How to Set Up Your First Campaign in OpenAI Ads Manager (Step-by-Step)

Quick answer: To set up your first campaign in OpenAI Ads Manager, sign in at ads.openai.com, finish account verification and billing, create a campaign with an objective and budget, build an ad group with context hints, write your ad, and submit it for review. Most basic campaigns take about an hour to build, plus review time.

Ads inside ChatGPT are a new channel, and most marketers are still working out how they fit alongside search and social. If you already know Google Ads or Meta Ads, the structure will feel familiar. The targeting logic is different, though. Instead of bidding on keywords or building audiences, you describe the topics and conversations where your ad belongs.

This guide explains how to advertise on ChatGPT from scratch, in plain language, so you can launch your first campaign with confidence.

In this guide:

• What OpenAI Ads Manager is
• Why brands are testing ChatGPT ads
• What to prepare before you start
• A 7-step ChatGPT ads setup walkthrough
• Objectives, budgets and bidding explained
• How to write context hints (with examples)
• How to write ad copy that gets approved
• Product feed campaigns
• How to measure results
• Common mistakes to avoid
• FAQs

What is OpenAI Ads Manager?

OpenAI Ads Manager is the self-serve platform where you create, manage and measure ChatGPT ads. It is currently in beta, and all campaign creation and management happens at ads.openai.com.

ChatGPT ads are labeled placements that can appear below an eligible response. They don't change what ChatGPT says, and they can't be bought to influence answers. That separation matters for trust: users can tell an ad from an answer.

Two campaign creation options are available inside OpenAI Ads Manager:

• Guided campaign creation: a step-by-step flow inside the tool, best for your first campaign.
• Bulk upload: a filled-in schema template, better for launching many campaigns at once.

If this is your first time, use the guided flow. You can move to bulk upload once you understand how campaigns, ad groups and ads fit together.

Why are brands testing ChatGPT ads?

People use ChatGPT differently from a search engine. They ask longer, more detailed questions, compare options, and work through decisions in conversation. That creates a different kind of ad opportunity.

Here is how ChatGPT ads compare with the channels you may already use:

The takeaway: ChatGPT ads are not a replacement for your other channels. They are a new place to reach people at the moment they are asking for help.

What do you need before you start?

Availability is limited, so check these first:

• Eligible market: ChatGPT ads have been reported as available to advertisers in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Confirm the current list in the OpenAI Help Center, as the beta is changing quickly.
• Work email and OpenAI account: sign in with an existing account or create one.
• Business verification and billing: ads can't serve until both are complete.
• A landing page that matches your ad's promise: a mismatch hurts both approval chances and conversions.
• UTM parameters: so you can separate ChatGPT traffic in your analytics.
• Conversion tracking (recommended): essential if you plan to optimize for sales or leads.

Pre-launch checklist

How to advertise on ChatGPT: 7-step setup

Step 1: Create your Ads Manager account

Go to ads.openai.com and sign in. Choose your country and currency, then complete verification and billing. Skipping this is the most common reason ads never go live, so do it first rather than last.

Step 2: Understand the structure

Every campaign in OpenAI Ads Manager follows the same three-level hierarchy:

Think of it as a funnel of detail. The campaign sets the rules, the ad group defines where you want to show up, and the ad is what people actually see.

A practical example: a project management software company might run one campaign, with separate ad groups for "team task tracking," "client project management" and "remote team collaboration," each with its own ads.

Step 3: Choose your campaign objective

The objective decides how you are priced and how delivery is optimized.

For a first test, most beginners pick Clicks. It is the simplest way to learn which themes and messages get attention before you commit to conversion optimization.

If you choose Conversions, set up your conversion events under the Conversions tool before you build the campaign. Otherwise the platform has nothing to optimize toward.

Step 4: Set your budget

You can pick a daily budget or a campaign total budget.

• Daily budget: an average over seven days, so a busy day can spend more than the daily figure. If the weekly allowance runs out early, delivery can pause even though the campaign shows as active.
• Campaign total budget: a fixed amount for the whole campaign, useful for time-limited promotions.

Important: you can change the budget amount after launch, but not the budget type. Decide carefully.

