ChatGPT for merchants: the full setup for your store

01What does a ChatGPT merchant need to set up?

Do them in this order.

021. How do I let ChatGPT read my store?

ChatGPT search uses OAI-SearchBot, OpenAI's search crawler. A crawler is a bot that visits web pages to collect them for search. OpenAI's crawler page asks sites to allow it in robots.txt and to let its published IP addresses through your host or CDN. OpenAI says a robots.txt change takes about 24 hours to apply.

User-agent: OAI-SearchBot
Allow: /

GPTBot is a different crawler, used for training OpenAI's models. OpenAI treats each crawler setting separately, so blocking GPTBot doesn't keep you out of search. Scan a page to see what ChatGPT and other AI tools can read. More in AEO.

032. How do I claim my store in ChatGPT Business Hub?

1. Open Business Hub. Sign in to ChatGPT, open Business Hub from the sidebar or go to chatgpt.com/business-hub, and search for your store by name. An eligible online business that isn't listed may see an option to add it.
2. Verify the claim. Use one of the methods shown: a code sent to the business phone or email, a DNS TXT record on your domain, or your Shopify store (OpenAI Help Center). OpenAI reviews the claim and emails you its decision.
3. Pass the Persona check. Persona is an ID-check service. You may need a government ID, business registration details and proof that you can represent the business. Only after OpenAI approves it can you publish profile changes, connect a feed, see insights or create an agent. The blue check appears then too.
4. Invite your team. The admin who claimed the business can add teammates and give an agency access to manage the business or its agent. Each person uses their own ChatGPT account.

You don't need an Ads account, ChatGPT Enterprise or a Shopify store to claim. If a step gets stuck, see Business Hub verification. Every claim step in detail: how to claim your business in ChatGPT.

043. What goes in my ChatGPT business profile?

After Persona is approved, you can edit these fields. OpenAI reviews each change before it's published, and an update can take time to show in ChatGPT's answers. ChatGPT may also use other sources about your business.

The Businesses in ChatGPT policy says profile information must be true and kept current. It rules out false claims about prices or availability, fake reviews, and links that don't lead where they say.

054. How do I connect a product feed to ChatGPT?

A product feed is a file that lists every product with its price and stock. After Persona is approved, Business Hub gives you three ways to connect one:

Products in the feed must follow OpenAI's Commerce policies. A connected feed doesn't publish an agent, and OpenAI says it doesn't guarantee that ChatGPT recommends your products. WooCommerce, Magento and custom stores use the CSV or the hosted URL.

The other route is OpenAI's merchant program. You apply on the merchants page and join a waitlist. Shopify and Etsy catalogs are already in ChatGPT, with no application.

What does OpenAI's feed spec ask for?

OpenAI's feed spec has one row per product or variant:

Three rules catch stores out:

• Sale prices. sale_price must be lower than price and in the same currency, or ChatGPT ignores it.
• Shipping. An empty shipping_price means unknown, not free.
• Barcodes. A gtin has 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits, with no spaces or dashes.

Field by field, with examples: ChatGPT product feed.

065. Should my store publish a Business Agent?

A Business Agent is a chat that answers questions about your store. Shoppers open it from your ChatGPT profile. It answers from your feed, your policies and the instructions you write. It's open to US ecommerce and online service businesses with a website that meet the industry rules in the Business Agents Policy.

1. Open your business. After Persona is approved, open it in the Business tab. If you connected Shopify, a draft agent may already be there.
2. Review what it uses. Check your product details and return policy.
3. Write instructions. The policy says everything must be true and current. You can't tell the agent to invent prices, stock, reviews or guarantees, or to pressure shoppers.
4. Preview it. Ask a question customers often ask, such as whether a sale item can be returned. If the answer is wrong, fix the details or instructions and test again.
5. Publish. Customers can only chat with a published agent.

OpenAI's help center says the agent can't complete purchases, make bookings or check a customer's order. It explains products and policies and links to your website. It also doesn't use your ChatGPT app's data. More in ChatGPT Business Agent.

076. Can shoppers buy inside ChatGPT?

Not today. OpenAI's merchants page says it is moving away from a standalone Instant Checkout. Shoppers find products in ChatGPT and buy on the merchant's own website or app, and OpenAI charges no fees on purchases that start in ChatGPT. Your checkout, payments and fulfilment stay as they are.

OpenAI has changed this before, so read the merchants page again before you plan around it. The history: what happened to Instant Checkout.

087. How do signed-in customers check orders in ChatGPT?

Through your store's own app. An app is your own server (an MCP server) that ChatGPT calls when a customer uses it. OpenAI's docs call these apps plugins. A customer signs in with the account they already have with your store, then checks an order, starts a return or reorders a past purchase. The app's actions call your store's API, so the store needs one.

Each assistant reviews the app before it lists it:

The same server can list in both. Full checklists: ChatGPT's directory and Claude's directory. How the app and the agent split the work: Business Agent vs a ChatGPT app.

098. Should I run ChatGPT ads?

Ads are optional and paid. They appear below ChatGPT's answer, only for people on the Free and Go plans, and OpenAI says they don't influence its answers (OpenAI Help Center). Sign up at ads.openai.com. A business can also sponsor its Business Agent and use it as the destination of its ads (OpenAI). Budgets and setup: ChatGPT ads.

109. How do I keep my ChatGPT listing current?

Both OpenAI policies say the information you give must be true and kept current.

If OpenAI finds a problem with an agent, it may pause or remove it and ask for changes. For stores in the merchant program, OpenAI's get started guide recommends uploading a full feed snapshot at least once a day.

Which Business Hub insights should I watch?

Insights cover the past 28 days. OpenAI doesn't share prompts or chats with your agent, and a blank number can mean activity is below its reporting threshold, not zero. OpenAI suggests using insights to find gaps in the information you share.

11Who does each task, and how often?

An agency can do most of the work once you invite it. The claim and the Persona check stay with you.

12Done for you: ChatGPT setup for your store

Transica helps you claim your business in ChatGPT, fills in your profile, builds and keeps your product feed current, sets up your Business Agent, and gives customers an app in ChatGPT for what the agent can't do, like checking an order.

Setup

1. Claim. Transica guides you through claiming in Business Hub. You do the verification and the Persona ID check, then invite Transica as your agency, which OpenAI's help center allows.
2. Profile. Transica fills in your website, description, category, logo, and delivery and return policies.
3. Product feed. Transica builds a feed from your store's site or API in OpenAI's feed format, hosts it and connects it.
4. Business Agent. Transica writes the agent's instructions to OpenAI's Business Agents Policy, tests them, and publishes the agent when you say OK.
5. Your app. Transica builds an app for what the agent can't do, such as signed-in order checks, returns and reorders, and submits it to ChatGPT's directory and Claude's from your accounts. Customers sign in with their existing store login. Transica can't connect to Shopify's customer accounts yet.

Every month

• Keeps the feed current: prices, stock and sales.
• Updates the agent and the profile.
• Hosts and monitors the app.
• Sends a monthly note based on the Business Hub insights you share.

Who it's for: US stores first, especially WooCommerce, Magento and custom stores, since Shopify already shares its catalog with ChatGPT. Outside the US, it covers everything except the Business Agent.

See the done-for-you service

14Common questions