AI CURATED HOT STORY · 11/11/2026
OpenAI is testing a new feature called "Businesses in ChatGPT," allowing U.S. e-commerce and service businesses to create verified profiles, upload product feeds with pricing and inventory, and deploy dedicated Business Agents. These agents can answer customer questions, assist with price comparisons, and serve as ad carriers within ChatGPT, marking a significant step in evolving the chatbot from a general assistant into a commerce and discovery gateway that directly challenges Google's business profile and search ad models.
According to multiple sources, merchants can claim and verify their profiles via Business Hub, connect product data sources to improve answer accuracy, and view aggregated metrics on impressions and clicks. Business Agents support custom instructions and business context, with conversations isolated from the main chat and clearly labeled. Users can initiate follow-up questions on pricing and product differences directly from ChatGPT responses. Merchants can also purchase sponsored placements for their agents, with sponsored content clearly marked and analytics privacy-protected. The feature is currently limited to eligible U.S. e-commerce and online service businesses, with Shopify merchants able to integrate directly.
By converting ChatGPT's 1.2 billion weekly users into a commercial traffic funnel, OpenAI is building a closed loop from product discovery to transaction conversion. This move poses a direct challenge to Google's local business and search advertising business, and if successful, could reshape the conversational commerce ecosystem, offering merchants a new channel while opening a new advertising revenue stream for OpenAI.
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