OpenAI Tests Click-to-Chat Ad Format in ChatGPT

OpenAI is testing a new advertising format in ChatGPT that fundamentally changes where ad clicks lead. Instead of directing users to external websites, the experimental format opens conversations with branded AI agents directly inside the chat interface.

The company has introduced this click-to-chat capability to select advertisers, including Wayfair, according to details first reported by Digiday. When users click a call-to-action button labeled with prompts like "Chat to us," they enter a branded chat session with the company's AI agent rather than leaving ChatGPT for a traditional website.

Why it matters

This format represents OpenAI's first serious attempt at creating advertising native to conversational AI, not just ads placed adjacent to it. The approach could reshape how brands capture purchase intent online—but it also forces retailers to weigh whether keeping customers inside a third-party platform is worth sacrificing the data and control they get from owned web properties.

Moving beyond basic display ads

The new format builds on OpenAI's current advertising product, which displays basic ads beneath ChatGPT responses for users on free and Go subscription tiers. Speaking at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia and Technology Conference on September 8, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar described those existing ads as a "basic starting point" and noted the company is exploring what truly AI-native advertising could become.

"This is all before we've really launched a format that feels truly endemic to AI," Friar said during the conference.

The click-to-chat model mirrors advertising formats already established on messaging platforms. Farhad Divecha, group CEO of Accuracast, compared it to Meta ads that direct users to WhatsApp conversations, calling it "a way to open lines of communication with prospects" who can then be qualified for sales or directed toward purchases.

Advertiser adoption remains cautious

Seven months after OpenAI began accepting advertising, marketers remain uncertain about ChatGPT's value as an ad channel. Advertisers testing the platform have consistently described it as promising but too early to justify significant budget allocation beyond experimental spending.

"While they've been a hot new platform for advertisers, the ROI just hasn't been there for the most part," said Shamsul Chowdhury, senior vice president of paid media at Zeno Group.

The click-to-chat format could address return-on-investment concerns by creating an in-platform shopping experience. However, it introduces a strategic tension for retailers accustomed to capturing customer data through their own websites. Chowdhury noted that while brands want user data from owned properties, they recognize that "the consumer journey can happen anywhere and they need to vie for those eyeballs and dollars."

Timing and platform evolution

The test arrives as advertisers prepare for the holiday shopping season amid rising costs and plateauing returns on established platforms like Google and Meta. Chowdhury suggested OpenAI could capture some of that spending if the agent experience proves seamless—though he emphasized that remains a significant uncertainty.

Every major advertising platform has developed a signature format that defined its era: Google's text link ads transformed search into an auction, Facebook's News Feed ads monetized social scrolling, and TikTok's in-feed videos blurred content and commerce. OpenAI appears to be searching for its own defining format, one native to conversation rather than scrolling or searching.

These details were first reported by Digiday, which viewed and verified the new ad format through video demonstration.