How to Set Up a ChatGPT Ads Campaign
Ads Manager follows a familiar structure of campaigns, ad groups and ads, with a few ChatGPT-specific steps such as context hints and crawler access. Here is the order to do it in.
How do you set up a ChatGPT Ads campaign?
Set up a ChatGPT Ads campaign in four stages: create and verify the Ads Manager account with billing, set up conversion tracking, build the campaign with its goal, budget, dates and locations, then create ad groups with context hints and ads with a title, description, image and landing page. Submit for review and launch once approved.
Confirmed: OpenAI describes the account steps in its Ads Manager account setup guide. Campaigns do not deliver until all required account steps are complete.
What do you need before building a campaign?
Before building a campaign you need an OpenAI account, business details (name, website, logo, industry, country, currency and time zone), verification, a billing profile and a credit card. Verification can take up to seven business days, so start it before the rest of the work.
- Sign in at ads.openai.com with an OpenAI account tied to a work email.
- Enter business name, website, logo, industry, country, currency and time zone.
- Complete verification and answer the eligibility questions.
- Add a billing profile and payment method.
- Invite team members under Settings, then Users.
- Make sure landing pages allow the OAI-AdsBot crawler.
What goes into the campaign and ad groups?
The campaign sets the goal (views, clicks or conversions), budget, dates, locations, platforms and any custom audiences. Each ad group focuses on one product, theme or customer need, carries context hints that describe relevant conversations, and has a bid strategy, Maximize results by default.
| Level | Settings | Our recommendation for a first B2B test |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Goal, daily or total budget, start and end dates, locations, platforms, custom audiences | Clicks goal, total budget, 8 to 12 weeks, only the countries you sell to |
| Ad group | Theme, context hints, bid strategy | One ad group per buyer problem, with three to five specific hints |
| Ad | Title, description, image, landing page, UTM parameters | Two or three ads per ad group, each sending to a page that matches its promise |
Context hints are covered on what advertisers can control.
How should you write the ads?
Write each ad as a clear answer to the problem the conversation is about: a title that states the value, a description that adds a new detail rather than repeating the title, and an image that supports the message. Link to the most relevant page, not the homepage, and add UTM parameters to every ad.
OpenAI’s guide to creating ads says ads may be rejected if they are misleading or inconsistent with the landing page. See illustrative B2B examples for structure.
Track before you spend.
A campaign launched without conversion tracking spends real money on results you can’t judge. Set up the pixel or Conversions API first.
What happens at review and launch?
After you submit, ads are reviewed against OpenAI’s ad policies and the landing page is checked by its crawler. Approved ads show as Serving; rejected ads show Not serving with a reason you can see by hovering over the status. Allow 24 hours after launch before treating low delivery as a problem.
If an ad is rejected or the account is not approved, see policies and approval problems.
Frequently asked questions
Who can create a ChatGPT Ads account?
Businesses with a legal entity in a supported country can sign up for self-serve Ads Manager with an OpenAI account.
How long does ChatGPT Ads verification take?
OpenAI says to allow up to seven business days before contacting support.
What is an ad group in ChatGPT Ads?
A group of ads around one theme, product or customer need, with its own context hints and bid strategy.
Can I bulk upload ChatGPT Ads campaigns?
Yes. Ads Manager supports bulk upload by CSV, except for product-feed campaigns.
Why must landing pages allow OAI-AdsBot?
OpenAI uses the crawler to validate landing pages for safety and relevance. If it is blocked, ads can’t be reviewed.
How quickly does reporting update?
Impressions, clicks and CTR refresh about every 15 minutes; spend can lag 7 to 8 hours and conversions 24 to 48 hours.
Sources & further reading
ChatGPT Ads is in beta and changes often. These OpenAI pages are the primary sources for everything marked Confirmed.