How to use OpenAI Ads Manager for ChatGPT ads: a screen-by-screen walkthrough
- Ads Manager at ads.openai.com is OpenAI's self-serve interface for ChatGPT ads; billing, users and account creation exist only there, not in the Ads API.
- The campaign form has four sections: Details, Budget & schedule, Targeting and Advanced.
- Budgets are average daily amounts: the form states a maximum daily spend of 2x and a maximum seven-day spend of 7x the daily budget.
- Ad groups bid with Maximize results, where OpenAI sets the bid, or Manual: Max CPC, where you enter it in the account currency.
- An ad takes a title of up to 50 characters, a description of up to 100, a destination URL and one square image.
- Text customization, the Event Quality Score, flexible attribution windows, a hosted feed URL and a default ad destination URL exist in Ads Manager only.
- Screens are described as they appeared in September 2026; OpenAI updates Ads Manager often, so labels can move.
OpenAI Ads Manager, at ads.openai.com, is where most advertisers run ChatGPT ads by hand, and it is the only place to create the account, add billing and switch on some features. This walkthrough follows the screens in the order you meet them, from the first campaign to the reports, and points out what each form does not tell you, such as the budget minimum the API enforces and which edits send an ad back into review. Labels are quoted as they appeared in September 2026.
- Set up the payment method and conversion tracking before the first campaign; the payment method can only be added in Ads Manager.
- The budget field is an average: a day can spend twice it, so size it for the busy day.
- Context hints sit under the ad group's Advanced settings and are optional; add them anyway, because they are the main way to say which conversations an ad group fits.
- Use images of at least 640 by 640 pixels even though the form suggests less; that is the minimum in OpenAI's API documentation.
- Record which campaigns have text customization on, since it lets OpenAI rewrite and translate your copy.
What is OpenAI Ads Manager?
Ads Manager is OpenAI's self-serve web interface for buying ads in ChatGPT, at ads.openai.com. You use it to open the ad account, add a payment method, manage users, build campaigns, set up conversion tracking, upload product feeds and audiences, and read reports. The Ads API offers much of the same to software, but not billing or account creation.
A few features exist only in Ads Manager: text customization, the Event Quality Score for conversion sources, flexible attribution windows in reports, a hosted feed URL, a default destination URL per ad group and the bid competitiveness indicator. Even if a tool runs your account through the API, you will come back to Ads Manager for these. The split is explained in Ads Manager versus the Ads API.
What should you set up before the first campaign?
Three things: the payment method, so the account can spend; conversion tracking, so a conversion event exists to pick in the campaign form; and an API key, only if a tool will connect. Check too that the conversions and feeds sections are visible, because both are capabilities OpenAI enables per account.
API keys are issued in the Settings tab and shown once, so store a key as soon as it appears; one key belongs to one ad account. Users are added in Ads Manager as well, so give a second person access before the account depends on a single login. The sign-up itself is covered in how to get access to ChatGPT ads.
How do you create a campaign in Ads Manager?
Start a new campaign and work through four sections. Details: a name of at least three characters, the campaign type and the objective. Budget & schedule: the daily budget, a start date with time and timezone, and an optional end date. Targeting: locations and eligible platforms. Advanced: tracking parameters, custom audiences and text customization.
The form describes the campaign type as "how this campaign will create ads and where people will go": a standard campaign with ads you write, or a product feed campaign built from your catalogue. The objective, in the form's words, "determines how you bid in the ad auction and what ad formats are available". Choosing conversions shows the note "Billed by impressions. We'll continue optimizing your campaign for conversions.", OpenAI's recommended conversion model since 16 September 2026, and adds a conversion event select filled from the events you set up under Conversions.
Budget & schedule is where the form says something most platforms do not: the budget is the average daily amount, and "Your maximum daily spend is 2x and your maximum seven-day spend is 7x" that amount. A EUR 65 budget can spend EUR 130 in a day and EUR 455 in seven days. On a EUR account the API minimum is EUR 15.00 a day, even though the form may only warn at lower amounts.
