How to create a ChatGPT Ads campaign
This guide walks through building a first campaign in OpenAI’s Ads Manager Beta, from objective and targeting to ad groups, ads and review.
A ChatGPT Ads campaign has three levels. The campaign sets the objective, budget, dates and targeting. Ad groups sit inside it and carry context hints, short descriptions of the conversations where your offer is relevant. Ads sit inside ad groups and hold the title, description, image and landing page.
There are no keywords in the usual sense. OpenAI matches ads to conversational intent, so the work shifts to describing your offer and its use cases clearly. Ads Manager is in beta, and OpenAI says formats and options will keep changing, so expect some labels to differ from this guide.
Start a campaign and pick an objective
In Ads Manager, start a new campaign with the guided flow. Bulk upload is also available for large builds. Choose an objective: Views bills per 1,000 impressions, Clicks bills per valid click, and Conversions optimizes toward a conversion event while billing per click or per impression.
You can’t change the objective after the campaign is created. To switch, you create a new campaign.
Set the budget and schedule
Choose a daily budget or a campaign-total budget. Minimum daily budgets vary by billing currency, for example 25 USD, 15 EUR or 15 GBP, and OpenAI recommends new advertisers start with a daily budget.
Start and end dates may only appear when you edit the campaign after creating it. Don’t publish the campaign to reach them, or ads can start before your schedule is set. The budget guide covers pacing in detail.
Choose countries and platforms
Include each country you want explicitly. Excluding other countries does not limit you to one. Where available, you can narrow to states or regions, cities, markets and postal codes.
Platforms are optional: Android app, Android web, Desktop web, iOS app and iOS web. Leaving them all on is a sensible start, and you can compare them later in Insights by segmenting on Platform.
Decide on custom audiences
You can upload customer lists to include, exclude or adjust bids for matching users. Inclusion needs at least 25,000 matched users, while exclusions can be smaller.
OpenAI advises against custom audiences in campaigns targeting the EEA or Switzerland, where ads personalization isn’t available. On a first campaign, if you use an audience at all, excluding current customers keeps spend on new people.
Build ad groups around one theme each
Create an ad group with an Ad group title and context hints. Context hints describe the questions, needs and situations someone might bring to ChatGPT when your offer would help. They guide matching but are not exact-match keywords.
Keep each ad group to one product category or intent. For Clicks campaigns, set a Maximum CPC bid at the ad group level.
TipSpecific hints that describe a use case tend to work better than a single generic product word.
Write the ads
Each ad has a title, description, image and landing page. OpenAI’s API documentation sets the title at 3 to 50 characters and the description at up to 100, with images in JPEG, PNG or WebP at least 640 by 640 pixels.
OpenAI recommends several varied titles and descriptions per offer, each with a different angle. Link to the most relevant product or content page rather than the homepage, and add your own UTM parameters.
Check the landing page and the full journey
Landing pages must match the products or services in the ad, load reliably, and not block OAI-AdsBot or OAI-SearchBot. Ads or pages that OpenAI’s systems can’t review are ineligible.
The whole path has to follow the policies. OpenAI’s example: a food delivery ad can’t send people to alcohol delivery. Before you submit, look through your campaign and account settings for any automated creative options and decide whether to keep them on.
Submit for review and launch
Submit the campaign for review. Ads go live only after they pass, and approval alone doesn’t guarantee delivery. Before launch, confirm that verification and billing are complete, the campaign and ads are active, the dates include today, and review is finished.
If something shows Not serving, hover over the status to see why. Editing an ad’s creative starts a new review.
Watch the first results
Once ads are serving, Ads Manager reports impressions, clicks, spend, CTR, average CPC, average CPM and, if tracking is set up, conversions. OpenAI says conversion data can take at least a day to appear.
Give the campaign enough time and spend to produce real data before changing it, and change one thing at a time so you can tell what made the difference.
