OpenAI began testing Sponsored Agents on Wednesday, a format that lets a ChatGPT user who clicks an ad open a separate, clearly labeled conversation with an agent the advertiser sponsors. The same release pushes ChatGPT Ads into HubSpot and Shopify and hands advertisers plain-language campaign tooling.
Key takeaways
- Sponsored Agents are in test with select US advertisers; the sponsored conversation is kept distinct from ChatGPT's own answers and separate from the user's original chat.
- HubSpot is OpenAI's first CRM partner and Shopify its first ecommerce partner, both live from 16 September, with the Shopify app reaching other ChatGPT Ads markets from 23 September.
- Advertisers can create, update and analyze campaigns through plain-language prompts, and opt into AI text customization that adapts headlines to conversation context and translates copy.
What a Sponsored Agent actually is
The format inverts what an ad click does. Instead of dropping the user on a landing page, it opens a conversation with a business-sponsored AI agent that can field follow-up questions, after which the user can click through to the advertiser's site when ready.
OpenAI's own example is a shopper who sees an ad for a dining table and wants to know whether it fits their room, how many people it seats, and how to care for the finish — questions a product page answers badly and a salesperson answers well. Per OpenAI's announcement, the sponsored conversation is distinct from ChatGPT's independent answers and separate from the chat the user started.
That separation is the whole trust argument. ChatGPT's commercial value rests on users believing its recommendations are not for sale; a sponsored agent that blurred into an organic answer would spend that credibility fast. Labeling and isolating the conversation is how OpenAI proposes to sell attention without selling the answer.
Meeting advertisers inside their own software
The distribution half is less novel and probably more immediately consequential. From 16 September, businesses using HubSpot can connect a ChatGPT Ads account there and create ads, track performance and follow up on leads without leaving the CRM.
US merchants on Shopify get a ChatGPT Ads app the same day, and because their products are already wired in through Shopify Catalog, they can start running ads immediately. That app expands to other markets where ChatGPT Ads operates from 23 September. OpenAI's framing is that adopting a new advertising channel should not require a business to rebuild how it works.
Within ChatGPT itself, an Ads Manager plugin turns a website or a brief into a campaign through plain-language prompts, and suggests copy and images drawn from the advertiser's landing page and campaign objective. Advertisers review and edit suggestions before they go live. A separate opt-in adapts existing headlines and descriptions to the context of a conversation and translates ad copy into the user's preferred language.
How fast this business has moved
ChatGPT Ads has gone from experiment to material revenue line inside a year. The product moved to cost-per-click pricing in April, reached 31 European countries on 20 August, and by 31 August had hit a $1 billion annualized run rate. On 10 September, Amazon began letting US advertisers buy ChatGPT inventory through its demand-side platform in a pilot with OpenAI.
Geographic expansion has been the pattern throughout, including when ChatGPT Ads reached the UK, Japan, Korea, Brazil and Mexico. Wednesday's release is a different move: rather than adding territory, it deepens the format and embeds the buying surface in tools advertisers already run, which is how an ad channel converts early ARR into durable budget allocation.
The open questions
Sponsored Agents remain a limited US test, so nothing about performance is established. The measurement model is genuinely unclear — a conversation has no obvious equivalent to a click-through rate, and an agent that answers a shopper's question thoroughly enough may reduce site visits while increasing purchase intent.
There is also an accuracy exposure. An agent speaking on a brand's behalf can state something wrong about a product, and the liability for that sits with the advertiser rather than with OpenAI. How tightly businesses can constrain what their sponsored agent says has not been detailed.
FAQ
Are Sponsored Agents available to all advertisers?
No. OpenAI is testing Sponsored Agents with select advertisers in the United States. The HubSpot and Shopify integrations and the Ads Manager tooling are broader, having gone live on 16 September.
Can a Sponsored Agent influence ChatGPT's normal answers?
OpenAI says no. The sponsored conversation is clearly labeled and kept distinct both from ChatGPT's independent answers and from the original conversation the user was having before clicking the ad.
What do the HubSpot and Shopify integrations do?
HubSpot users can connect a ChatGPT Ads account and create ads, track performance and follow up on leads inside the CRM. Shopify merchants in the US get a ChatGPT Ads app with products already connected via Shopify Catalog, expanding to other markets from 23 September.