Under Targeting, add locations to include and, if needed, to exclude; an exclusion wins over an inclusion. The form notes that custom audiences are unsupported for targets in the EEA and Switzerland. Eligible platforms can be picked one by one: iOS app, Android app, desktop web, iOS web and Android web.
Advanced holds three settings that deserve a decision. Tracking parameters are "Added to your link when someone clicks your ad", with placeholders for the campaign, ad group, ad and ad account IDs, such as {campaign_id} and {ad_id}; OpenAI appends its own click reference, oppref, by itself. Custom audiences can include or exclude people. Text customization is described as: "AI automatically generates personalized and translated versions of your ad's headlines and descriptions, which may be shown without your individual review or approval."
How do you set up an ad group in Ads Manager?
Name it and choose a bid strategy: Maximize results, where OpenAI sets the bid, or Manual: Max CPC, where you enter the most you will pay per click in the account currency. Under Advanced, add context hints, tracking parameters and a default destination URL for new ads in the group.
With a manual bid, the form shows a competitiveness indicator, for example "Strong Delivery: Your bid is likely competitive for this ad group". Use it as a first read only: it has no equivalent in the API and says nothing about whether the bid is profitable, which only your own cost per conversion can tell you.
Context hints are optional in the form, but they are the main way to tell OpenAI which conversations the ad group fits: free-text sentences, up to 2,000 per ad group, describing situations rather than keywords. Keep one angle per ad group so its results mean something; the context hints guide shows how to write them. The default destination URL only pre-fills new ads; each ad keeps its own URL.
How do you create an ad in Ads Manager?
Give the ad a name, a destination URL, optional tracking parameters, a title of up to 50 characters, a description of up to 100 characters and one image. The form warns that copy may be truncated in some placements, so lead with the point. Every new ad goes into review before it can serve.
The image field asks for a PNG or JPG and suggests a square image of at least 256 by 256 pixels for best quality. OpenAI's API documentation sets 640 by 640 pixels as the minimum for uploads, so use at least 640, square. The destination must be a page OpenAI's crawler can reach.
Editing the title, description or image of an approved ad sends it back into review. To try new copy, add a second ad rather than editing the live one, and pause the weaker ad later. Copywriting within these limits is covered in writing chat card creative.
How do you launch and check delivery?
Wait for the ad to be approved, then make sure the ad, its ad group and its campaign are all active: each level has its own status. If nothing serves, check in order: the account's payment method and reviews, the campaign's budget, schedule and targeting, the ad group's bid, then the ad's approval and landing page.
A rejected ad comes with a reason. Fix the cause in a new or edited ad, which goes through review again. In the first days, expect impressions and clicks within minutes, spend a little later, and conversions only after a day or more, so do not judge a campaign on its first afternoon.
Where do you set up conversion tracking in Ads Manager?
Under Tools, in Conversions. Create a pixel, which gives you a setup snippet for your site, create Conversions API keys for server-side events, and create a conversion event setting for each outcome you track, such as order_created or lead_created, each with its click attribution window. The Event Quality Score rates each eligible source from 1 to 10.
The snippet Ads Manager hands out has a debug flag switched on for testing; check that events arrive before you rely on them, then use the Event Quality Score's recommendations to improve coverage. If Conversions is missing from your menu, OpenAI has not enabled it on your account yet. The full setup is in the conversion tracking guide.
How do you add a product feed in Ads Manager?
In Feeds, add a new product feed with a display name and choose how it arrives: Upload CSV or TXT for a manual file, Hosted URL for an HTTPS address OpenAI fetches, or an SFTP connection from your server. The panel notes: "Your items will be eligible for ads only."
The feed uses OpenAI's product file format from its commerce specification, and upload history is shown per feed. A hosted URL can only be set in Ads Manager: the API can create a feed and SFTP access, but has no call to set the URL. How this compares with a Google Merchant Center feed is in OpenAI product feeds versus Merchant Center.
