Key takeaways
- OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta on Nov. 10, 2026. In Business Hub, an eligible business can claim its profile and, after identity verification with Persona, update its details, connect a product feed if it sells products and view aggregated insights on mentions, website clicks and “discovery topics” [1][2].
- OpenAI’s help article says that for an online business, a mention counts when ChatGPT references the business’s website: “The brand name alone doesn’t count.” For a local business, a mention counts when ChatGPT shows a result for that location. Insights cover the past 28 days [2].
- Insights appear only when there is enough activity to meet reporting thresholds, which OpenAI’s announcement and help article do not quantify, and a blank metric “doesn’t necessarily mean zero activity,” according to OpenAI [1][2]. Eligible US ecommerce and online service businesses can also build a Business Agent and, according to OpenAI, sponsor it as a destination for ChatGPT Ads [1].
Direct answer: OpenAI now gives verified businesses a count of their ChatGPT mentions, but the count follows OpenAI’s own definition. For an online business, OpenAI counts a mention only when ChatGPT references the business’s website, so an answer that names the brand without referencing its site is not counted [2]. That differs from the brand-mention rate defined in AVJ’s metrics guide. The counts cover 28 days and are available only when reporting thresholds are met, and the product is in beta [1][2]. This article describes the product as of Nov. 11, 2026.
What happened: On Nov. 10, 2026, OpenAI announced Businesses in ChatGPT in beta. Through Business Hub, OpenAI says, businesses can claim their business, manage their information and see insights on how people engage with them on ChatGPT; OpenAI puts ChatGPT’s audience at 1.2 billion weekly users [1]. The ChatGPT release notes for the same day say Business Hub opens from the sidebar in ChatGPT on the web [3]. An OpenAI help article sets out eligibility, verification and how insights are counted [2].
What can a business do in Business Hub?
- Claim a profile. An owner or authorized representative can claim a business using one of the verification methods offered for it, such as a business phone, a business email, a DNS record on the website domain or a Shopify store; OpenAI then reviews the claim. No Ads account or ChatGPT Enterprise agreement is needed [2]. OpenAI’s product page says claiming is “initially available to eligible businesses with a website” [4], while the help article says local stores and restaurants can claim existing US listings [2]. OpenAI says existing Enterprise customers and advertisers can work with their OpenAI representative instead [1].
- Verify identity. Publishing changes, connecting a product feed, viewing insights and creating an agent all require identity verification with Persona, which may ask for a government-issued ID, business registration information and proof of authorization [2]. The help article says the blue verified check appears after Persona verification is approved, not on claiming alone [2]; OpenAI’s Businesses in ChatGPT page says a blue check appears “to show it’s been claimed” [4].
- Update information. Verified businesses can edit their website, description, category, logo, and delivery and return policies. OpenAI reviews and publishes the changes, which “can take time to appear in a listing or a ChatGPT answer,” and ChatGPT may also use other sources [2]. Retailers can add a product feed by CSV file, hosted URL or Shopify; OpenAI says connecting a feed does not “guarantee that ChatGPT recommends your products” [2].
- Build a Business Agent. Eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the US with a website can publish an agent that answers customer questions from the information they provide [2]. OpenAI says the agent conversation is labeled and separate from ChatGPT’s independent answers. It also says businesses can sponsor their agent as the destination for ChatGPT Ads, with sponsored placements labeled [1]. The agent cannot complete purchases or bookings or check orders; it links to the business’s website [2].
What do the insights count?
According to the help article, Insights show aggregate activity over the past 28 days [2]. The help article defines three measures:
- Mentions. “For an online business, a mention counts when ChatGPT references the business’s website. The brand name alone doesn’t count. For a local business, a mention counts when ChatGPT shows a result for that location, even if the customer doesn’t open the listing or visit the website” [2].
- Website clicks. How often people click through to the business’s website [2].
- Discovery topics. The help article describes them as “common themes in ChatGPT answers that mentioned or cited your business” and says they do not reveal individual prompts or “directly measure customer intent” [2]. OpenAI’s announcement describes them as “common themes across conversations where their website is cited” [1].
