How to Claim Your Business in ChatGPT: A Hands-On Guide for Indian Businesses (2026)

On 10 November 2026, OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta. For the first time, a business can claim its profile inside ChatGPT, correct its details, get a verified badge, and see how often ChatGPT mentions it. Think of it as the ChatGPT version of a Google Business Profile, though it does not work quite the same way.

India is ChatGPT's largest market by weekly users, so this matters here more than almost anywhere. But most guides published in the first 24 hours were written for US businesses, and the rules for Indian businesses are different. This guide covers who is eligible from India, the claim steps, what happened when we tried it ourselves, and what to do while you sit on the waitlist.

The short answer #

• Right now, almost everyone lands on a waitlist. This is launch week of a beta, and claims from India are being queued rather than approved on the spot. We tried with Mark 42 and got the waitlist too. Joining it now is still worth doing, so you are in line when access opens.
• On paper, online businesses with a website (D2C brands, ecommerce stores, online services) are eligible to claim from India.
• Shopify stores will have the easiest path, because connecting the store also verifies it.
• Local shops, clinics and restaurants can only claim an existing listing in the US for now, so expect a longer wait.
• Service businesses (agencies, consultants, most B2B firms) have reported the service option marked "coming soon."
• Claiming is free. It does not need an Ads account, and OpenAI says it does not guarantee higher placement in answers.

What Businesses in ChatGPT actually gives you #

There are four separate pieces, and it helps to know which ones apply in India.

1. A claimed, verified profile. You can edit your website link, description, category, logo, cover photo, and delivery and return policies. Once verified you get a blue check. Available in India for eligible businesses.
2. Business Hub insights. For the last 28 days: how often ChatGPT mentioned you, how many clicks went to your website, and the common topics in answers that mentioned you. OpenAI says it never shares the actual conversations. Available after verification.
3. Product feeds. Upload a catalogue (CSV or JSONL) or sync a Shopify store so ChatGPT has your current prices and stock. The standard upload path is aimed at the US, and other markets need OpenAI to confirm the integration first.
4. Business Agents. A branded chat assistant customers can open from your profile, which can also be promoted with ChatGPT Ads. US only for now.

So for most Indian businesses, the realistic goal is the first two: an accurate, verified profile and the insights that come with it, once your claim clears the waitlist.

Before you start: what you need ready #

Verification is where most claims slow down, so gather this first:

• A ChatGPT account you will use to manage the business. Ideally sign in with an email on your own domain (you@yourbusiness.com), not a personal Gmail, since review updates go to that inbox.
• Access to one of these: the business phone number on the listing, the business email address, your domain's DNS settings, or your Shopify admin.
• A government ID for the identity check that comes after approval.
• Business registration details (GST or company registration) whose name and address match your official records exactly. A mismatch between your trading name and your registered name is the most likely thing to cause a delay, so check this before you begin.

How to claim your business in ChatGPT, step by step #

Step 1: Open Business Hub #

Sign in to ChatGPT and open Business Hub from the sidebar, or go directly to chatgpt.com/business-hub.

Step 2: Search for your business #

Search by your business name and website domain. If ChatGPT already has a listing for you, select it. If there is no listing and you run an eligible online business, you may see an option to add it.

When adding a new business, you choose how customers deal with you: at a physical location, through an online store, or through a service. This choice decides what you can do next, and it is where Indian local and service businesses currently hit the waitlist or the "coming soon" label.

If your listing shows "Contact support", it is locked and you will need to request access from OpenAI rather than claim it yourself.

Step 3: Verify ownership #

ChatGPT shows only the verification methods that apply to your business:

DNS verification is the most reliable if your phone or email on the listing is outdated. It can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to take effect. If you don't know where your DNS is managed, it is usually wherever you bought your domain (GoDaddy, Hostinger, Cloudflare and so on), or ask whoever built your website.

Step 4: Wait for review #

OpenAI reviews the claim and emails you a decision. It may ask for more information. There is no published timeline, and early reports range from same day to several days, so plan for days, not minutes.

