Making AI Headlines · Page 6
ChatGPT Opens a Business Directory and Calls It Discovery
· New York time
OpenAI is introducing business profiles and other features intended to make ChatGPT a stronger tool for consumer discovery. The changes give businesses ways to participate as people use the chatbot to find products and services, moving the assistant closer to functions associated with search engines. The shift matters because a request for an answer can also be a request to find a business. For a consumer, a conversational interface might make it easier to describe what they need without sorting through a long list of links. For a business, being represented in that interface could become another way to reach potential customers. That convenience comes with an important distinction: a profile is information about a business, not an independent guarantee that it is the best fit for a particular customer. People still have to compare what they find with their own needs, and businesses have an incentive to present themselves attractively. The new features also show how assistants are becoming places where commercial encounters begin, rather than merely tools for writing or answering general questions. The old online directory asked businesses to describe themselves. The new one lets the customer start by asking a chatbot. Either way, everyone would still like to appear near the top of the conversation.
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