OpenAI is beginning to build the infrastructure for a formal advertising business around ChatGPT — but early performance signals suggest the company still has work to do to match established search platforms.
What’s happening. OpenAI started testing an Ads Manager dashboard with a small group of partners, according to confirmation shared with ADWEEK. The tool allows marketers to launch, monitor, and optimise campaigns in real time, similar to the campaign management platforms used across digital advertising.
Why we care. OpenAI is beginning to build a self-serve ads ecosystem around ChatGPT with a dedicated Ads Manager, as they prepare for AI assistants becoming a scalable channel. As conversational search grows, paid media marketers may need to think about visibility inside AI responses, not just traditional platforms like Google Search.
Early testing also means advertisers who participate now could gain first-mover insights into performance, formats, and optimisation strategies in a new advertising environment.
How it works today. Early testers currently receive weekly CSV performance reports that include metrics such as impressions and clicks. The reporting indicates the ads product is still evolving, with more advanced analytics and tooling likely to follow as the program develops.
The challenge: Early tests suggest click-through rates on ChatGPT ads trail those seen on Google Search, highlighting a key hurdle for OpenAI as it tries to prove the value of advertising inside conversational AI.
The cost of entry. Some early advertisers have reportedly been asked to commit at least $200,000 in spend, raising the stakes for OpenAI to demonstrate measurable performance and ROI.
Between the lines. Building an ad ecosystem requires more than ad inventory. Marketers expect robust reporting, optimisation tools, and predictable performance — areas where mature platforms like Google have years of advantage.
The bottom line. OpenAI is laying the foundation for a new ad platform inside ChatGPT, but convincing brands to shift budgets will depend on whether conversational ads can deliver results that compete with traditional search.
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