EnterpriseSEP 19, 2026

OpenAI wires ChatGPT ads into HubSpot and Shopify, tests Sponsored Agents

A US pilot lets shoppers open a labeled conversation with an advertiser's AI after clicking; small businesses can now build and track ChatGPT campaigns without leaving HubSpot or the Shopify App Store.

BY GRETA REINHART · ENTERPRISE SAAS

OpenAI began US testing of Sponsored Agents on September 16, 2026, letting a shopper who clicks an ad open a labeled conversation with the advertiser’s AI inside ChatGPT itself. The agent’s exchange is walled off from ChatGPT’s independent answers and from the user’s original thread. Quartz’s illustrative example: a shopper clicks a dining-table ad, asks about dimensions, seating capacity, and finish care, then follows a link to the merchant’s site.

The pilot lands alongside two distribution moves that matter more than the format itself. A ChatGPT Ads app went live in the Shopify App Store on September 3, and a HubSpot integration now lets customers connect a ChatGPT Ads account and build, track, and follow up on leads without leaving the CRM. The Marketplace listing already shows more than 400 installs, supporting CPM, CPC, and oCPC pricing with UTM parameters intact.

“Adopting a new advertising channel shouldn’t require businesses to rebuild the way they work,” said Brian Landsman, OpenAI’s VP of Global Partnerships. The framing is deliberate. ChatGPT Ads hit a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate in under 200 days across tens of thousands of advertisers in more than 40 countries and 50-plus measurement partners, and OpenAI is now pushing down-market to the 5-to-30-person tier where Google and Meta harvest most SMB spend.

The financial choreography reinforces it. HubSpot’s AI Growth Bundle bundles up to 65% off Starter for a year, BOGO on ChatGPT Business seats, and a $750 match on ChatGPT Ads spend for new accounts opened by September 30. New advertisers signing up at ads.openai.com get $500 in credit after spending $500. International availability is scheduled for September 23.

What OpenAI hasn’t disclosed is telling: pricing for Sponsored Agents, which model runs the agent, what transcripts advertisers see, and whether the reportable outcome is the click, the turns taken, the outbound link, or the downstream sale. Early advertisers named include Newegg, Best Buy, Lowe’s, and VistaPrint. Alec Shao, performance marketing manager at Newegg, framed the appeal as being present while shoppers research purchases, which is the entire pitch: the ad is no longer a link, it’s the sales conversation.

Attribution windows are configurable at 7, 14, or 30 days for clicks and 0 or 1 for views, with an Event Quality Score grading data sources 1 to 10. That’s Meta’s playbook, shipped by a company HubSpot just wired directly into its Breeze-era Smart CRM. The Shopify app currently carries a 4.0 rating on three reviews. Everyone will know in a quarter whether that number is signal or noise.

Sources

About the author

Greta Reinhart

ENTERPRISE SAAS

Greta Reinhart tracks the enterprise software stack from San Francisco — data platforms, AI bundling, seat pricing, and channel checks across the largest SaaS vendors. She files on go-to-market shifts, packaging changes, and quarterly enterprise reads.