Create a campaign
Instead of building ads by hand in Ads Manager, create them from the products you already sell. Every campaign starts paused, and you see OpenAI's preview before anything spends.
Shopping campaign or chat card?
Go to Campaigns and click Create campaign, then pick one of two types.
| Shopping campaign | Chat card | |
|---|---|---|
| What it advertises | Many products from your feed | One product |
| Who writes the ad | OpenAI builds each ad from the product's title, description, image and price | You write the title and text |
| Needs a product feed | ✅ | — |
| Pick which products | ✅ All products, or filters | One product from your store |
| Suggest with AI | ✅ | ✅ |
Want a Shopping campaign in two clicks? Use a Quick start preset on the Campaigns page. See Quick start.
Before you start
- Add a payment method in Ads Manager. Without one, you can still create the campaign, but it won't run. The builder shows a warning when OpenAI reports none.
- For a Shopping campaign, wait for your feed. OpenAI needs to process your product feed first. If it's still working, the builder says OpenAI is still processing your product feed. Click Check again in a few minutes.
- For a chat card, give the product an image. Chat cards need one, and the product needs a page on your store to link to.
Create a Shopping campaign
Open the builder
Go to Campaigns → Create campaign and click Create Shopping campaign. The New Shopping campaign page opens.
Choose the products
Under Products, pick All products in the feed, or Only some products to narrow it down.
With Only some products, choose a Product field and type its Values:
- Custom label (the field shows where the label comes from, like Product type or Vendor). Type the label as the feed writes it.
- Brand. Type the brand exactly as it appears in your feed.
- Item ID. Type the item ID as it appears in your feed.
Click Add filter to add another. A product must match every filter. The builder counts the matching products, for example Products that match: 24 of 180. If nothing matches, you can't create the campaign until you change the filters.
Write the ad template
Under Ad, the Title template and Text template set the words every product ad uses. OpenAI fills in each product's own details and shows the price for you.
The fields start with placeholders for the product's title and description. Use the Insert buttons to add Product title, Product description or Brand where you want them. The title takes 3 to 50 characters, the text up to 100.
Prefer a head start? Click Suggest with AI. See Suggest with AI.
Set budget and bidding
Under Budget and bidding, fill in Campaign name, Daily budget and Bid strategy, and optionally Countries. See Budget, Bid strategy and Countries.
Create it paused
Click Create paused campaign. The campaign is created paused, and OpenAI's preview opens. See Preview and activate.
Create a chat card
Open the builder
Go to Campaigns → Create campaign and click Create chat card. The New chat card page opens.
Choose the product
Under Product, click Choose product and pick one product from your store. The ad uses the product's first image and links to its page on your store. To switch, click Choose another product.
Write the ad
Under Ad, the Title and Text are prefilled from the product. Edit them as you like. The title takes 3 to 50 characters, the text up to 100.
Click Suggest with AI for three ready-written versions.
Set budget and bidding
Fill in Campaign name, Daily budget, Bid strategy and, if you want, Countries.
Create it paused
Click Create paused campaign. OpenAI's preview opens next.
Budget
The Daily budget is in your ad account's currency, which the field shows. The app fills in a suggested amount. OpenAI may spend a little more on some days and less on others.
OpenAI's minimum daily budget depends on your ad account's currency, and OpenAI only states it when it refuses an amount. If your budget is too low, the app shows OpenAI's minimum daily budget is ... and fills that amount into the field for you. Check it and click Create paused campaign again.
The app never converts currencies. If your store sells in one currency and your ad account pays in another, budgets stay in the ad account's currency.
Bid strategy
| Strategy | How it bids | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Maximize clicks | OpenAI sets each bid to get as many clicks as your daily budget allows. | A good start. It's the default. |
| Fixed cost per click | You pay at most the Maximum cost per click you set. Too low a bid can mean few clicks. | Keeping each click under a set price. |
| Maximize conversions | OpenAI bids for the clicks most likely to end in a purchase, counted by your pixel. | Stores whose pixel already reports purchases. |
Every strategy charges per click. Maximize conversions needs the ChatGPT Ads pixel with a purchase event in the same ad account. Until then, the option is greyed out with the reason, and Open pixel takes you to Tracking.
Countries
Leave Countries empty to show ads in every country OpenAI allows for your ad account. That's the safest choice.
To narrow it down, search and add countries. OpenAI decides which countries each ad account can advertise in, and doesn't publish the list. If you add one your account can't use, OpenAI refuses the campaign: remove those countries and create it again.
Suggest with AI
Suggest with AI writes three versions of the ad from the product's details.
- For a chat card, it uses the product you chose.
- For a Shopping campaign, pick an Example product. The AI writes the template from it, and each ad still fills in its own product's details.
Click Use this on the one you like. It fills both fields, and you can edit every word. The button shows how many suggestions you have left today or this month.
AI can get details wrong. Check the words against your product before you create the campaign.
Preview and activate
After you create a campaign, the Campaign created, paused dialog shows OpenAI's own preview of the ad. It may look a little different in a chat.
Check the preview
Look at the ad as OpenAI renders it. If the preview stays blank, click Open preview in a new tab. The preview link works for a limited time, shown under it.
Activate, or leave it paused
Click Activate to go on. Or click Activate later: the campaign stays paused in your list, and you can activate it from there any time.
Confirm the spend
The Start spending? step names the campaign and its daily budget. It also lists anything that stops it from serving:
- Your ad account has no working payment method.
- OpenAI is still reviewing your brand, or rejected it.
- OpenAI is still reviewing the ad, or rejected it.
Click Start spending to turn it on, or Back to return. You can pause it at any time.
Activate waits for the preview, so you always see the ad before it can spend. If the preview didn't load, click Load preview again, or check the ad and activate it in Ads Manager.
A campaign that's turned on serves only once OpenAI has a payment method on file and has approved your brand and the ad. If anything blocks it, the Campaigns page shows it.
FAQs
Does creating a campaign spend money?
No. Every campaign is created paused. It spends only after you click Activate, then Start spending.
Why do I see Open Product feed instead of Create Shopping campaign?
A Shopping campaign needs a product feed that OpenAI has received in this ad account. Click Open Product feed and set it up, or fix the last send. OpenAI takes about 6 to 8 minutes to process an upload. A chat card doesn't need a feed.
What's the minimum daily budget?
It depends on your ad account's currency, and OpenAI doesn't publish it. When an amount is too low, the app shows OpenAI's minimum and fills it in for you.
Which countries can I target?
Only the countries OpenAI allows for your ad account. Leave Countries empty to use all of them.
Why is Maximize conversions greyed out?
It needs the ChatGPT Ads pixel with a purchase event in the connected ad account. Set it up on Tracking, or pick Maximize clicks for now.
Can I change a campaign after I create it?
Yes. Open the campaign and use its Settings tab for the name, dates, countries, bidding, products and ad text. Change the daily budget from the campaign list. New ad text goes back to OpenAI review.
Why do I see “Your API key can read this ad account but can't change it”?
OpenAI refused the change because the connected key isn't from an ad account admin. Connect an admin's key in Settings, then try again.
Still have questions?
Chat with us from the app, any time.