How do you upload a custom audience?
In Audiences, upload raw or SHA-256 hashed emails and phone numbers, or raw Android advertising IDs, as a CSV with headers or a TXT file with one value per line, up to 500 MB. An audience can be created empty and filled later. It cannot be used in campaigns that target the EEA or Switzerland.
Use your own customer data only: data bought from brokers is not allowed. Attach audiences in the campaign's Advanced section to include or exclude people, and remember that in European campaigns, hints, locations and platforms have to do that work instead.
How do you read results in Ads Manager?
The metrics OpenAI documents include impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate, cost per click, conversions, cost per acquisition and, for shops, attributed sales and ROAS, per campaign, ad group and ad. In Ads Manager you choose the attribution window per column set: 7, 14 or 30 days after a click, and 0 or 1 day after a view.
Figures for the current day are preliminary, so compare complete days. Reports never show the prompts that triggered an ad, and there is no reach, frequency or impression share. For analysis outside Ads Manager, the tracking parameters from the campaign form carry the IDs into GA4 or any other tool; see measuring ChatGPT ads.
What can you not do in Ads Manager?
Several controls common on other platforms do not exist for ChatGPT ads: dayparting, frequency capping, target CPA or ROAS, pacing controls, A/B tests, query reports and notifications. You compensate with structure, such as a separate ad group per test, and with regular checks, or with a tool that adds rules on top.
This is where a management layer earns its place. Adsonomy connects to your ad account through the API and adds rules and guardrails. Nomy, its AI manager, writes a daily brief and proposals to approve, and in the Autopilot edition it makes changes within the guardrails and policy you set. Billing, users and the Ads Manager-only features above stay in Ads Manager. For the whole process in order, see how to run ads on ChatGPT.
Sources
Ads Manager screens as we saw them in September 2026, and OpenAI's own documentation:
- OpenAI Ads Manager
- OpenAI Ads API quickstart
- OpenAI Ads: bidding and budgets
- OpenAI Ads: troubleshooting
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find my API key in OpenAI Ads Manager?
In the Settings tab. Keys are self-issued, shown once and tied to one ad account, so copy a key into a password manager or the tool you are connecting as soon as it appears. If you manage several ad accounts, each one needs its own key, unless OpenAI has given you a partner key.
Why can I not see Conversions or Feeds in Ads Manager?
Because some capabilities are enabled per account by OpenAI, including conversion pixels, Conversions API keys, conversion bidding, product feeds and spend limit windows. If a section is missing, ask your OpenAI contact to enable it rather than looking for a hidden setting.
What does Maximize results mean in Ads Manager?
It is the automated bid strategy: OpenAI sets the bid to get the most clicks or conversions from your daily budget, depending on the objective. It has no bid cap and needs a daily budget. The alternative, Manual: Max CPC, lets you set the most you will pay per click.
What image size should I use for ChatGPT ads?
A square image of at least 640 by 640 pixels in JPEG, PNG or WebP, which is the minimum in OpenAI's API documentation. The Ads Manager form suggests at least 256 by 256 pixels, but 640 by 640 is the safer floor for an image that has to look sharp.
Should I turn on text customization?
Only if you accept that OpenAI may show AI-written, personalised or translated versions of your headlines and descriptions without your individual review. It adapts copy to the conversation and the user's language, but results then no longer describe only your own words, so record which campaigns have it on.
Why did my ad go back into review?
Because its creative changed. Any edit to the title, description or image of an ad sends it back through review, however small. To change copy on a live campaign without a gap, add a new ad next to the approved one and pause the old ad once the new one is approved.
Adsonomy runs ads inside ChatGPT for shops and service businesses. Control edition: you run it with rules. Autopilot: Nomy runs it inside your guardrails. Free until 15 October 2026, then plans from EUR 49 a month.
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