It's Thursday, November 12, and ChatGPT finally lets you fix what it says about you.
The Athena Brief is a weekly AI newsletter keeping you up-to-date with the world's fastest changing (and most impactful) industry, as well as tips and tricks to save you real time & make you real money using AI.
This week starts with your listing in ChatGPT
ChatGPT Now Lets You Claim Your Business
Your listing, your details, your numbers
On November 10, OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta. It's the first time you get a say in how ChatGPT describes your business.
You claim your business in Business Hub. Once you're verified, you get a blue check and can update your details, prices, and stock.
You also see how often ChatGPT mentions you and how many people click through to your website, plus the common topics in conversations that bring you up.
It's free at launch.
One catch for Main Street: local stores and restaurants can currently claim only an existing U.S. listing. Eligible U.S. ecommerce and online service companies with a website can also build a Business Agent that answers customers' questions inside ChatGPT.
Why it matters
People already ask ChatGPT who to call. Until this week, you could ask ChatGPT about yourself, but you had no direct way to fix the answer.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the best plumber of them all?
Picture the bakery with last year's hours, the realtor listed under a brokerage she left, or the clinic that "doesn't take new patients" when it does. Now each of them can see the problem and correct it.
What to do
- Claim your listing Start in Business Hub. OpenAI can verify you through a business phone number, email address, website domain, or Shopify account.
- Fix the one detail that costs you customers Hours, prices, or the service you most want booked. The Tip of the week below shows you how to find it.
Between the lines
The word to watch is "launch." The profile is free at launch, and OpenAI has left open the possibility of charging in the future.
Ads are already part of the picture: businesses can sponsor their agent as a landing spot for ChatGPT Ads. OpenAI says paying does not change how often ChatGPT recommends a business. So the free move, getting your facts right, is the one that matters most.
Dive deeper
- Introducing Businesses in ChatGPT, from OpenAI
- Introducing Businesses in ChatGPT (in beta), from the OpenAI Developer Community
- OpenAI lets businesses claim ChatGPT profiles and launch their own agents, from The Next Web
- OpenAI lets you claim your business in ChatGPT and set up a custom agentic AI customer sales rep, from VentureBeat
Quick hits
Google Ads Now Shows the Junk Traffic You Didn't Pay For
On November 12, Google started rolling out the Invalid Traffic Overview Card in Google Ads. It shows how much Google saved you and the credits it automatically gave back when it caught invalid activity on your campaigns.
Google's line: "We don't charge for invalid traffic." When it spots bad traffic after the fact, it says it issues a credit "where appropriate and possible." If you run your own ads for a law office or a plumbing company, this is the first place to look before you blame the ad.
Gemini in Gmail Now Sums Up Long Threads for Everyone
On November 10, Google began rolling out two Gemini features in Gmail to all Workspace customers, Workspace Individual subscribers, and personal Google accounts, for users 18 and older. An AI Overview sits at the top of long threads and pulls out the key points and replies. The basic Help me write drafting tool comes with it.
Both are on by default, and you can turn them off. Google says they can take up to 15 days to show up. Think of the realtor's thread with a buyer, a lender, and the other agent over one closing date.
Google's Workspace Studio Can Now Wait a Few Days Before It Follows Up
Starting November 9, Workspace Studio flows got a "Wait until" step. A flow can pause and pick back up at a set date and time, or after a set stretch of up to 14 days.
Google's own examples include "sending a follow-up email a few days after a customer meeting" and "spacing out onboarding reminders." Think of the dental office's check-in two days after a cleaning. It's on Business Starter, Standard, and Plus, and on Enterprise Standard and Plus.
Tip of the week
Ask ChatGPT What It Says About Your Business
Find out what a new customer hears, then fix it.
- Ask ChatGPT three questions a new customer would ask, like "best family dentist near [your town]" or "who does same-day AC repair in [your area]."
- Write down whether you show up, and what it gets wrong: hours, prices, address, or the services you actually offer.
- Claim your business in Business Hub and fix the errors you found.
- Check that your own website says the same things, in plain words.
- Ask the same three questions next month, and compare.
Fix the detail that costs you the most first. If ChatGPT gets it right next month, move to the next one.
Or, if this sounds like a drag, the team at Athena would be happy to help.
One number
people who use ChatGPT each week, as of the Businesses in ChatGPT launch on November 10
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P.S. from Athena: Business Hub now shows how many people click through to your website from ChatGPT. Make sure what they land on is worth the click. Ask me about our website subscription. |