ChatGPT isn’t just answering questions anymore.

It can now run apps inside the conversation - interactive tools that fetch live data, show options, and help users move forward without bouncing across 10 tabs. (OpenAI Help Center)

That’s a platform shift, not a feature.

Because it changes the buyer journey.

The old flow vs the new flow

Earlier (answer-first web):
Buyer → ChatGPT → links → your website → action

Now (action-first chat):
Buyer → ChatGPT → app → shortlist / configure / decide → (sometimes) your website to finish

The important part isn’t “users never leave ChatGPT.” That’s not always true.

The important part is: the decision gets made inside ChatGPT. And your website might only get the “final click” - if you even get that.

A simple example: “Hotel in New York under $250”

User asks:
“Find me a hotel in New York under $250 for next weekend.”

Before apps, ChatGPT would give suggestions and links.

With apps, ChatGPT can call a travel app, pull real-time availability and pricing, and present options directly in chat. The user can refine the shortlist, compare, and decide — then finish booking where needed. (TechCrunch)

That one change has a brutal implication:

If you’re not in the app layer, you’re not in the shortlist.

What counts as a “ChatGPT app”?

OpenAI’s “apps” umbrella includes:

• Interactive in-chat experiences (e.g., design something, browse listings, build a deck)

• Connectors that securely pull information from your services/tools (these have been grouped under “apps” terminology) (OpenAI Help Center)

There’s also now an App Directory inside ChatGPT where users can browse/search apps, and developers can submit apps for review and publishing. (OpenAI)

How does ChatGPT decide when to use an app?

It’s not random. Apps show up when they’re clearly the best way to complete a job.

In practice, apps tend to get used when:

• The query is action-oriented (“book”, “compare”, “design”, “order”, “pull data from…”)

• The task needs live or structured data

• The app is clearly scoped to a single job (not a vague “do everything” tool)

Also: users can explicitly invoke apps (for example by typing “@AppName” in many experiences). (ChatGPT)

Why this matters for brands (and why SEO alone won’t save you)

You’re used to fighting for:

• a Google ranking

• a marketplace category position

• a retargeting funnel click

Now there’s a new battleground: being the tool ChatGPT chooses when a user wants to do something.

This is the same shift we saw on mobile:

• First you ranked in search

• Then users stayed inside apps

• Now users stay inside assistants that call apps

If you sell anything transactional (tickets, travel, food, creative work, documents, SaaS workflows), this is coming for you fast. (Reuters)

What you should do next (practical playbook)

1) Decide your strategy: app vs source vs destination

You basically have three options:

A) Be an app
If you can deliver a clear action (search, compare, configure, generate, order, book), build for it.

B) Be a source
If you can’t be an app, make sure your information is so clean + structured + unambiguous that apps/agents can reliably use it.

C) Be the destination
If your site is where the value happens (community, long-form content, product trial), optimize for “the final click” but assume users arrive after deciding.

2) If you’re building an app, keep it brutally narrow

The winners won’t be “Swiss army knife” apps. They’ll be one-job apps:

• “Compare X under budget Y”

• “Generate asset Z from inputs”

• “Fetch latest status/prices for items A/B/C”

• “Turn document into output format Q”

If the job isn’t obvious, ChatGPT won’t pick you.

3) Treat “tool metadata” like your new landing page

In a world where apps are discovered inside ChatGPT, your “first impression” is:

• app name

• description

• capability scope

• trust signals (what data you access, what actions you can take)

That’s your new homepage.

4) Instrument your funnel for “assistant-led buying”

Start tracking:

• visits that come from ChatGPT/answer engines

• which pages get hit before conversion

• where users drop (because decision already happened elsewhere)

If you don’t measure it, you’ll keep investing in the wrong funnel.

The punchline

ChatGPT is turning into a distribution layer.

Links still matter. Websites still matter. But the leverage is shifting toward being callable inside the assistant, either as an app, or as the cleanest source it can trust.

If you’re building for growth, this is not “future talk”. It’s a 2026 reality.