Just yesterday, November 10, 2026, OpenAI announced Businesses in ChatGPT, a beta that lets eligible businesses claim their business and manage information through Business Hub. I tried setting up Respage’s, and my first reaction was: this is a pain.
Between the DNS record setup with only a 30-minute verification window, the government-issued ID submission, and business registration details, it’s easy to say this was not just a 5-minute profile setup. And after submitting everything for review, our profile still says draft.
So before you tell your property teams to claim communities in ChatGPT, here’s what I ran into, what OpenAI says happens next, and why I would slow down before treating this as your next big leasing strategy.
To be fair, I tried this the day after it launched. It is brand new, and I expect some rough edges. But here are the things I would have liked to know before beginning this process.
For Respage, I used the website setup path. That meant adding a DNS record to verify the domain.
Here’s the fun part: in the setup I went through, I had 30 minutes to verify the DNS record.
If a third-party website vendor handles your DNS and their normal turnaround is two or three days, good luck getting that done through a routine support ticket.
For this setup path, I would coordinate a live call or a specific time with whoever manages your website and DNS before starting the profile setup. They need to be available to add the record while you are in the process.
The setup also involved business details, a category, a description, and contact information. Then there was identity verification involving a government-issued ID.
I understand why verification exists. I don’t want someone else claiming our business, either. But it would be nice if OpenAI gave us a list of all the things you need in order to complete the process from start to finish in its original announcement, or even its business hub landing page.
That information up front would have given me a better understanding of how much time it would have required from me, our web development team, and even the leadership team, as all were needed to provide necessary information. Also, it would have helped me better understand if I was even the right person to set it up in the first place.
I have now submitted our verification information. Approval is still pending. I’m not going to pretend this is a tidy, completed tutorial.
All of this left me wondering: should a marketer be setting this up, or does the owner of the business need to do it?
OpenAI allows an owner or an authorized representative to claim a business. An owner does not have to do it personally.
But being authorized and having all the information you need are two different things. I needed our business registration number, website, and physical business address, in addition to the identity-verification steps.
A marketer may know the business inside and out without knowing its registration number off the top of their head. Get those details from whoever maintains your official business records before you start.
This was another lesson for us: Respage is our doing-business-as name. 4 Walls is our legal business entity name.
When I started claiming the business, I naturally entered the name customers know: Respage. Later, the verification process required the details tied to the legal business.
My advice: have both names ready, and check which one each field is asking for. The legal business information used for verification needs to match your official records.
Do not assume your public-facing brand name belongs in every field. I wish I had sorted out the 4 Walls and Respage distinction before starting. I still do not know how straightforward correcting those details will be after submission, or if our profile will even be approved given the discrepancy.
The verification email I received had a distorted logo. To me, it looked like the kind of email you tell employees to be suspicious of.
That’s a bad first impression when the process also asks you to verify your identity and obtain legal information.
I’m describing how the email looked, not claiming it was fraudulent. But if you want businesses to trust a new verification process, the email should help establish that trust. This one made me hesitate.
Respage did not need the physical-location path, but I explored it to see what the experience might look like for property management teams claiming individual apartment communities.
The flow I explored asked for an address and location details, with an option to add a website. If you use domain verification for that website, you still need to plan for the DNS step. Selecting a physical location does not make that coordination disappear.
I did not complete a physical-location claim. When I checked again, I hit a waitlist saying access was gradually opening to more businesses. So your first obstacle may simply be getting access.
For multifamily teams, the more consequential limitation is in OpenAI’s documentation: central management across a parent company’s brands and locations is not currently available, and claiming the main brand does not claim its locations.
If you manage 50 communities, that should get your attention.
Who handles each profile? Who receives the codes? Who maintains access when a property changes management? Who owns the updates?
Those are basic operating questions. A launch announcement does not answer them for your portfolio.
Our Respage profile is still in draft, and other people have not been able to access it.
OpenAI says the claiming admin can add teammates or grant agency access in Business Hub. Workspace membership can affect invitations. I have not confirmed how that works for our draft.
I’m not saying shared management is impossible. I’m saying I haven’t gotten it working in our setup.
Before assigning this to someone across your portfolio, figure out the account and access plan. You do not want business information tied to an employee’s account with no clear handoff.
After I submitted the business verification details, the application message said it was in review, and that status updates would appear in organization settings over the next few days.
But when I went into organization settings, the profile still said draft. It also showed a review in progress and continued prompting me to verify.
When I clicked Verify, I got a message saying the business verification was under review and I could return later to check the status. When I clicked Check status, nothing visibly happened. I refreshed the page. Same experience.
Maybe that was because I had just submitted it. I cannot tell you whether it was a temporary delay or a bug. I can tell you the screen did not make it easy to understand what was finished and what still needed my attention.
At that point, I had submitted the information. I had not been approved. And the interface was doing a pretty poor job of making that distinction clear.
OpenAI says approved claim and Persona verification unlock profile updates and insights, with a blue check after Persona approval.
OpenAI describes aggregate reporting on mentions, website clicks, and discovery topics. Businesses do not receive users’ individual conversations. Eligible businesses can also create a Business Agent that answers questions using supplied information.
Agent eligibility is separate from profile verification. Do not assume a verified apartment community automatically qualifies for an agent.
I have not reached this stage with Respage, so these are documented capabilities, not results I can personally report.
Here is the part I would put in bold before anyone starts selling this as an AI visibility breakthrough: OpenAI says claiming your business does not guarantee higher placement or sales.
Its terms also say claiming a listing does not give you exclusive control over its contents. OpenAI can use other sources.
So yes, I think this is worth investigating. Giving ChatGPT accurate information about your business is a reasonable thing to explore.
But I would not divert a property team’s attention from inaccurate pricing, broken tour links, or unanswered leads to chase a verification badge.
For now, I would test one community where access is available, document the process, and confirm who can manage it before expanding.
I want to see what the finished experience actually delivers. But before you rush in, have your official business details ready, coordinate DNS access if needed, and decide who should manage the account.
I’m giving OpenAI some grace. We tested this the day after launch, and new products come with bugs and confusing moments. I’m also giving you fair warning: claiming your business may take a lot more preparation than the announcement makes it sound like.
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