A simple way to choose:

Step 5: Build your ad group with context hints

This is where ChatGPT ads setup differs most from search ads. There are no keywords. Instead, you add context hints: short phrases describing the topics and conversations where your ad should appear.

Tips for writing strong context hints:

• Describe the user's problem, not just your product ("compare CRM tools for small teams").
• Keep each ad group to one theme.
• Create several ad groups to test different angles.
• Write the way people talk. Users often type long, detailed prompts rather than short queries, so specific, conversational context hints tend to match intent better than broad ones.

Context hint examples

A good test: could you imagine a real person typing your context hint as a question to ChatGPT? If not, rewrite it.

Step 6: Write and upload your ad

Each ad has a title, description, image and destination URL. The bulk-upload schema lists title limits of 16-24 characters and copy limits of 32-48 characters, so write tight. Always check the limits shown in the tool, since they can change during the beta.

Best practices for ChatGPT ads:

• Lead with the benefit, not the feature.
• Match the ad promise to the landing page. If the ad says "free trial," the page should show the free trial immediately.
• Add UTM parameters to the link so you can track results in your analytics.
• Keep the tone helpful. Ads appear in a conversational, problem-solving context, so a plain, useful message fits better than hype.

Before and after

Example UTM structure: ?utm_source=chatgpt&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=first-test. Use a consistent naming pattern so your reports stay clean as you add campaigns.

Step 7: Review, submit and monitor

Click through to review, then submit. After approval, check the campaign status to confirm ads are serving. If something is rejected, edit and resubmit. Some ads stop serving if billing or verification needs attention, so keep an eye on your account status in the first few days.

What about product feed campaigns?

If you sell a large catalog, product feed campaigns let you upload your product data and create ads at scale. OpenAI selects an eligible product when the ad serves, and feed-based ads are among the better-performing formats in the program so far.

Product feed campaigns are a strong fit if you:

• Run an ecommerce store with many SKUs
• Have clean, up-to-date product data (titles, prices, images, availability)
• Want to avoid writing individual ads for every product

If you are only testing the channel for the first time, start with a standard guided campaign, then add a feed campaign once you know what works.

How do you measure ChatGPT ads performance?

Measurement is where many first campaigns go wrong. Set it up before you launch, not after.

Metrics to watch

A simple measurement routine:

1. Use UTM tags on every ad so ChatGPT traffic is clearly labeled in your analytics.
2. Set up conversion events if your goal is sales or leads.
3. Compare ad groups against each other to see which themes perform best.
4. Give each test enough time and data before you make changes.

Because ChatGPT ads are new, benchmarks are still forming. Your own data is more useful than any industry average right now.

How much do ChatGPT ads cost?

Cost depends on your objective, bid and competition, and minimum spend rules can change during the beta. Check the Minimum Campaign Spend table in the Help Center before you set a budget. Start small, learn, then scale.

A sensible starting approach:

• Launch one Clicks campaign with two or three ad groups.
• Keep the budget modest so you can learn without overspending.
• Review results after enough data has built up, then shift budget toward the best-performing ad groups.

Common mistakes to avoid

Final thoughts

Learning how to advertise on ChatGPT is mostly about mastering structure: campaign, ad group, ad. Start with one Clicks campaign, write specific context hints, track with UTMs, then expand. Once you have data, test conversion objectives and product feed campaigns.

Because OpenAI Ads Manager is still in beta, features, markets and rules will keep changing. Revisit the official Help Center before every launch so your ChatGPT ads setup stays current.

FAQs

1. What is OpenAI Ads Manager?
 

It is OpenAI's self-serve platform for creating and managing ChatGPT ad campaigns, available at ads.openai.com.

2. How do I advertise on ChatGPT?

 Create an Ads Manager account, verify your business, add billing, set up a campaign, ad group and ad, then submit it for review.

3. Do ChatGPT ads use keywords?

 No. They use context hints that describe topics and intent.

4. Where do ChatGPT ads appear?
 

Ads are labeled and can appear below an eligible response. They don't change what ChatGPT says.

5. Who sees ChatGPT ads?

 Ads have been reported to appear for logged-in adults on the Free and Go plans.

6. Can I pay to influence ChatGPT's answers?
 

No. ChatGPT ads are separate, labeled placements and can't be bought to shape responses.