To create a ChatGPT Ads campaign, prepare your advertiser account, choose a goal and budget, build focused ad groups, and add ads with a relevant destination. Then review the setup and activate it in Ads Manager.
This guide combines OpenAI’s documented setup with a practical planning example. Platform guidance was checked on September 8, 2026. If you are new to the format, start with What Are ChatGPT Ads?.
1. Confirm access and prepare the offer
Check Ads Manager availability for the country of the legal entity that will advertise and be billed. Creating an account does not automatically provide self-service access.
Before opening the campaign form, write a short brief:
- Offer: What can the customer buy or do?
- Need: What decision does the offer help them make?
- Evidence: What supports the main promise?
- Destination: Which page explains that exact offer?
- Outcome: What response will you evaluate?
For an agency, get agreement on this brief with the client. It gives the team a concrete basis for reviewing creative and deciding what the campaign is meant to achieve.
2. Create the campaign and choose an objective
In Ads Manager, use Create → Create campaign. Complete the campaign fields and save. OpenAI offers guided creation and bulk upload; this article follows the guided route. See OpenAI’s launch instructions.
Choose the objective that matches the response you need:
| Objective | Purpose | Billing |
|---|---|---|
| CPM | Awareness and reach | Per 1,000 impressions |
| CPC | Website traffic | Per valid click |
| oCPC | Clicks likely to produce a tracked conversion | Per valid click |
OpenAI’s campaign guide explains these choices. An objective cannot be changed after creation; a different objective requires a new campaign.
For oCPC, set up conversion tracking first and select one supported standard event. The selected event cannot be changed later. Set a Bid Cap for each ad group; it expresses a conversion-oriented bid, not a guaranteed acquisition cost. You still pay for clicks. Read the conversion-optimized campaign guide.
Ask what a successful visit would mean for this offer. A purchase and an enquiry represent different commitments. Choose a measurable action that fits the actual customer journey.
3. Set the budget and dates deliberately
Choose a campaign-total budget for a defined overall spend, or a daily budget for ongoing pacing. Check the currency-specific minimum in OpenAI’s campaign guide.
A daily budget is an average over seven days. Individual-day spend can reach twice the selected amount; the applicable seven-day limit is seven times that amount. Budget changes affect these limits: the day’s maximum uses the highest daily budget active that day, and the remaining period is prorated. Review the limits shown in Ads Manager before saving. See OpenAI’s daily-budget rules.
Choose dates when the offer and destination will be ready and someone can review delivery. For a time-limited offer, include its expiry in the team’s launch checklist. A budget allocation is a spending decision, not a forecast of results.
4. Choose locations and platforms
Select supported locations in the campaign picker. Available options vary by country. Platform choices include iOS, Android, and Web. Check current targeting options.
Use the places you can actually serve. Check shipping, service coverage, language, and the experience after the click. A wider target area is useful only when the offer remains relevant and available there.
5. Organize ad groups around a coherent need
Use separate campaigns when the business goal or budget needs separate management. Within a campaign, ad groups organize related themes. Split a group when the offer or use case needs meaningfully different messaging or a different destination.
Context hints describe when the offer is useful. They are not exact-match keywords or a promise that the ad will appear in a particular conversation. Read OpenAI’s ad-group guidance.
An illustrative campaign brief
Imagine a retailer advertising a compact desk. This is a planning example, not a campaign result or a suggested spend.
| Decision | Example choice |
|---|---|
| Business goal | Help interested shoppers evaluate the desk |
| Objective | CPC for a traffic-focused test |
| Ad-group theme | A workspace in a small room |
| Context hint | A compact desk for someone setting up a workspace with limited floor space |
| Evidence to prepare | Actual dimensions, product images, and delivery coverage |
| Destination | The desk’s product page, with price and availability |
The useful connection is between the need, the message, and the page. A desk for a small room and a large office fit-out may deserve different briefs even when the same retailer sells both. Do not combine them simply to reduce the number of groups.
6. Add creative and check the landing page
Create distinct message variations that explain a real benefit. Keep the title, copy, image, and destination consistent. OpenAI recommends relevant, reachable destinations and allows UTM parameters on destination URLs. Landing pages must allow its specified advertising and search crawlers. See OpenAI’s creative guidance.
For the desk example, one message might explain where it fits; another might show a useful feature. Both need evidence. An association with convenience can suggest an angle, but it does not substantiate a claim on its own.
Use ChatGPT Ads Best Practices to review the message and ChatGPT Ads Landing Page Structure to review the destination.
7. Review, activate, and measure
Finish account and billing setup, check the campaign’s dates and spending settings, and review the ads and links. Confirm that the campaign, ad groups, and ads are active when you intend to launch. Reporting can lag delivery; use OpenAI’s launch guidance when checking early activity.
Record what you tested and the response it produced. Review traffic in the context of the page and offer. For conversion campaigns, examine the selected event alongside spend and clicks, and confirm tracking is working before interpreting a lack of recorded actions.
Paid campaign results do not establish a change in organic standing. OpenAI states that ads do not influence its answers. Keep the two separate in client reporting. Read ChatGPT Ads vs Organic Recommendations and OpenAI’s explanation.
Start with your Market Map
Want to create ChatGPT Ads in minutes using your Market Map, instead of preparing everything yourself? Coming soon. Get started with Market Maps.
