OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into a platform where companies can present their offerings and deploy their own AI agents for customer interactions. An agent powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a system that can perform tasks with some autonomy, such as comparing products or preparing a booking. This affects you if you use ChatGPT for shopping, travel, or service discovery, while businesses must weigh additional visibility against losing control of the direct customer relationship.
What is ChatGPT becoming?
The “Businesses in ChatGPT” beta lets companies create profiles and manage their details through a Business Hub. According to the main report on the new business features, this central dashboard allows them to update information and submit product feeds containing prices and availability. A product feed is a structured list of items and their associated data.
Eligible online retailers and digital service providers in the United States can also create specialized Business Agents. These agents answer questions within ChatGPT and help users compare products. Shopify merchants can connect their stores, while companies can also use the agents as destinations for advertising in ChatGPT.
The Business Hub provides companies with metrics such as profile views, mentions in conversations, and website clicks. Businesses must verify their profiles, meaning they need to confirm their identity or authority to manage the listing. OpenAI did not explain the process in detail; according to TechCrunch’s coverage of the business profiles, the company uses different verification methods for different business types and markets.
This moves ChatGPT closer to services such as Google Business Profiles: users are meant to find not only general answers but also specific companies, products, and services. OpenAI says ChatGPT currently reaches 1.2 billion users per week, although this provider figure has not been independently verified in the supplied reports. The articles do not state prices for business profiles or Business Agents, so their cost remains unclear.
How does product search change?
For you, this kind of search could remove several intermediate steps. Instead of opening multiple store pages, you might ask ChatGPT for available products within a budget and compare their features in the same conversation. The quality of those results will depend heavily on whether the connected data is current, complete, and clearly identified.
Galaxus offers a practical example. The Swiss online retailer has launched an interface based on the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Originally introduced by Anthropic, MCP is a standard that allows AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot to connect to external data sources.
Using the official Galaxus interface for AI assistants, an assistant can search the retailer’s product catalog. If you ask for an item below a certain price, for example, the assistant can return results with images, prices, star ratings, and summaries. Galaxus says the information comes from the same database used by its online store.
The assistant cannot display discounts, add products to a cart, or initiate payment. You still need to move to the Galaxus store to make a purchase. Searching through the interface does not require a Galaxus account, and the service is currently limited to the Swiss Galaxus store.
Galaxus plans to analyze which AI assistants search the catalog, what they search for, and whether they apply a price filter. The company says it does not save the full prompt, meaning your instruction to the assistant, or determine your identity. Search data is not currently connected to a customer account, although Galaxus says future options could include signing in through an assistant, creating shopping lists, or placing products in a cart.
Where do AI bookings stop?
Product discovery and an actual transaction are separate stages. Once an agent uses an account, transfers personal information, or completes a purchase, the requirements for privacy, consent, and control become more demanding. Some businesses therefore permit agents to display their offerings but not to book them.
United Airlines will not allow personal AI assistants to book tickets. According to The Verge’s report on United’s restrictions, the airline cites privacy and regulatory concerns: an agent could expose customer information, make an unintended purchase, or bypass required disclosures and confirmations. One example is the traveler’s attestation that their luggage does not contain explosives.
An AI assistant can still find and display United flights, but it cannot complete the transaction on a traveler’s behalf. United also says it does not want to introduce another intermediary between the airline and its customers. The report notes that eBay and several major banks have also restricted unauthorized agents.
At the same time, travel remains an area of interest for OpenAI. The company has acquired AI travel agent Odessia and hired its founder, Francis Davidson. Odessia was about a year old, had helped early adopters plan millions of dollars’ worth of travel according to Davidson, and has already been shut down.
The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. OpenAI has not announced a new travel product or a timetable either, as the report on the Odessia acquisition makes clear. OpenAI counts companies including Booking.com, Expedia, and KAYAK among its customers or partners, which signals interest in travel but does not confirm an upcoming booking feature.
Pros and Cons of AI agents in commerce
Pros:
- Less searching – You can describe your needs in everyday language and compare several offers within one conversation.
- Fresher product data – Official interfaces can supply prices, availability, and ratings directly from a retailer’s catalog.
- More visibility for smaller businesses – Verified profiles can present offerings where people are already searching for products or services.
- A clearer division of labor – An agent can research and shortlist options while you handle sensitive steps such as signing in, using a cart, and paying.
Cons:
- Commercial influence – If businesses can advertise through agents, users need to know whether a recommendation is independent or paid.
- Privacy risks – Bookings and account access may expose personal information or send it through additional intermediaries.
- Unintended transactions – An agent could misunderstand your preference or trigger a purchase you did not mean to make.
- Platform dependence – Retailers may gain reach while handing part of product discovery and the customer relationship to ChatGPT or another assistant.
OpenAI’s earlier efforts also show that technical capability does not guarantee adoption. The company previously offered direct shopping in ChatGPT with commissions and a checkout cart, but TechCrunch reports that it retired the effort in March. The new profiles therefore focus first on discovery, advice, and referrals rather than completing every purchase inside ChatGPT.
What does this mean for you?
If you are getting started, treat AI assistants as research tools first. You could ask to see several Galaxus products within a price range, then verify the price, availability, delivery conditions, and specifications in the store itself. For travel, an agent may shortlist routes or fares, but providers such as United deliberately leave booking and final confirmation in your hands.
If you already have experience with AI assistants, you can structure requests more precisely by stating your budget, required features, exclusion criteria, and desired number of comparisons. You should also check which data source produced the results and which actions the agent is actually authorized to perform. A smooth conversation is not evidence that an offer is complete or neutrally ranked.
For companies and users in Switzerland, the picture is mixed. Galaxus already provides an officially maintained interface for its Swiss store, while OpenAI’s specialized Business Agents are initially limited to eligible companies in the United States, according to the supplied reports. OpenAI says it intends to expand to more markets and industries, but it gives no schedule for Switzerland and no details about supported languages or pricing.
The approaches to privacy also differ. OpenAI says user conversations are not shared with businesses, while companies receive limited metrics covering mentions, views, and clicks. Galaxus provides more detail about which search information it analyzes and which data it currently does not save or connect to an account; United instead draws a firm line at account access and booking.
ChatGPT is therefore becoming more of a discovery and advisory platform than a universal shopping machine. Official product data can make searches more useful, but bookings and payments remain contentious for good reasons. The unresolved risk is that advertising, advice, and transactions increasingly take place in the same conversation without always making it clear whose interests the agent is serving.
Sources
- “Businesses in ChatGPT”: OpenAI macht ChatGPT zur Unternehmensplattform mit KI-Agenten für den Kundenkontakt – THE DECODER, 2026-11-10
- OpenAI rolls out new business profiles, making ChatGPT just a little bit more like Google – TechCrunch, 2026-11-10
- Galaxus erleichtert KI-Agenten die Produktsuche – Netzwoche, 2026-11-11
- United won’t let your AI agent book your flight – The Verge, 2026-11-11
- OpenAI acquires Odessia, travel startup created by Sonder founder – TechCrunch, 2026-11-10
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