TL;DR
OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT on November 10, 2026.
I claimed StudioHawk the next morning.
ChatGPT put us on a waitlist.
Most of the guides published this week say any eligible business can claim today.
That wasn't our experience, and our claim was for an online business with a website, which is the group OpenAI says it's starting with.
One thing to clear up first.
This is Business Hub, the free listing for your business.
It is a different product from ChatGPT Business, OpenAI's paid workspace plan, and Google is still mixing the two up in its results.
Business Hub is where you claim and manage how your business appears in ChatGPT.
OpenAI's launch post says businesses can "claim their business, manage their information, and see insights on how people engage with them on ChatGPT".
You open it from the ChatGPT sidebar on the web, or at chatgpt.com/business-hub.
It does three things.
Once you're verified, you can edit your website, description, category, logo, and delivery and return policies.
OpenAI reviews each change before it goes live.
ChatGPT can still use other sources when it answers questions about you, so your listing is one input among several.
Image: OpenAI, from its launch post (demo business)
You get mentions, website clicks and the topics people discussed when ChatGPT cited you, over the past 28 days.
You don't get the prompts, and you don't get the conversations.
Image: OpenAI, from its launch post (demo business)
The blue check needs more than a claim.
According to OpenAI's Help Center, it appears "after your Persona verification is approved", which is an identity check that can ask for a government ID and business registration details.
For a US business, have your EIN ready.
The closest comparison is Google Business Profile and Search Console combined.
The Google Business Profile half is the listing: you claim it, you verify it, and you keep the details right.
The Search Console half is the readout: how often you showed up, and how often someone clicked through.
The comparison breaks down in three places.
The numbers cover ChatGPT only, so Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews sit outside them.
Clicks are recorded clicks on links to your site, and OpenAI's own tooltip says they don't confirm a visit or a sale.
And the mention count works differently from an impression, which matters enough to get its own section below.
The US is the market where most of Business Hub is live at launch.
Online businesses with a website can apply now, and you should expect a waitlist: our own claim went to one.
OpenAI names no countries for online businesses.
Its product page says claiming "is initially available to eligible businesses with a website", and that eligibility depends on industry, location and its verification checks.
Local businesses can claim too, if ChatGPT already lists them.
The Help Center says "Local stores and restaurants can currently claim only an existing U.S. listing".
A US café, clinic or contractor can search for its listing and claim it.
Business Agents and ChatGPT Ads are also live in the US, for eligible ecommerce and online service businesses.
An agent explains your products and policies and links to your website, and you can sponsor it as the landing spot for ChatGPT Ads.
Image: OpenAI, from its launch post (demo business)
| Business type | Can you claim in the US today? | Source |
| Online business with a website | You can apply. Expect a waitlist. | OpenAI Help Center; our own claim, Nov 11, 2026 |
| Local store, restaurant or service with a shopfront | Yes, if ChatGPT already lists you. | OpenAI Help Center |
| Shopify store | You can connect from Business Hub or the Shopify admin. | OpenAI launch post |
| Business Agent or ChatGPT Ads | Yes, for eligible ecommerce and online service businesses. | OpenAI launch post |
Our advice to clients is simple.
Claim it and verify it as soon as you can.
Being on the waitlist early costs nothing, and the businesses that are already verified will be the first to see their data.
You claim it from Business Hub, and it takes about ten minutes before the waiting starts.
These steps follow OpenAI's Help Center.
Image: OpenAI, from its launch post (demo business)
If someone else has already claimed your business, use "Dispute ownership" from the menu.
Be careful before you publish.
OpenAI says support can't delete, unpublish or hide a published profile.
The mention count only counts answers that reference your website.
This is the most important line in the whole Help Center: "For an online business, a mention counts when ChatGPT references the business's website. The brand name alone doesn't count."
Every time ChatGPT names your business without linking to you, Business Hub misses it.
That gap is big.
Profound's Head of Insights, Josh Blyskal, pulled 37,842 brand mentions from Profound's ChatGPT data in the days after launch.
ChatGPT linked to the brand's own site in 54.9% of them.
In 40.2%, it named the brand with no link at all, and in 4.8% the link went somewhere else.
Only the first group shows up in Business Hub (Profound, Nov 11, 2026).
Our own data shows the same thing from the other side.
From January to early November 2026, 173 people told StudioHawk they found us through ChatGPT or another AI tool.
142 of them, 82%, never arrived through an AI link: they searched for us, typed our address or came through an ad.
Those people discovered us in AI, and a click-based count would miss nearly all of them.
Treat the Business Hub mention count as a floor.
Keep a "How did you hear about us?" field on your inquiry forms, because it's the only measure that catches the people who never click.
No.
OpenAI is clear: "Claiming does not guarantee higher placement or sales", and ChatGPT keeps making its own recommendations.
Claiming fixes what ChatGPT says about you.
What ChatGPT recommends still comes from the wider web: your website, your reviews, and what trusted sites say about you.
That's the work we cover in how to rank in ChatGPT and in our AI SEO service.
Use the waitlist time to fix the things ChatGPT reads about you.
For the full playbook, get our free AI search white paper.
No, claiming is free.
You also don't need an Ads account or an Enterprise agreement to claim an eligible business, according to OpenAI's Help Center.
OpenAI doesn't explain it on its pages.
Our claim for StudioHawk went to a waitlist on November 11, 2026, and it was still there on November 12.
OpenAI doesn't give a time.
It reviews each claim and emails you a decision or a request for more information.
Use "Dispute ownership" from the menu on the listing.
You'll go through Persona identity verification to prove you own or represent the business.
Only an unpublished draft can be deleted.
OpenAI support can't delete, unpublish or hide a published profile.
No.
ChatGPT Business is OpenAI's paid workspace plan for teams, and Business Hub is the listing for your business.
Yes.
Shopify merchants can connect from Business Hub or from the Shopify admin, and that also helps with verification.
Want help getting your business found in AI search? Talk to our AI SEO team.