AI is changing how potential clients find you.
Some use it to compare you with alternative advisers and planners. Others will ask whether you’re a good fit for their circumstances. Many will ask it for a recommendation, just like they might ask their friends, solicitor, or accountant.
And now, ChatGPT, the UK’s most popular generative AI platform, is giving you a new way to reach the millions of people who use it every week by launching Businesses in ChatGPT.
So, here’s what we know right now, followed by one action you should take today.
#1. This is a beta launch.
#2. OpenAI says profiles are available wherever ChatGPT is.
#3. However, here in the UK, when Yardstick and several advice/planning firms tried to claim our profiles, we were asked to join a waiting list.
#4. Businesses can join that waiting list by visiting ChatGPT’s Business Hub.
#5. Once given access, businesses can claim their profiles, complete verification, and update their information.
#6. When your business appears in a ChatGPT answer, users can visit your profile to learn more about you.
#7. You will get insights into how consumers engage with you on ChatGPT, including the number of mentions and clicks through to your website.
#8. You will also be able to explore themes across conversations where your website is cited.
#9. To protect privacy, users’ individual conversations will not be shared with businesses.
#10. Business Agents, which answer consumers’ questions using information supplied by the business, are currently available to eligible e-commerce and online service businesses in the US. OpenAI plans to expand access but has not yet announced a UK launch date.
#11. OpenAI says claiming a profile does not guarantee higher placement and that ChatGPT will continue to make independent recommendations and comparisons.
One action to complete now
OpenAI has said that eligible businesses can claim profiles wherever ChatGPT is available. However, when we tried to claim The Yardstick Agency’s profile, we were added to a waiting list.
We know the same thing has happened to several advisers/planners.
So, even if you can’t claim and build your profile now, add yourself to the waiting list.
You’ll get an alert when you’re able to claim your profile, and it also helps to prevent scammers and fraudsters from trying to claim it.
Here’s how to join the waiting list:
Step #1: Sign in to the ChatGPT account you’ll want to manage your business profile from (we recommend using an account linked to your work email address).
Step #2: Click here to visit the ChatGPT Business Hub.
Step #3: Search for your business.
Step #4: Click on your business name when it appears.
Step #5: When presented with the message “Claim the <insert business name> in ChatGPT”, click “Get started”.
In our case, this triggered a message confirming that we’d been added to the waiting list. Your experience may differ as access expands. If it does, please let us know.
Google Business Profile, for ChatGPT
This really is a huge development.
It feels very similar to Google Business Profiles, and we already know how important it is for every business to claim, build, and nurture their profile. Businesses in ChatGPT will be equally, if not more, important.
So, get started now by joining the waiting list, and you’ll be ready to go when access opens up.
If you’re an On Track Yardstick client, we’ll discuss this in more detail at our next monthly meeting and explain how we can help build your profile. For everyone else, keep your eye out for our guide to building your business’s profile in ChatGPT, which we’ll publish in the next few weeks.
As always, if you have any questions, queries or comments on this blog, we’d love to hear from you. Just email phil@theyardstickagency.co.uk or use 07785 284429 to send a WhatsApp message or give me a call.
