OpenAI is testing a new advertising format that turns some ChatGPT ads into optional, business-sponsored conversations.

Announced on 16 September 2026, Sponsored Agents let a user who sees a relevant ad choose to open a clearly labelled conversation with an AI agent supported by the advertiser. OpenAI says the sponsored conversation is separate from ChatGPT’s independent answers and separate from the user’s original conversation.

What Sponsored Agents are

The idea is to give people a way to ask follow-up questions after an ad catches their attention. Instead of clicking straight through to a website, a user can start a separate chat with a business-sponsored agent, explain what they need, ask questions about a product or service, and then follow a link to the advertiser’s website if they want to continue.

OpenAI says Sponsored Agents are currently being tested with selected advertisers in the United States rather than being available to every advertiser.

Sponsored conversations are separate from normal ChatGPT answers

The distinction matters because OpenAI says advertising does not influence ChatGPT’s independent answers. Sponsored Agent conversations are clearly labelled and sit apart from the original conversation that led to the ad.

That separation is central to the format: the business-sponsored agent can help a user explore an advertiser’s offering, while the ordinary ChatGPT conversation remains independent.

OpenAI is also adding AI tools for advertisers

The Sponsored Agents test is part of a broader expansion of ChatGPT Ads. OpenAI also announced tools that let marketers create ads by describing what they want in ChatGPT Work, along with additional AI-powered creative capabilities in Ads Manager.

The aim is to reduce the manual work involved in building campaigns while keeping advertisers inside the same broader AI workflow they already use for planning, writing and analysis.

HubSpot and Shopify integrations extend ChatGPT Ads into existing business tools

OpenAI named HubSpot as its first CRM integration partner and Shopify as its first ecommerce integration partner for ChatGPT Ads.

Businesses using HubSpot can connect a ChatGPT Ads account, create campaigns, view performance and follow up on leads from within HubSpot. Shopify merchants in the United States can connect their product catalogue and measurement tools to ChatGPT Ads through the Shopify app, with wider availability planned in markets where ChatGPT Ads are offered.

Why this matters for digital marketing

Traditional digital ads are normally designed to move a person from an impression to a click and then to a landing page. Sponsored Agents introduce another step: an interactive conversation in which a potential customer can ask questions before deciding whether to visit the advertiser’s site.

For advertisers, that could create a richer qualification stage between awareness and conversion. For users, it could make some ads more useful when a purchase or service decision requires clarification.

It also means marketers will need to think beyond ad copy and landing pages. The quality, accuracy and boundaries of a sponsored agent’s responses may become part of campaign design, brand governance and conversion optimisation.

What businesses should watch

The bigger picture

OpenAI’s move suggests that AI-native advertising may increasingly focus on conversation rather than only static placements. If the model expands, businesses may need to treat sponsored AI interactions as a new part of customer acquisition—one that combines advertising, product discovery, support and sales qualification in the same experience.

For now, Sponsored Agents remain an early test, so businesses should avoid assuming general availability or guaranteed performance until OpenAI releases broader access and more data.