OpenAI has begun testing advertising that talks back. In an announcement on 16 September, the company said users who click an ad in ChatGPT can start a conversation with a business-sponsored agent, discussing a product before they reach the advertiser’s own website. The test is running in the United States only.
Alongside it, advertisers get tools built on the same models: campaigns created and managed through natural-language prompts, ad copy and imagery suggested from a landing page, and an optional feature that adapts an advertiser’s existing headlines and descriptions to fit the context they appear in.
The distribution deals are the part to watch. ChatGPT Ads can now be managed inside HubSpot, which OpenAI calls its first CRM partner, and a ChatGPT Ads app is live in the Shopify App Store, with international rollout stated for 23 September.
Why it matters: a sponsored agent is a different object from a banner. The advertiser is no longer buying a slot next to an answer but a conversation the user believes they are having with an assistant. OpenAI’s announcement does not say how sponsored agents will be labelled in the interface, and that detail will decide whether a reader can tell which one they are talking to.