OpenAI brings product feed ads to ChatGPT

OpenAI is taking another major step into ecommerce advertising, and this one feels much bigger than just another ad update.

Just days after launching its beta self-serve Ads Manager for US businesses, the company has now announced catalog-based product ads inside ChatGPT, allowing retailers to connect product feeds directly to the platform.

The move signals a major shift in how ecommerce advertising may work in AI-driven experiences. Until now, OpenAI’s advertising rollout has focused mainly on the mechanics behind advertising, including campaign setup, CPC bidding, conversion tracking, and measurement capabilities. With catalog-based ads, the company is now taking a much bigger step toward ecommerce activation inside ChatGPT itself.

Instead of manually building campaigns, retailers can now upload product catalogs and let ChatGPT automatically generate sponsored product ads using existing product names, images, pricing, and attributes. The setup reportedly follows a schema similar to Google Shopping, helping merchants adapt more easily to the new channel.

Traditional ads vs AI-powered commerce ads

Unlike traditional search ads that rely heavily on keywords, ChatGPT can place products into conversations based on shopper intent and context. Someone asking:

• “Which stroller is best for city travel?”
• “Which moisturizer works for humid weather?”
• “What are good espresso machines for small kitchens?”

…creates a completely different discovery environment than a simple keyword search. And, AI can only recommend the products it understands.

That’s why structured product data suddenly matters far beyond syndication. Product titles, descriptions, attributes, taxonomy, imagery, and enrichment all influence how products are interpreted and surfaced inside AI-generated recommendations.

Our CEO and Co-founder here at Productsup, Marcel Hollerbach, also shared an early walkthrough of the new OpenAI Ads Manager.

The setup already looks familiar to ecommerce marketers running Google Shopping or marketplace campaigns:

• Campaign objectives for reach, clicks, and conversions
• CPC-based bidding
• Conversion tracking and pixels
• Feed-style product advertising
• Lightweight creative formats with product image, headline, and description

The biggest difference is where these ads appear: within active AI conversations, where shoppers are exploring products, comparing options, and asking detailed questions in real time. For ecommerce teams, this is another strong signal that conversational commerce is quickly becoming a measurable performance channel.

Preparing product feeds for AI-driven commerce with Productsup

Through our AI channels solution, Productsup helps brands syndicate structured product feeds to emerging AI platforms and discovery environments, including ChatGPT and Perplexity.

To support stronger visibility, Productsup also offers AI Enrich, which helps brands enrich product catalogs with LLM-friendly content, such as:

• AI-optimized product highlights
• Product Q&A pairs
• Use case and occasion tags
• Competitive differentiators

These enhancements help AI systems better understand product context, shopper intent, and the relevance of recommendations across conversational experiences.

As conversational commerce continues evolving, product feeds are having their main character moment. What was once operational ecommerce infrastructure is now increasingly influencing how products are interpreted, recommended, surfaced, and advertised across AI experiences. Welcome to the era where your catalog has to charm both shoppers and chatbots. 😉