ChatGPT Adds Verified Business Agents for Brand Shopping Help

OpenAI is letting ChatGPT users chat with verified 'Business Agents' that represent brands, helping with tasks like comparison shopping. The feature launches in beta first for eligible e-commerce and online service businesses in the US. Agents appear when a business with one shows up in a ChatGPT response, and users can ask follow-up questions about products.

Why it matters: Businesses building customer-facing AI experiences should watch how OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a branded transaction and support channel, which could reshape how products get discovered and compared.