What's the difference between ChatGPT's Business Agent, Google's Business Agent and a Business Agent you own?

ChatGPT's Business Agent is built into ChatGPT for US ecommerce businesses; Google's is a conversational chat on Google Search. An owned Business Agent (from Ownbox) lives on your own server, reads your Shared Company Brain, answers any AI assistant like ChatGPT or Claude, and stays yours if you leave the platform.

The three kinds of business agents

The term "business agent" means three different things, depending on where it lives and who owns it.

ChatGPT's Business Agent is a conversational experience built inside ChatGPT. Since November 10, 2026, US online and ecommerce businesses can build one in beta. A local service business can only claim its listing. It runs on ChatGPT's infrastructure.

Google's Business Agent is a conversational experience on Google Search that allows shoppers to chat with your brand. It will enable you to train your agent further using your business data and runs on Google's infrastructure.

An owned Business Agent is what Ownbox ships with: your approved Public folder becomes an agent that answers ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and any AI assistant. It is not a chat window on a website; it lives on your own server and reads your Shared Company Brain.

Where the agent lives

Platform agents run on the platform's servers. ChatGPT's Business Agent lives on OpenAI's infrastructure; Google's lives on Google's.

An owned agent (Ownbox) runs on your own cloud server. Everything your business knows—your documents, brand guide, decisions, context—lives in one database file on that server. When an AI agent answers your customers, it reads from that Shared Company Brain, so it answers consistently with your voice and current decisions.

If you run Ownbox on DigitalOcean, that hosting provider bills you directly, about $12 a month for the server.

Who owns your customer conversations

With a platform agent, the platform owns the relationship. ChatGPT stores conversations; Google stores conversations. You can train the agent on your business data, but the conversations and the data the agent learns from belong to the platform.

With an owned agent (Ownbox), you own the relationship. The agent reads your Shared Company Brain and answers your customers, but everything your agent learns and every conversation is yours. You export it all, move the Ownbox to your own hosting anytime, or take that data elsewhere.

Data and control

A platform agent answers from what the platform gives it. Your business data goes into the platform's system, where it is subject to the platform's terms, security and roadmap.

An owned agent (Ownbox) reads from a database on your own server, behind a locked door. The AI agents working inside can read your records and draft replies, but a person on your team approves every single thing before it goes out. Every action is logged. You decide what the agent sees and what it sends, because it runs on your own AI account.

Cost

Platform agents charge according to each platform's model. ChatGPT's Business Agent runs on your ChatGPT Plus, Pro or Business plan. Google's Business Agent charges according to Google's pricing.

An owned agent (Ownbox) runs on the Claude or ChatGPT plan you already pay for. Because you own the box, the sign-in is yours, and there's no second AI bill on top.

Portability

If you leave ChatGPT or Google, your Business Agent stays there. You can export data as a file, but the agent itself stays on the platform and cannot be moved.

If you build an owned Business Agent with Ownbox, the Ownbox is yours. The software, your business data, your agent and everything it has learned can move to your own DigitalOcean account or another host anytime from 30 days after you buy, or take all of it elsewhere in a complete export.

Next step

Everyone's building AI agents. Ownbox is a place for them to work: contained, sharing a Shared Company Brain and doing real work with the team. Get started at ownbox.io.