Click an ad in ChatGPT and you can now talk to the brand's agent
On September 16, 2026 OpenAI announced Sponsored Agents, a new experience for ChatGPT ads. After clicking an ad, a user can choose to start a clearly labeled conversation with an agent sponsored by the business. The same announcement brought AI-assisted campaign tools to Ads Manager and named HubSpot and Shopify as the first CRM and e-commerce partners. Sponsored Agents are being tested with select advertisers in the United States for now.
The ad is no longer the end of a conversation, it is the start of a second one
According to OpenAI's official announcement, Sponsored Agents give a user who sees an ad in ChatGPT the option to go deeper. If they choose to, they start a clearly labeled conversation with the business-sponsored agent, explain what matters to them, ask follow-up questions and, when ready, follow a link to the business's website. OpenAI states that this conversation is distinct from ChatGPT's independent answers and kept separate from the original conversation the user started. The example in the announcement is everyday: a shopper who sees a dining table ad can ask the agent whether it fits their space, how many people it seats or how to care for the finish. The experience is currently in testing with select advertisers in the United States only. Home services platform Angi is among the pilot brands: according to the company's own release, its agent appears in relevant conversations about home services, the user shares project details and then moves into Angi's service request flow to be matched with local professionals.
Natural-language campaigns in Ads Manager, plus HubSpot and Shopify integrations
The second half of the announcement sits on the advertiser's side. Advertisers can now use natural-language prompts with the Ads Manager plugin inside ChatGPT to create, update and analyze campaigns; turning a website or a brief into a campaign, understanding performance and getting recommendations on what to do next are all in scope. Ads Manager itself also gained AI assistance: while drafting an ad, advertisers receive suggested copy and imagery based on their landing page and campaign objective, and OpenAI stresses that advertisers stay in control, reviewing and editing suggestions before deciding whether to add them. A third, opt-in feature adapts existing headlines and descriptions to the context of a conversation and automatically translates ad copy into the user's preferred language. On integrations, HubSpot was announced as OpenAI's first CRM partner: businesses managing customers in HubSpot can connect a ChatGPT Ads account, create ads, track performance and follow up on leads inside HubSpot. Shopify is the first e-commerce partner: US-based Shopify merchants can manage ChatGPT ad campaigns through a new ChatGPT Ads app in the Shopify App Store, with products already connected through Shopify Catalog. The app is described as becoming available internationally in markets where ChatGPT Ads are offered starting September 23. Sign-up is at ads.openai.com.
The ad's job does not end at the click, it continues in a qualified conversation
This announcement marks a shift in ChatGPT ads news from scale to product experience. On August 20 we covered the expansion of the ads to 31 European countries; this time the subject is not where the ad appears but what happens after the click. In the classic model the ad sends the user to a website and the selling starts there. In the Sponsored Agent model the user talks to the brand before visiting the site, resolves questions inside the conversation and arrives more decided. Two consequences follow. First, what the brand's agent says is now part of the ad: product information, stock, delivery and return terms have to be consistent in the agent's hands. Second, the cost of building a campaign falls; tools that can generate a campaign from a website and translate ad copy into the user's language make ChatGPT ads a channel smaller teams can try as well. In OpenAI's own framing, the goal is for businesses to spend less time on process and more time growing. The announcement did not share a pricing model for Sponsored Agents, the length of the test or a timeline for markets outside the United States.
ChatGPT ads remain unclear for Türkiye, but preparation can start today
First the boundary: Sponsored Agents are being tested in the United States only, and OpenAI again did not publish the full list of countries where ChatGPT ads are available. During the European expansion in August it was unclear whether Türkiye was on the list, and that uncertainty continues. The Shopify app is said to become available from September 23 in markets where ChatGPT ads are offered; if Türkiye is among them, Turkish merchants on Shopify have a ready entry point. Even if the channel does not open in Türkiye, two lessons from the announcement apply today. First, the HubSpot and Shopify integrations show that ad channels now expect to plug into the CRM and store systems a business already uses; a business whose customer data and product catalog are scattered loses its advantage the moment it enters such a channel. Second, in agent-based advertising the brand's answer to a question matters as much as the campaign itself. Making sure the information on product pages can be repeated accurately in a conversation is preparation that pays off whichever platform arrives.
The UNALSOFT view
Our reading is this: ad channels are starting to look alike. Google is putting Business Agent into Search and YouTube ads, Meta is putting Business Agent into WhatsApp, and OpenAI is putting Sponsored Agents into ChatGPT. In all three there is an agent talking behind the ad, and that agent is fed by the business's data. That is why the order we recommend to clients in our Google and Meta ads management work does not change: first gather product and service information in a single accurate source, then hand that source to the channels' agents. We do not know which channel reaches Türkiye when; we do know they all ask for the same preparation.
Sources
OpenAI, "Reimagining advertising with AI" · Angi press release (GlobeNewswire) · The Next Web on Sponsored Agents
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