Before you move on
- The objective matches what you want to pay for
- Each target country is explicitly included
- Every ad group has one theme and specific context hints
- Each ad links to the most relevant page
- Ads show as approved and serving
Official resources
- OpenAI Help Center: Creating campaigns for ChatGPT Ads
- OpenAI Help Center: Create ad groups for ChatGPT Ads
- OpenAI Help Center: Create ads for ChatGPT
- OpenAI Help Center: Quickstart, launch your first campaign
- OpenAI: ChatGPT ad policies
Ad platforms update their tools often. This guide was last reviewed against the official documentation above in October 2026. If your screen looks different, the official help pages have the latest steps.
At a glance
- Level
- Beginner
- Time
- About 45 minutes
- What you need
- A verified Ads Manager Beta account with billing set up
- A landing page for the specific product or service
- Several headline and description variations
- Product images in JPEG, PNG or WebP, at least 640 by 640 pixels
- Conversion tracking in place if you want a Conversions objective
Rather have it done for you?
Active Digital Marketing builds and manages ChatGPT ad tests for businesses doing $25,000+ a month in revenue.
Apply to work with usOr get an ad account auditWhere DIY setups go wrong
The most common problems with self-built ChatGPT Ads setups, and what they cost.
Writing hints like keywords
Context hints are thematic signals, not exact-match keywords. A list of single words gives the system little to match against real conversations.
Mixing products in one ad group
An ad group with unrelated products blurs the hints and the ads, and you lose the ability to see which theme is working.
Sending traffic to the homepage
OpenAI recommends linking to the most relevant page. A generic homepage adds a step between the ad and the action.
Publishing to reach the schedule fields
Dates may only appear after the campaign is created. Publishing first can start delivery before the schedule you intended.
Choosing the wrong objective
The objective can't be changed later. Picking Views when you need traffic, or Conversions before tracking works, means rebuilding the campaign.
What this guide doesn't cover
A live campaign is quick to set up and slower to make profitable. ChatGPT ads reward clear positioning, many creative angles and honest measurement, and the platform’s options are changing month to month.
ADM treats ChatGPT ads as a test channel for brands whose offers fit conversational research, with tracking in place before spend and results compared against search and Meta.
- Choosing which offers suit conversational intent
- Context hint strategy and ad group structure
- Copy and image testing at volume
- Conversion tracking before scaling spend
- Bid and objective choices as new options launch
- Comparing ChatGPT results with search and social
Common questions
Where do ChatGPT ads appear?
Below a ChatGPT response when the ad matches the conversation. Ads are labeled as sponsored and visually separate from the answer.
Can I target keywords?
No. You add context hints at the ad group level that describe relevant topics and needs. They guide matching but aren't exact-match keywords.
Can I change the objective after launch?
No. OpenAI says the objective can't be changed after creation, so you create a new campaign instead.
Do ads show in every country?
No. Ads run only where OpenAI has launched them, and only to Free and Go users. Check OpenAI's current availability information before planning.
Keep learning
How to Create a ChatGPT Ads Account
How access to OpenAI's Ads Manager Beta works: sign up, verify your business, set up billing and team access, and prepare if you can't get in yet.
Read the guideHow to Set a ChatGPT Ads Budget
How ChatGPT Ads budgets work: daily vs campaign-total, currency minimums, weekly pacing, CPC and CPM billing, payment thresholds and safe budget changes.
Read the guideHow to Set Up ChatGPT Ads Conversion Tracking
Install OpenAI's Measurement Pixel, send standard events, add the Conversions API, deduplicate events and confirm ChatGPT Ads conversions are recorded.
Read the guideHow to Create a Meta Ads Campaign
Build your first Facebook and Instagram campaign in Ads Manager: objective, Advantage+ settings, audience, placements, the ad itself, and launch.
Read the guideHow to Create a Google Ads Campaign
Build your first Google Ads Search campaign: objective, networks, locations, AI Max, keywords, responsive search ads, budget, and publishing.
Read the guideHow to Create a TikTok Ads Campaign
Build your first TikTok campaign: pick an objective, choose manual or Smart+, set targeting and placements, upload your ad, and submit it for review.
Read the guideRather have it built right the first time?
If your business does $25,000+ a month in revenue, apply and Mitch will review your accounts personally. Earlier than that? An ad account audit gives you a senior-level fix list you can work through yourself.