ChatGPT Ads gives eligible businesses a way to appear as clearly labeled ads while people explore choices in ChatGPT. An ad is separate from ChatGPT’s answer: paying for one doesn’t buy a place in an independent response. If your goal is to appear in unpaid ChatGPT search results, see our guide to ChatGPT search visibility instead.
OpenAI’s Ads Manager is still labeled beta, and availability and controls can change. The steps here reflect official OpenAI documentation reviewed on October 1, 2026.
Check whether your business can sign up
Start at ads.openai.com and check Ads Manager availability for the country where the advertising business is legally based. As of this review, U.S. self-service access is listed as available. If someone on your team already created an account, ask to be invited to it rather than creating a second account for the same advertiser.
Create the account and finish setup
OpenAI’s account setup guide offers two paths. You can enter your website URL to generate a first ad draft during signup, or skip that step and create the campaign after entering Ads Manager. Review any generated copy and images before using them.
Confirm the account name, public brand name, legal business name, logo, and billing details. Complete any required verification. Billing and review must be complete before ads can serve. Choose the country, currency, and time zone carefully because OpenAI says those settings can’t be changed after account creation.
Choose one goal and one destination
Decide what the campaign should accomplish. Ads Manager supports goals oriented toward views, clicks, and conversions, with available billing options depending on the setup. If the goal is qualified leads, send people to a page that explains a specific offer and makes it easy to contact you. If the goal is sales, use a relevant product or category page with a clear purchase path.
Set a budget you can evaluate without risking more than you intend to spend. Review the campaign setup guidance for the current objectives, budget controls, and targeting choices in your account.
Organize ad groups around customer needs
Create separate ad groups for different offers or buying situations. A store selling custom dining tables, for example, might separate small-space tables from outdoor tables because the buyer questions and landing pages differ.
Ads Manager lets you add context hints that describe when an offer may be relevant. Write plain descriptions of the customer need, product, and use case. Context hints are not exact-match keywords and don’t guarantee an ad will appear in a particular conversation, according to OpenAI’s ad group guidance.
Create ads that help people decide
Each ad needs a clear title, description, image, and landing page. Say who the offer is for and what it helps them do. Test distinct messages rather than many near-identical versions. OpenAI’s creative guidance emphasizes specific benefits and reachable landing pages.
Read the ad and page together. If the ad promises a product comparison, the destination should make that comparison easy. If it offers a consultation, the booking path should work on mobile and explain what happens next.
Measure results before increasing spend
Set up the conversion event that matches your goal and add tracking parameters to landing page URLs so you can distinguish paid ChatGPT traffic in analytics. OpenAI’s quickstart says Ads Manager reports impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate, and conversions when measurement is configured.
After launch, check that ads are serving, that the landing page works, and that leads or sales are being counted correctly. Compare cost per qualified lead or sale with your other channels. A new ad placement deserves a measured test, not an assumption that every click has the same value.
For merchants already using Shopify, OpenAI has also announced a ChatGPT Ads app for Shopify that connects product catalog and measurement tools. Confirm current eligibility and setup in the app before choosing that route.
If the website, offer, and tracking need work before a new campaign, Kelp’s digital marketing team can help you plan those pieces together.
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