OpenAI rolls out ChatGPT business profiles

OpenAI on Tuesday launched a Business Hub in ChatGPT, giving businesses some control over how they show up for consumers. 

What’s happening: The feature, currently in beta, lets owners or authorized company representatives claim their business in ChatGPT, creating what resembles a Google-like business profile, complete with a blue check.

• Users can enter information including a company address and phone number, an “About” section, and product information and pricing. 
• OpenAI will also provide each participating business with “insight data” — details like how often the business is mentioned in ChatGPT responses, how many users click through to the business’s website, and context about the conversations in which the business is mentioned. 

“You don’t need an Ads account or a ChatGPT Enterprise agreement to claim an eligible business,” a help page states. 

Zoom in: OpenAI also on Tuesday launched Business Agents, which allow consumers to “have a conversation with your business based on information you’ve shared.”

• “Your Business Agent answers questions with your product and policy information, using guidelines you control, so customers can explore their options and take the next step with your business,” the company said. 

Yes, but: The agents are currently available to “eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the U.S. with a website,” according to a help page.

• It remains unclear if that language includes home service contractors, as the help page doesn’t specify further. An OpenAI representative didn’t return a request for comment. 

Between the lines: OpenAI asserts that it may create and display a business listing “regardless of whether you claim, manage, or cease managing it,” according to a policy page. 

• Furthermore, creating a business listing “does not give you exclusive control over its contents; OpenAI may supplement, edit, or replace information using other sources or decline to display information you submit,” the page notes. 
• The company also states that claiming a business “doesn’t guarantee increased visibility or give you direct control over ChatGPT’s independent recommendations. Advertising doesn’t influence ChatGPT’s independent answers.”

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