OpenAI Tests Sponsored Agents as ChatGPT Ads Hits $1B Run Rate

OpenAI is testing Sponsored Agents inside ChatGPT, a format that lets a user start a conversation with a business-sponsored agent after clicking an ad.

The test is limited to select advertisers in the United States. Conversations with Sponsored Agents are clearly labeled. A conversation with a Sponsored Agent is distinct from ChatGPT's independent answers and separate from the user's original ChatGPT conversation, according to OpenAI.

The click does not continue the existing chat thread. It opens a separate, labeled chat controlled as a sponsored experience. For developers and media buyers used to landing pages, the web pages ads link to, and click IDs, the codes used to track those clicks, the unit here is a dialogue, not a web address. Think of it less as following a link and more as being handed to a shop assistant for a focused conversation.

The test is part of a larger change in how ad campaigns are built and managed. Advertisers can use plain-language prompts to create, update and analyze campaigns directly in ChatGPT with the Ads Manager plugin, an add-on that handles ad tasks inside the chat. The work stays in the chat window. A marketer can describe a goal, ask for changes, or request a performance summary without leaving ChatGPT.

OpenAI has also added AI help in Ads Manager that suggests ad text and images based on the advertiser's web page and campaign goal. A separate opt-in setting, called text customization, adjusts headlines and descriptions to fit the surrounding conversation and translates ad copy into the user's preferred language. The first tool helps write the ad before it runs. The second assembles variations when the ad is shown, shaped by the chat context.

Distribution is going through tools businesses already use. HubSpot, software for tracking customers and sales leads, is OpenAI's first CRM partner for ChatGPT Ads integration. Businesses can connect a ChatGPT Ads account in HubSpot to create ads, track results and follow up on leads without leaving HubSpot. Shopify, software for running online stores, is OpenAI's first ecommerce partner. U.S.-based Shopify merchants can use the new ChatGPT Ads app in the Shopify App Store to create and manage ChatGPT ad campaigns.

OpenAI lists the update as 'Reimagining advertising with AI' on its OpenAI News page, where it is dated Sep 16, 2026 and categorized as Product. The company also hosts a page titled 'ChatGPT Ads, a new channel for marketers' on its webinar subdomain.

Scale and expansion

ChatGPT Ads has reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate, a way of estimating yearly sales from recent results, OpenAI said on Aug. 31. ChatGPT Ads will expand to 31 European countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, according to an Aug. 18 update.

Earlier details show the ramp. OpenAI planned to test ads at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there is a relevant sponsored product or service based on the current conversation. On May 7, 2026, the company said it planned to expand the ChatGPT ads pilot in the coming weeks to the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil and Japan. It later planned to show ads to all users of the free and Go versions of ChatGPT in the United States in the coming weeks.

The U.S. pilot grew to over 600 advertisers and passed $100 million in annualized revenue within its first six weeks. Nearly 80% of small- and medium-sized businesses signaled interest in ChatGPT ads in that period.

What changes for practitioners

The broader context here is a shift from older sponsored links to conversational ad space. Search ads matched typed keywords to bids. Social ads matched user profiles to feeds. ChatGPT ads match the chat context to different versions of an ad, and Sponsored Agents take that a step further by turning the post-click into a conversation.

In my view, the practical questions will be familiar to anyone who followed the PC, web, mobile and cloud shifts. Measurement comes first. Campaigns built from prompts, headlines adjusted for context and translated versions will make it harder to track which version worked unless HubSpot-style tracking that links ads to sales and Shopify-side purchase data do their job. Brand safety comes second. Clear labels and separate threads help, but sponsored chats raise new questions around how disclosure stays visible, how the agent declines requests, and how far it can go in troubleshooting, recommending or selling before it must hand off to a person.

Worth flagging for enterprise teams is the direction of the tooling. Managing campaigns in plain language lowers the barrier to launch. It also moves important knowledge about audiences, budgets and creative testing into prompts and plugin records. Teams that write those prompts down, save what works and review AI-suggested text and images with the same care they give to code review will adjust faster than teams that treat the chat box as a shortcut.

From what I have seen at home, I have watched my own children move from typing queries to expecting answers to expecting action, often without noticing the change. That is the adoption pattern to watch. If sponsored chats prove useful for narrow tasks like sizing, compatibility checks or rebooking, users may accept them as they once accepted sponsored results that solved a problem. If they feel evasive or pushy, labeling alone will not save them.

Looking ahead, the long arc still points to more capable assistants, and conversational shopping is a likely beneficiary. Sponsored Agents are early, limited and clearly marked. The surrounding setup, from Ads Manager prompts to CRM and storefront links, points to campaigns that are written, shown, measured and completed without leaving a dialogue.