AI
Help people find your bank or credit union on ChatGPT
Sameer Kapur
Cofounder & Chief Product Officer
OpenAI now lets eligible businesses claim their presence in ChatGPT. Here's why banks and credit unions should pay attention, and how to get started.
Think about someone shopping for an auto loan. They know what they pay today. They want to know whether they can do better. They ask ChatGPT to help them compare lenders, understand the terms, and find a credit union they can join.
Your institution might be exactly what they're looking for. The question is whether the information they find helps them see that.
On November 10, OpenAI launched Businesses in ChatGPT in beta. Through Business Hub, eligible businesses can claim their profile, update their information, and see how people engage with them. We think banks and credit unions should take a look now.
We built Glide to help financial institutions grow. A lot of that work happens inside account opening and loan applications. But growth starts earlier, when someone is deciding who to bank with. We want to help our customers show up there, too.
You already do this for Google
If someone searches for your institution on Google, you want them to find the right website, the right location, and a clear explanation of what you offer. You wouldn't want an outdated listing to be their first impression.
Bring that same attention to ChatGPT. Someone may ask a whole question rather than type your name: “Which credit unions near me offer auto refinancing?” or “Where can I open a business checking account online?” The answer can shape which institutions they look at next.
Claiming your business gives you a way to supply current information about your institution. It doesn't guarantee that ChatGPT will recommend you or put you ahead of a competitor. ChatGPT still makes its own recommendations.
What makes this worth doing is straightforward: you can start managing the information you provide and learning how your institution appears in a place where people can research their options.
What you can do in Business Hub
The first job is getting the basics right. Who do you serve? What do you offer? Where should someone go to learn more? For a credit union, a clear explanation of who can join can matter as much as the product itself.
Business Hub also gives you aggregate insights into mentions, website clicks, and the topics associated with your business. Those are useful starting points for your marketing team. They can help you spot questions your website should answer better and see whether people click through. Individual conversations stay private. See OpenAI's overview of the insights.
OpenAI determines which businesses can claim profiles based on factors including category, location, and verification. Start by finding your institution and checking the options available to you. The profile policy covers eligibility.
How to register your bank or credit union in ChatGPT
Start with someone authorized to represent your institution. Have your website administrator available if you need to verify your domain. The steps below cover both claiming an existing listing and adding a new business when that option is available.
Before you open Business Hub, gather:
Your business details: official name, website, address, public contact information, logo, and an approved description.
The account you'll use: decide which authorized person will manage the profile. Use a ChatGPT account associated with their work email and approved by your institution.
Verification access: someone who can receive a business email or phone code, or your domain administrator for DNS verification.
Identity documents: government ID, business registration information, and evidence of your authority may be requested during identity verification.
Screenshots use fictional business and contact details for this tutorial.
1. Open Business Hub
Go to chatgpt.com/business-hub.
Sign in to the ChatGPT account you'll use to manage the business.
If you land on a list of businesses, click Add. Otherwise, you'll see the search screen below.
Start in Business Hub.
2. Search before creating a new profile
Type your bank or credit union's name.
Check the name and address of each result.
If you find the correct listing, select it and begin the claim. Continue to step 4 below.
If there is no matching listing and a Create option is offered, select it to begin the new-business route in step 3.
Select an existing match, or use Create when your business isn't listed and that option is available.
Check carefully before creating anything. OpenAI prohibits duplicate profiles. A listing for one branch should not be treated as ownership of every location. Read the business profile policy.
3. If you're adding a business, choose how customers interact with it
The new-business flow asks how customers usually interact with your institution. It shows two choices:
At a physical location: customers visit a branch, office, or other location.
Through a website: customers use your website or marketplace.
This question appears in the new-business route.
Choose the option that accurately describes the business you're registering. If you're setting up a branch listing, use its physical location.
In the website route, be ready to enter your website address and complete domain verification. You may also be asked for a business category, a description, and contact information. Choose an accurate category from the available choices. Use your institution's public contact details.
4. Confirm the account that will manage the profile
In the claim flow, ChatGPT shows the business alongside the account you're signed into.
Confirm the business name and location.
Check the account email. If it's the wrong account, switch accounts before proceeding.
Review the Businesses in ChatGPT Terms, then click Continue when you're ready.
Confirm both the business and the account before continuing.
5. Verify your connection to the business
Choose a method offered on your screen:
Phone: request an SMS or automated call, then enter the code.
Email: request a code at the business email shown, then enter it.
Domain: add the supplied TXT record to DNS, then return and select Verify domain.
For the domain route, send your website administrator the record's type, host/name, and value. They should copy those fields exactly into your DNS provider. A TXT record is a DNS entry, not a file to upload to your website.
6. Complete the identity check
Persona will ask for ID documents from someone authorized to represent your institution, along with the business’s EIN/TIN and official address. Have those details ready before starting verification.
7. Finish your business information
After claim and identity approval, open your profile and use Edit business info. Update the website, description, category, and logo. Changes are reviewed before publication. OpenAI's setup guide covers verification and profile management.
Write the description the way you'd explain your institution to someone who has never heard of it. Say where you operate, who you serve, and what people can come to you for. “We serve families and small businesses across [region]” tells a reader more than “We deliver innovative financial solutions.”
Check the website link before you finish. Any rates, fees, membership requirements, or other terms you include should match your approved public information. OpenAI requires accurate information and relevant links.
8. Review your insights
Open the overview to find brand insights. The dashboard includes mentions, website clicks, discovery topics, and date controls. An unavailable metric doesn't necessarily mean no one has found you.
OpenAI's example insights dashboard. Source: OpenAI.
Put a monthly check on your marketing team's calendar. Look at what has changed, whether your information is still accurate, and what visitors do after they reach your website. Give one person responsibility for keeping the profile current.
If you get stuck
For a pending review, wait for the decision email. For a locked listing or an error you can't resolve, contact OpenAI support with the step and error message. Remove private information from any screenshot you send.
You'll also see Business Agents
Business Hub includes an Agent builder and a Products section. Eligible businesses can create an agent that answers questions using their information, and retailers can provide product feeds. At launch, agents are available to eligible ecommerce and online service businesses in the U.S. Here's OpenAI's launch announcement.
Claiming a profile doesn't establish eligibility for an agent. Before building one or uploading a financial product catalog, confirm that OpenAI supports your institution's category and intended use. For an FI agent, the scope of the answers and the information it asks customers to share need particular attention. OpenAI's agent policy sets those boundaries.
Getting found is the beginning
Go back to the person shopping for an auto loan. Suppose they find your credit union through ChatGPT, click through, and like what they see. Can they quickly figure out whether they can join? Can they find the loan they were comparing? Can they start an application from their phone?
That is the next piece to get right. Review the journey from your product pages into your Glide application. Make the Join and Apply buttons easy to find, and make sure they lead to the right place.
Then check whether you can measure the journey. If someone arrives from ChatGPT, visits your website, and clicks Apply, the original source can get lost along the way. Ask your website and analytics teams whether that referral information carries through to the application, consistent with your privacy settings. Otherwise, a report may tell you “website” without showing how the person found you.
Follow the results through to completed applications, opened accounts, and funded loans. Those outcomes will tell you much more about the channel than a click count alone.
Start with your institution
We want the banks and credit unions we work with to be ready as more of the banking journey moves into AI. That starts with understanding how people find you and making it easy for them to become a customer or member.
Look up your institution in Business Hub, choose someone to own the claim, and bring it to your next conversation with your Glide team. We want to help you turn that first bit of interest into a relationship.
