business Agents: with a profile, you can build your own agent that users talk to in a separate, clearly labeled conversation. For now, only for eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the US.
• Ads: you can sponsor your agent and use it as the destination for ChatGPT Ads.

This is the first Search Console for AI answers

Until now, GEO was flying blind. You ask questions, log answers, hope. With discovery topics, the platform owner itself tells you which conversations your brand shows up in. That changes the game for any marketing team that takes visibility in AI answers seriously.

How wide the gap is today, a mini probe shows. Today, Nov 11, 6:36 a.m. CET: I asked ChatGPT and Claude via API which German online shop is best for espresso beans from a small roastery. ChatGPT named Mokafina, Kaffeekommune and Coffee Circle. Claude named Coffee Circle, Bonanza Coffee and, as its third tip, your local roaster. One single shop appears in both answers. The descriptions sound confident, but no shop had any say in them. Limits: an API sample without web search, one answer each, results vary from run to run.

My rule of thumb: the new question isn't just where you rank on Google, it's how AI describes your brand. Starting now, you can actually do something about it.

The catch: the road to your own agent has a toll

Sounds like a free service. It's only half free. When personal agents filter what customers even see, the agent decides your visibility. OpenAI is building exactly that playing field, and selling you paid access to your own agent on top. As I see it, that's not a feature. It's a value transfer, the Meta playbook: first the stage, then the toll booth.

Also: insights only kick in above a minimum volume of conversations, so smaller brands may see little at first. And agents remain a US story for now.

What I'd do now

• Claim your profile this week. If you're eligible, clean up your details before someone, or something, does it for you. Shopify stores can connect directly, which speeds up verification.
• Log five real customer questions. No brand name, sent to ChatGPT and Claude, with date and answer. That's your baseline before the first insights arrive.
• Feed before agent. Prices, availability and product copy have to be right. An agent quoting wrong prices is worse than no agent.

Bottom line: If you don't claim your ChatGPT profile, the model keeps deciding on its own who you are.