ChatGPT Ads in Shopify and HubSpot, plus AI copy in Ads Manager
On 16 September 2026 OpenAI brought ChatGPT Ads into two tools businesses already use and added AI assistance to its own Ads Manager. HubSpot users can connect a ChatGPT Ads account and create, track and follow up on campaigns inside HubSpot. US Shopify merchants get a ChatGPT Ads app in the Shopify App Store, with other markets from 23 September. Ads Manager now suggests copy and imagery from your landing page, and an opt-in text customization setting rewrites and translates ads to fit conversations. Sponsored Agents, where a user can chat with a brand’s agent after an ad, are a test with select US advertisers.
| Platform | ChatGPT Ads |
|---|---|
| Feature | ChatGPT Ads Shopify and HubSpot integrations |
| Announced | Sep 16, 2026 |
| Status | Available |
| Where available | HubSpot integration: available from 16 September 2026. Shopify app: US merchants from 16 September, other markets where ChatGPT Ads are available from 23 September. Ads Manager plugin in ChatGPT, suggested copy and imagery, and opt-in text customization: rolling out. Sponsored Agents: test with select US advertisers. |
| Who is affected | Ecommerce teams on Shopify, lead-generation teams on HubSpot, and anyone creating ads in ChatGPT Ads Manager. |
| Action needed | Optional. If you run Shopify or HubSpot, install the app and check permissions and catalogue mapping. Decide deliberately whether to opt into text customization, since it rewrites and translates your copy. |
| Sources | OpenAI: Reimagining advertising with AI |
What changed
Until this release, ChatGPT Ads were run from OpenAI’s Ads Manager or through an agency. The announcement adds four routes and one new ad experience:
- HubSpot. OpenAI’s first CRM partner. From 16 September, businesses managing customers in HubSpot can connect a ChatGPT Ads account, create ads, track performance and follow up on leads directly in HubSpot, “powered by their HubSpot context.”
- Shopify. OpenAI’s first ecommerce partner. US merchants can install the ChatGPT Ads app from the Shopify App Store; products are already integrated through Shopify Catalog, so campaigns can run and report immediately. The app reaches other markets where ChatGPT Ads are available from 23 September.
- Ads Manager plugin in ChatGPT. Advertisers can use natural-language prompts in ChatGPT to create, update and analyse campaigns: turn a website or brief into a campaign, read performance, get recommendations.
- AI assistance in Ads Manager. When drafting an ad, Ads Manager suggests copy and imagery based on the landing page and campaign objective. Advertisers review and edit before adding anything. Separately, an opt-in text customization setting adapts existing headlines and descriptions to the conversation and automatically translates copy into the user’s preferred language.
- Sponsored Agents. After seeing an ad, a user can choose to open a clearly labelled conversation with a business-sponsored agent, ask follow-up questions and follow a link to the site. OpenAI says the agent conversation is distinct from ChatGPT’s own answers and separate from the user’s original conversation. Testing is with select advertisers in the United States.
OpenAI restates its ads principles throughout: ads are labelled, separate from answers and do not influence them. The announcement contains no performance figures.
Why it matters
The Shopify app is the one that changes behaviour. A Shopify merchant can now run ChatGPT Ads with the catalogue already mapped, in the same admin where they run Meta and Google through their apps. That removes the setup cost that kept small ecommerce brands off the channel, and it means product-level reporting arrives without a feed project. The HubSpot route does the same for lead generation, with the lead landing in the CRM it would have ended up in anyway.
Text customization deserves a deliberate decision rather than a default. It rewrites your headlines to fit a conversation and translates them into whatever language the user prefers. For a brand with a legal review process or regulated claims, that is a copy-approval problem: the ad a user sees may not be the ad anyone signed off. Our view: install the Shopify or HubSpot app if you use either, because the integration cost is now close to zero; leave text customization off until you have seen what it produces in a market where you can read the output; and treat Sponsored Agents as a 2027 question. A conversation with a brand agent is a genuinely new ad unit, but it is a closed US test and nothing in this release says when that changes.
What to do
- Shopify merchants: install the ChatGPT Ads app, check which markets your store sells to against the ChatGPT Ads availability list, and confirm the catalogue mapping before the first campaign.
- HubSpot users: connect the ChatGPT Ads account from HubSpot, then decide who owns the lead once it lands and which lifecycle stage it enters, so follow-up does not stall in a new queue.
- In Ads Manager, review every suggested headline, description and image against your approved claims before adding it; suggestions are drafted from the landing page, not from your brand rules.
- Leave text customization off by default. If you enable it, run one campaign in a market whose language your team reads and review the delivered variants before extending it.
- Do not plan around Sponsored Agents. If your account is invited to the US test, keep it in a separate campaign with its own budget.
Still unknown
OpenAI does not say which non-US markets the Shopify app reached on 23 September beyond “where ChatGPT Ads are available,” how Sponsored Agents are priced or selected, or how text customization handles regulated claims. We have not connected a Shopify or HubSpot account to the integration.
Frequently asked questions
How do I run ChatGPT Ads from Shopify?
Install the ChatGPT Ads app from the Shopify App Store. OpenAI says products come through Shopify Catalog automatically, so merchants can create campaigns and track performance in the app. It launched for US merchants on 16 September 2026 and in other markets where ChatGPT Ads are available from 23 September.
What does the ChatGPT Ads HubSpot integration do?
Businesses managing customers in HubSpot can connect a ChatGPT Ads account, create ads, track performance and follow up on leads inside HubSpot, using HubSpot’s own context. OpenAI calls HubSpot its first CRM partner; it is available from 16 September 2026.
What is text customization in ChatGPT Ads?
An opt-in Ads Manager setting that adapts your existing headlines and descriptions to the context of a conversation and automatically translates ad copy into the user’s preferred language. It is off unless you enable it.
What are ChatGPT Sponsored Agents?
A test in which a user who sees an ad can start a clearly labelled conversation with a business-sponsored agent, ask follow-up questions and then follow a link to the business. OpenAI is testing them with select advertisers in the United States; there is no self-serve access.
Official sources
- OpenAI: Reimagining advertising with AI ↗ · Sep 16, 2026
Related coverage
- ChatGPT Ads measurement partners and a visual ad format test
- ChatGPT Ads availability by country: self-service list, 2026
Update history
- — Rewritten under the new editorial standard with each integration’s availability and dates from the source, the Ads Manager plugin and copy features, Sponsored Agents’ test status, and a practitioner view.
- — Initial manual coverage under the advertiser-impact standard; original announcement date preserved.
Suggested checks are editorial guidance, not platform requirements. Every claim links to its official source. Report a correction →