OpenAI is transforming ChatGPT into a full-blown advertising machine. Over the past three weeks, the company has rolled out product feed automation for ecommerce retailers, introduced customizable ad formats with dynamic calls-to-action, and opened its self-serve ads manager to every U.S. advertiser — all while reportedly preparing to file its IPO prospectus as early as this month.
The moves signal that OpenAI is building the infrastructure to compete directly with Google, Amazon, and Meta for digital advertising dollars.
From Manual Campaigns to Catalog-Scale Automation
The centerpiece of the latest expansion is a new product feed campaign type that lets ecommerce brands generate ChatGPT ads directly from their existing product catalogs. Rather than building campaigns one product at a time, retailers now connect their catalog, set filters for which items are eligible, and let the platform automatically create ads using product names, images, pricing, and attributes from the feed.
The system can reportedly handle up to one million SKUs per advertiser, though onboarding currently starts with sample feeds of around 100 items. For brands managing massive inventories, this removes what had been one of the biggest barriers to advertising on ChatGPT at scale.
"Creative variation has been a real key to success," said Benji Shomair, OpenAI's vice president of monetization, during a recent press roundtable.
The setup mirrors how shopping campaigns work on Google. Retailers can reuse the same structured product feeds they already send to Google Merchant Center. Criteo is among the first ad tech partners to support the format, with Adobe, Kargo, Pacvue, and StackAdapt also listed as technology partners. Agency partners include Dentsu, Omnicom, Publicis, and WPP.
A Visual Upgrade for Ad Formats
A week after launching product feeds, OpenAI began testing new visual ad formats that give advertisers more control over how their brands appear inside ChatGPT conversations. The platform emailed advertisers announcing it was "beginning an early test" of a new ad experience on a small subset of ads.
The updated formats include a larger image and an optional call-to-action button that advertisers can personalize with prompts such as "shop now," "book now," "sign up," and "learn more." A dedicated ecommerce format can be displayed in either portrait or landscape orientation and pulls in shopping data including price and customer reviews. The portrait version is designed to stack, potentially allowing three or four ads to sit side-by-side in a carousel-style placement.
Until now, advertisers had a single, simple format: a headline, a short description, an image, and a link. The new options, while still iterative, introduce a direct-response element within the ad unit for the first time.
The Self-Serve Land Grab
On May 5, OpenAI removed its previous $50,000 minimum spend requirement and opened a self-serve ads manager to any advertiser with a U.S. billing address. The response has been overwhelming. Adthena CMO Ashley Fletcher noted that his team has seen a surge of U.S. advertisers wanting to join, but many have not been able to get accounts live. "I am still waiting for our approval for our account and I see a message that reads: 'We are reviewing your information. Due to a high volume of signups, verification may take some time,'" Fletcher said.
The demand is real, but so is advertiser caution. One executive working with brands in the pilot told Digiday that two big wish-list items remain: scale and the ability to optimize toward business outcomes like product sales or lead generation. "They're not yet giving advertisers the ability to specifically target ROAS or cost per acquisition," the executive said. "I've heard from many other clients that they want to do ChatGPT ads, but they're going to wait until they are able to target business outcomes."
The Conversational Advantage — and Its Limits
What separates ChatGPT from traditional ad platforms is the nature of user intent. When someone asks ChatGPT for a recommendation, they describe their exact needs in natural language — budget, use case, preferences, and constraints. That conversational context is far richer than a keyword search.
OpenAI has committed to what it calls "Answer Independence" — paid placements will not influence the AI's organic responses. Ads appear as clearly labeled sponsored units beneath the conversation. The company is betting that maintaining trust in the organic experience is essential to preserving the engagement that makes advertising valuable.
The broader shopping experience is also evolving. In March, OpenAI rolled out visual product browsing, side-by-side comparisons, and image-based search. Walmart launched an in-ChatGPT app that takes users from discovery to checkout. The Agentic Commerce Protocol, co-developed with Stripe, enables merchants to share product feeds through systems they already use, including Salesforce.
Analysis: Building an Ad Business at IPO Speed
The pace of iteration is, by any measure, aggressive — and the timing is not coincidental. OpenAI is reportedly expected to confidentially file its IPO prospectus as early as this week, with a view to going public as early as September. Every feature shipped between now and that filing adds credibility to the revenue diversification story OpenAI needs to tell Wall Street.
In five months, the platform has gone from a simple ad test on free-tier users to a system with CPC bidding, conversion tracking, role-based account access, daily budget controls, and now product feed automation and custom formats. Cost-per-action models, where payment is tied to actual purchases, have also entered development. International expansion to the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea is planned.
The question is whether the infrastructure can mature fast enough to satisfy performance-oriented brands. Feed-based automation is table stakes; Google has offered it for over a decade. What ChatGPT offers that Google does not is intent expressed in full sentences rather than keyword fragments. Whether that conversational signal can drive conversions as effectively as traditional search will determine whether ChatGPT becomes a serious advertising platform or remains a novelty line item in media plans.
For now, the plumbing is being built in public, at startup speed, with an IPO clock ticking. The brands paying attention are placing early bets — not for guaranteed returns today, but for the learning advantage that compounds when a new channel matures.
“Creative variation has been a real key to success.”— Benji Shomair, VP of Monetization, OpenAI