OpenAI says businesses do not receive users’ conversations or Business Agent chats, and that insights are available only when there are enough conversations or interactions “to meet certain thresholds” [1][2]. Neither the announcement nor the help article gives the threshold values. A blank metric can mean activity has not reached the reporting threshold, data is still being collected or reporting is unavailable [2].
How does this compare with other AI visibility metrics?
Our view: OpenAI’s “mention” is a different metric from a brand mention as AVJ defines it. Our guide to AI visibility metrics defines mention rate as the share of substantive answers that name a brand, and presence rate as the share of answers with sources that cite a domain. For online businesses, OpenAI’s mention is based on a reference to the website, not on the brand name, but the help article does not define whether a reference means a linked source, a displayed URL or something else [2]. OpenAI also describes counts, not rates: neither the announcement nor the help article specifies a denominator, such as the number of relevant conversations, so a Business Hub figure cannot be read as a share of answers [1][2]. A Business Hub count and a third-party share of answers therefore measure different things. Neither should be used to validate the other without knowing both definitions.
The counts are also first-party figures from the company that runs ChatGPT and sells ChatGPT Ads, reported under its own definitions and thresholds [1][2]. OpenAI says advertising does not influence ChatGPT’s independent answers and that claiming a business does not guarantee increased visibility [2].
What we don’t know yet
- The reporting threshold values, and whether they differ by business type or market; OpenAI’s pages say only that thresholds exist [1][2].
- What exactly counts as ChatGPT “referencing” a business’s website, and whether discovery topics are built from answers that cite the website only or also from those that mention the business [1][2].
- Which countries are covered. OpenAI says eligible businesses can claim where ChatGPT is available and the required verification is supported, and that local stores and restaurants can currently claim only an existing US listing; the help article gives no full list of countries where claiming is available [2].
- When the beta ends, and when Business Agents expand beyond the US. OpenAI says it plans to expand to more markets and business categories over time [1].
What to do now
- If you manage an eligible business, check whether it already has a listing in Business Hub and who holds the claim. A business already claimed by someone else can dispute ownership through Persona verification [2].
- Report Business Hub mentions as OpenAI’s figures under OpenAI’s definition, with the 28-day window, and keep them separate from brand-mention rates from other tools [2].
- Treat a blank metric as unknown, not as zero [2].
- Before relying on either figure, compare Business Hub website clicks with the ChatGPT referral traffic in your own analytics.
Disclosure: This article covers an OpenAI product. AVJ pays standard published rates for basic services from OpenAI, including a ChatGPT Pro subscription and API access, and uses them as an ordinary customer. AVJ has received no free credits, promotions or other compensation from OpenAI or Anthropic. AVJ has not claimed a ChatGPT Business Hub listing and does not advertise on ChatGPT. AVJ uses OpenAI and Anthropic models among its editorial tools (see our AI use policy). AVJ receives no sponsorship and has no partnership with OpenAI or Anthropic. The AVJ Citation Index, whose methodology is still under review, plans to measure answers from AI companies’ APIs, including OpenAI’s.
Update log: Nov. 11, 2026 — First published.
Sources
[1] OpenAI. (2026, Nov. 10). “Introducing Businesses in ChatGPT.” OpenAI. Accessed Nov. 11, 2026. https://openai.com/index/introducing-businesses-chatgpt/
[2] OpenAI. “Setting up your business on ChatGPT.” OpenAI Help Center. Page labeled “Updated: 5 hours ago” when accessed Nov. 11, 2026, about 00:45 UTC (i.e., updated Nov. 10, 2026 UTC). https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001635-setting-up-your-business-on-chatgpt
[3] OpenAI. “ChatGPT release notes,” entry “Business Hub in ChatGPT,” Nov. 10, 2026. OpenAI Help Center. Accessed Nov. 11, 2026. https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-release-notes
[4] OpenAI. “Businesses in ChatGPT: Claim Your Business.” OpenAI. Accessed Nov. 11, 2026. https://openai.com/business/businesses-in-chatgpt/
How this was made
Prepared with AI assistance from the sources cited above and checked against OpenAI’s announcement, help article, release notes and product page, then edited by Nhi Phan and fact-checked by Jackies. A further editorial review follows publication. Any change will be recorded in the update log and in our Corrections Policy and Log.