The Pulse
OpenAI’s next ChatGPT ad format: click to chat, not to site
OpenAI has introduced select clients to an ad format that sends users into a conversation with a brand’s AI agent inside ChatGPT instead of directing them to a website.
AI.info Team ·
OpenAI has introduced select clients to a new type of ad for ChatGPT that turns an ad click into a conversation with a brand’s AI agent rather than sending users directly to a company website, according to a report by Digiday published September 14, 2026.
The format is an early version of what OpenAI has described as AI-native advertising: ads designed around how people interact with AI assistants. Digiday viewed the format via video and verified its operation.
An ad click opens a branded chat
The new format allows advertisers to attach a branded business agent to an ad. When a user clicks a call-to-action button, such as “Chat with us,” the user is taken to a branded chat within ChatGPT and can interact with the advertiser’s AI agent.
That differs from the basic ad format OpenAI currently serves underneath ChatGPT responses to users on its free and Go plans. Instead of treating the ad as a route to an external destination, the new format makes the ad itself an entry point into a conversation with the brand.
OpenAI chief financial officer Sarah Friar discussed the direction during Goldman Sachs’ Communacopia and Technology Conference in San Francisco on September 8. She described the current ads under ChatGPT responses as the “basic starting point” and said the company was already seeing “early indications” of what a more AI-native ad format could look like.
“This is all before we’ve really launched a format that feels truly endemic to AI,”
Sarah Friar, chief financial officer at OpenAI
Wayfair is testing Sponsored Agents
It is unclear how many advertisers have access to the format. Wayfair is trialing it, according to a screenshot of the ad viewed by Digiday and confirmation from the brand.
“Yes, Wayfair is participating in OpenAI’s Sponsored Agent pilot to explore how conversational commerce can help customers make more informed, confident decisions,” said Morgan Brown, director of paid media at Wayfair. “We’re always testing new technologies that can improve the shopping experience, and this pilot will help inform our approach to AI-native commerce. We’re testing at limited scale with guardrails around product accuracy, transparency and service handoffs.”
Morgan Brown, director of paid media at Wayfair
The pilot gives Wayfair another way to interact with potential customers beyond sending them to its website. Brown’s comments indicate that the retailer is testing the experience at limited scale while focusing on product accuracy, transparency and the point at which conversations are handed to customer service.
Farhad Divecha, group CEO of Accuracast, compared the format with ads on Meta that send people to WhatsApp.
“This is similar to Meta Ads that send people to WhatsApp,” said Farhad Divecha, group CEO of Accuracast. “It’s a way to open lines of communication with prospects, and then advertisers can qualify the ones who need to talk to customer services and sales reps or be directed to the correct page to make a purchase.”
Farhad Divecha, group CEO of Accuracast
Advertisers are still assessing ChatGPT
The test arrives while advertisers continue to evaluate ChatGPT as an ad platform. Digiday reported that advertisers participating in ChatGPT ads generally view the product as promising but said it was too early to draw firm conclusions about its role in media plans. Spending has therefore remained relatively limited, with investment coming from incremental or experimental budgets.
Shamsul Chowdhury, senior vice president of paid media at Zeno Group, said the return on investment had not yet justified broader spending for many advertisers.
“It makes sense that OpenAI is opening up their ad products,” said Shamsul Chowdhury, senior vice president of paid media at Zeno Group. “While they’ve been a hot new platform for advertisers, the ROI just hasn’t been there for the most part.”
Shamsul Chowdhury, senior vice president of paid media at Zeno Group
The new format could offer an in-platform shopping experience, particularly for retailers. It also raises a question about whether brands benefit from keeping a potential customer inside ChatGPT rather than sending that person to an owned website.
Retailers generally want customer data from their own sites, but consumer journeys can take place across multiple platforms. OpenAI’s branded-agent format gives advertisers another way to compete for consumers’ attention and spending within a conversational environment.
OpenAI did not respond to Digiday’s request for comment.