MarTech » Marketing artificial intelligence (AI) » OpenAI adds technology to compete for ad dollars

OpenAI adds technology to compete for ad dollars

Product carousels and AppsFlyer attribution give ChatGPT more of what performance marketers need to move beyond experimental ad buys.

Senior Editor, MarTech

Published on August 10, 2026 • Last updated on August 10, 2026 • 3 minutes read

Spy on Any Website

Get traffic data and keyword intel on competitors instantly.

OpenAI is adding product carousels to ChatGPT ads, while an AppsFlyer integration lets advertisers attribute app installs, purchases, and subscriptions to them.

The additions give OpenAI two capabilities needed to compete for performance budgets: shoppable ads built from product catalogs, and conversion measurement. They follow the recent introduction of automated product feeds.

Product feeds become carousels

The new carousel displays multiple products in an ad at the bottom of a ChatGPT conversation. Previously, ChatGPT ads largely featured one product.

The format uses product feeds that OpenAI introduced about three months ago. Retailers provide their catalogs, and OpenAI uses them to create single-product ads or carousels.

Advertisers don’t choose the format. OpenAI decides whether to show one product or a carousel, giving the platform control over how products are presented. Each carousel currently contains products from one retailer.

10X your SEO with Semrush for Enterprise.

The world’s most powerful SEO platform, purpose-built for Enterprise.

Request demo

AppsFlyer adds attribution

OpenAI partnered with AppsFlyer to connect ChatGPT ads with app installs, in-app purchases, and subscriptions, according to Adweek. Roughly 40 brands, including Grubhub, are testing it.

App marketers can now include ChatGPT in existing acquisition reporting and compare its attributed conversions with those from other paid channels.

The integration doesn’t measure incrementality or answer questions about reporting and optimization. But it gives advertisers evidence of whether ChatGPT ads lead to conversions.

OpenAI is building a performance ad system

In months, OpenAI has added product feeds, automated ad presentation, and third-party attribution. Retailers provide product data, OpenAI determines how products appear, and advertisers measure conversions.

That gives ChatGPT the basic infrastructure for performance advertising.

OpenAI is reportedly giving advertisers more guidance on feed-based campaigns ahead of Q4 and the holiday shopping season. That will test whether better merchandising and measurement attract larger budgets.

Advertiser control remains an issue. Because OpenAI chooses whether to show a single product or carousel, marketers need to know what drives that decision, how products perform, and what controls they will receive.

Scale is another unknown. Better formats and attribution make ChatGPT easier to test. They don’t show whether it can deliver enough conversions at competitive costs to earn sustained spending.

OpenAI built much of the machinery needed for performance advertising. Now it must prove it can deliver results at scale.

MarTech is owned by Semrush. We remain committed to providing high-quality coverage of marketing topics. Unless otherwise noted, this page’s content was written by either an employee or a paid contractor of Semrush Inc.

Constantine von Hoffman

Senior Editor, MarTech

Constantine von Hoffman is senior editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.

View Author Profile

Google's "preferred sources" feature allows users to customize their search results by selecting news outlets they want to see more often in the "Top Stories" section.

Add Martech Now