OpenAI rolls out new business profiles, making ChatGPT just a little bit more like Google

OpenAI launched a Business Hub on Tuesday, in beta, where companies can build verified profiles, update information about their products and services, and in some cases launch a business agent that answers customer questions inside ChatGPT. The hub also offers limited insights such as profile views, mentions and website clicks.

That is the same bargain Google struck with businesses years ago: claim your listing, keep it accurate, and watch the numbers. The difference is that the answer people see is now written by a model, not ranked as a link. Whoever controls that layer controls a lot of first impressions.

We think this is a smart, sober move by OpenAI, and frankly a more realistic one than its last attempt at commerce. According to TechCrunch, the company retired its in-chat checkout effort in March after it failed to take off. Going from 'buy it here' to 'learn about it here' is a step back in ambition and a step forward in fit. People already ask chatbots which product to pick. Letting the business correct the facts the model relies on should make those answers better.

There is a genuine upside for small companies, too. A local shop with a wrong phone number or a discontinued product baked into an AI answer currently has no lever to pull. A verified profile is a lever. If it works, fewer customers get confidently wrong information.

But we want to name where this leads. The profile is supplied by the business, and the business agent speaks for the business. That blurs a line users may not notice: is ChatGPT telling me what it found, or what the company told it to say? Google spent two decades learning how much labeling and spam-fighting that line requires. OpenAI has not yet said much about how verification works, beyond a monetization executive noting there are multiple methods for different businesses and markets. The fact that the person explaining it holds a monetization title tells us where this is headed.

I'm watching for the moment profiles come with a paid tier, a boost, or a sponsored slot. That is the natural next step for any discovery engine, and it is where trust usually starts to erode. If OpenAI keeps the organic answer clearly separate from what a business pays for or supplies, this could be a net gain for users. If it doesn't, ChatGPT becomes another ad surface that talks.

OpenAI framed the launch as an early step toward bringing businesses more deeply into ChatGPT, positioning the assistant as a place people go to discover products and compare options. The insights dashboard invites obvious comparison to Google Analytics, and the profiles themselves resemble the business listings search engines already offer.