Step 5: Complete identity verification #

After the claim is approved, you complete an identity check (run by a provider called Persona) with a government ID and, in some cases, business registration details and proof that you are authorised to represent the business. This step unlocks almost everything: the blue check, publishing profile changes, product feeds and insights all depend on it. Approval of the claim alone is not enough.

Step 6: Complete your profile #

Once verified, fill in every field: a clear one-paragraph description of what you do and for whom, the right category, your logo, a cover photo, and your policies. OpenAI reviews changes before they go live.

One thing to know before you publish: OpenAI support cannot delete, unpublish or hide a published profile, only drafts. Get the details right before you hit publish.

You can also add teammates or your agency to manage the profile, each with their own ChatGPT account, so you don't have to share a login.

What happened when we tried to claim Mark 42 #

We tried this ourselves the day after launch. Mark 42 is a digital agency in Sector 62, Noida, which makes us exactly the kind of Indian service business this guide is written for. We opened Business Hub, found our business and started the claim.

The result was a waitlist, not a claim. We could not verify or edit anything yet.

We are not alone in this. In the first days of the beta, businesses across India are seeing the same waitlist screen, whatever their type. So if you see it, you have not done anything wrong. OpenAI is opening access gradually, and the waitlist is the queue. Start your claim anyway so you are in that queue, and use the wait to get your details in order (see below). We will update this post with what verification asks for once our claim goes through.

On the waitlist? What to do while you wait #

Most Indian businesses can't complete a claim today, and clinics, shops, restaurants and service businesses may wait longest. That does not mean you are invisible in ChatGPT. ChatGPT already recommends local businesses. It just builds that picture from the rest of the web, not from a profile you control. That is where your effort should go until access opens.

• Get on the waitlist anyway. Start the claim with your domain email so you are notified when your category opens.
• Fix your consistency everywhere. The same name, address, phone and description on your website, Google Business Profile, JustDial, Practo, IndiaMART or whichever directories matter in your field. AI tools need confidence you are one clearly defined business. Our free Google Business Profile checker shows you the public version of yours.
• Don't drop Google Business Profile. ChatGPT's own profile does not replace it. Research from BrightLocal found ChatGPT rarely draws on Google Business Profile data for local answers and leans more on sources like Bing and Yelp, which is exactly why your listings outside Google matter too. Your GBP still runs the Google map pack, which is a separate game.
• Make your website easy to quote. Answer-first service pages, clear pricing context, FAQ and LocalBusiness schema. We covered this in detail in how to get cited in ChatGPT and AI Overviews and whether your website is ready for AI search.

Does claiming help you rank in ChatGPT? #

Not directly. OpenAI says claiming "does not guarantee higher placement or sales," and that advertising does not influence ChatGPT's independent answers. ChatGPT still forms its recommendations from what the wider web says about you.

What claiming does give you is control over the facts. If ChatGPT is showing an old phone number, the wrong category or a delivery policy you changed last year, a verified profile is how you fix it. And for the first time you can see whether ChatGPT is sending you anyone at all.

Track ChatGPT traffic yourself, not just in Business Hub #

Business Hub insights only appear once activity crosses a reporting threshold, so a blank number does not mean zero. You can measure it independently today, whether or not you have claimed:

ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to the links it sends people to. In GA4, look for that source under traffic acquisition, and make sure your form submissions, WhatsApp taps and phone taps are set up as key events so you can see which of those visitors became enquiries. Our guide to tracking leads in GA4, Google Ads and WhatsApp walks through that setup.

A checklist for this week #

• Open Business Hub and search for your business. Note whether you can claim, are waitlisted, or see "coming soon."
• Before claiming, match your registered business name and address to what you will enter.
• Verify with DNS if your listed phone or email is out of date.
• Complete the identity check, or nothing else unlocks.
• Fill every profile field before you publish, since a published profile cannot be removed.
• Add a GA4 view filtered on utm_source=chatgpt.com so you can see results regardless of Business Hub thresholds.
• If you can't claim yet, fix your listing consistency and your website instead. That is what ChatGPT reads today.