OpenAI Tests Sponsored Agents and Adds HubSpot and Shopify Apps

OpenAI on September 16, 2026 introduced a new set of AI-powered advertising products for ChatGPT Ads, including a United States test of Sponsored Agents, natural-language campaign tools for marketers, and the company’s first CRM and ecommerce integrations, with HubSpot and Shopify. In its September 16 product announcement, OpenAI said the updates “represent the next step in building our AI-based advertising platform.”

The announcement covers four launches: a test of Sponsored Agents; ad creation through natural-language prompts in ChatGPT; new AI creative tools inside Ads Manager; and integrations with HubSpot, identified as OpenAI’s first CRM partner, and Shopify, its first ecommerce partner. Businesses can sign up at ads.openai.com, and eligible businesses can also get started through the ChatGPT Ads for Shopify app or the ChatGPT Ads in HubSpot app.

Sponsored Agents and AI Campaign Tools

Sponsored Agents give users the option to start a clearly labeled conversation with a business-sponsored agent after clicking an ad in ChatGPT. In that conversation, the user can explain what matters to them, ask follow-up questions, and follow a link to the business’s website when ready to take the next step. OpenAI states that the Sponsored Agent conversation is distinct from ChatGPT’s independent answers and separate from the original conversation the user started in ChatGPT. The company’s example: a shopper who sees a dining table in an ad might wonder whether it fits their space, how many people it seats, or how to care for its finish. Sponsored Agents are now being tested with select advertisers in the United States.

For campaign management, advertisers can now use natural-language prompts to create, update, and analyze campaigns directly in ChatGPT with the Ads Manager plugin, turning a website or brief into a campaign, understanding performance, and getting recommendations on what to do next. OpenAI is also rolling out AI assistance inside Ads Manager that suggests ad copy and imagery based on an advertiser’s landing page and campaign objective; advertisers can review and edit the suggestions before choosing whether to add them to a campaign. A separate opt-in AI-powered text customization feature adapts an advertiser’s existing headlines and descriptions to better fit the context of a conversation and automatically translates ad copy to a user’s preferred language.

HubSpot and Shopify Apps

Starting September 16, businesses managing their customers in HubSpot can connect a ChatGPT Ads account, create ads, track performance, and follow up on leads directly in HubSpot, powered by their HubSpot context. The HubSpot Marketplace listing for the ChatGPT Ads app, which identifies HubSpot as its builder, states that marketers can build creative, target relevant conversations using free-form “context hints” with location targeting preferences, and set budgets and schedules. Per the listing, ChatGPT Ads uses CPM, CPC, or oCPC pricing with lifetime or daily budgets, and HubSpot automatically appends UTM parameters to ChatGPT Ads URLs so ad clicks map to contacts and deals for ROI reporting alongside Google, Meta, and LinkedIn ads. The listing shows more than 400 installs, notes that the app requires a ChatGPT Ads subscription, and lists the app as free.

OpenAI said US-based Shopify merchants can also use the new ChatGPT Ads app in the Shopify App Store to create and manage campaigns, with products already integrated through Shopify Catalog so merchants can run ads and track performance right away; the company said the app will be available internationally in markets where ChatGPT Ads are available starting September 23, 2026. The Shopify App Store listing identifies OpenAI as the developer and lists the app as free. It describes connecting or creating a ChatGPT Ads account, automatically syncing product inventory between a store and ChatGPT, creating ads from the product catalog, running campaigns using a Shopify pixel and conversion events, and tracking performance without leaving Shopify. The listing displays a launch date of September 3, 2026, and shows a 4.0 rating across three merchant reviews, the earliest of them dated September 8, 2026.

OpenAI first began testing ads in ChatGPT in the United States on February 9, 2026, limiting the test to logged-in adult users on the Free and Go subscription tiers while Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education tiers remained ad-free. In that record, OpenAI stated that ads do not influence ChatGPT’s answers, that advertisers receive only aggregate performance information such as numbers of views or clicks rather than access to chats, chat history, memories, or personal details, and that ads are withheld from accounts where the user states or is predicted to be under 18 and from sensitive or regulated topics including health, mental health, and politics. Dated updates to the same record announced plans to expand the pilot to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand on March 26, 2026, and to the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea on May 7, 2026; a further update on August 11, 2026 said ChatGPT Ads had launched in those five markets.

OpenAI said on August 31, 2026 that ChatGPT Ads had reached $1 billion in annualized revenue run rate less than 200 days after launch, with tens of thousands of advertisers and availability in more than 40 countries. In the same record, the company said the introduction of Ads Manager in May 2026 opened the platform to small and medium-sized businesses, its ecosystem had expanded to more than 50 technology and measurement partners, and CPC and outcome-optimized bidding now account for the majority of campaigns; self-service access to ChatGPT Ads was also launching across India, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. OpenAI describes advertising as one pillar of its business model alongside consumer subscriptions, enterprise offerings, and usage-based APIs, with the advertising-supported free tier helping keep ChatGPT available to more than 1 billion weekly active users.