ChatGPT adds verified Business Agents in beta for eligible US e-commerce and service businesses

OpenAI is launching verified "Business Agents" in ChatGPT, letting users chat with an agent that represents a brand and helps with tasks like comparison shopping. The feature is available first to "eligible" e-commerce and online service businesses in the US, according to The Verge, and is part of a suite of business-focused ChatGPT features announced today in beta.

How Business Agents work

A user can start talking with a Business Agent when a business that has created one appears in a ChatGPT response. In that chat, users can ask about the business's offerings and put follow-up questions to the agent, such as how two products differ.

Businesses can set a Business Agent's instructions and provide business context so the agent knows how to respond. OpenAI says chats with Business Agents will be clearly labeled and kept separate from the user's main ChatGPT conversation.

Verification through Business Hub

To help users know they are talking to an agent that actually represents the business, companies can claim their organization and get verified through a feature called Business Hub. OpenAI is not sharing specifics about its verification methods. VP of monetization Benji Shomair said in a press briefing that there are different methods for different businesses.

Business Hub also lets companies see insights, including mentions of their business in ChatGPT responses and the top "discovery topics" where the business appears.

OpenAI's framing

In a blog post, OpenAI calls the announcement "an early step in bringing businesses more deeply into ChatGPT." The company says it is "starting with the foundations: accurate business information, useful insights and conversations that help people make informed decisions."

OpenAI adds that as things evolve, "we'll explore more ways for businesses to connect with customers, directly or through agents and in ChatGPT and beyond." Its stated goal is "to make ChatGPT more useful for people making decisions, and give businesses new ways to participate and grow."

Key details

• Availability: beta, US only, eligible e-commerce and online service businesses first
• Entry point: Business Agents surface when a business with an agent appears in a ChatGPT response
• Separation: labeled chats, separate from the main conversation
• Verification: claimed and verified via Business Hub; methods vary by business and are not detailed
• Analytics: mentions in ChatGPT responses and top discovery topics
• Pricing: not yet disclosed

What this means

The launch gives businesses two things inside ChatGPT: a branded agent users can question directly, and a dashboard showing how often and where the business is mentioned. The labeling, the separate chat thread and the Business Hub verification are the mechanisms OpenAI is using to let users distinguish a company's own agent from ChatGPT itself. Because OpenAI has not detailed how verification works, how rigorous those checks are across business types remains unclear. OpenAI itself describes this as an early, foundational step, with eligibility limited to US e-commerce and online service businesses during the beta.