A year ago, if you sold online you had three places for ads: Google, Meta and the marketplace you sell on. Today there’s a fourth one your customers already use to decide what to buy: ChatGPT. And since 2026 you can pay to show up there too.
I’m Alonso Jiménez, a Retail Media account director. I manage campaigns on Amazon, Walmart, Target, Instacart and Mercado Libre every day, for brands in the US, Mexico and Latin America. This guide covers what an ecommerce brand or marketplace seller can actually do with ChatGPT Ads, how catalog campaigns work, and why I see ChatGPT as the newest piece of commerce media, not a replacement for Amazon.
⚡ THE ESSENTIALS IN 20 SECONDS
- ChatGPT Ads now has catalog campaigns: upload your product feed and the system builds ads with name, image and price, including carousels.
- OpenAI stepped back from in-chat checkout: ChatGPT discovers, your store closes. Walmart saw in-chat conversion three times lower than click-outs.
- It’s a consideration channel. On marketplaces, Amazon and Mercado Libre still close the sale.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Why ChatGPT is now part of commerce media
ChatGPT Ads for ecommerce: using ChatGPT ads, especially product feed campaigns, to show your catalog to people who are comparing or researching a purchase inside a conversation.
Commerce media is advertising sold by companies close to the moment of purchase: retailers, delivery apps, banks, travel platforms. ChatGPT fits because millions of people ask it “what should I buy?” before they go to a store. OpenAI knows it: in March 2026 it redesigned ChatGPT shopping around visual results and product comparisons.
The key difference with a retail media network: Amazon knows what you bought; ChatGPT knows what you’re thinking of buying. One has closed-loop sales data; the other has intent in natural language. That’s why they complement each other.
Catalog campaigns: how product feed ads work
On May 12, 2026 OpenAI launched product feed campaigns. If you’ve run Google Shopping, this will feel familiar:
- Upload your catalog as a file (CSV, TSV or TXT). It’s similar to Google Merchant Center, but not one-to-one.
- Send a sample of around 100 products first; that unlocks the full catalog, up to one million SKUs.
- Set filters for which products are eligible.
- The system generates ads using each product’s name, image, price and attributes.
- Since August 2026 it can show them as a carousel of several products from your brand. OpenAI decides whether to show one product or a carousel.
August also brought conversion-optimized bidding (oCPC) in beta for these campaigns: you optimize for sales and still pay per click. That’s a clear signal OpenAI wants to be a performance channel for retail.
Your feed is your ad. Clear titles, clean images, current price and availability. If your Google feed or Amazon listings are weak, ChatGPT will perform just as weakly.
What happened to in-chat checkout (and why you should care)
In September 2025 OpenAI launched Instant Checkout to buy without leaving ChatGPT, with Etsy and Shopify, and Walmart joined in October. By March 2026 the model changed: OpenAI focused on discovery and let merchants use their own checkout. Walmart explained why: conversion for purchases made inside ChatGPT was three times lower than when users clicked through to its site. Walmart now runs its own app inside ChatGPT.
The lesson for your brand: ChatGPT finds the shopper, your store or marketplace closes the sale. Your landing page, price and reviews still decide the purchase, just like in shoppable media.
Audiences and remarketing: what works and what doesn’t yet
Ads Manager lets you upload your own lists (emails or phone numbers) to include, exclude or adjust bids, similar to Meta custom audiences. The catch: a list needs at least 25,000 matched users to be usable.
- Large customer base: exclude recent buyers so you don’t pay for people who already bought.
- Small base: you’re not there yet; focus on context and catalog.
- Make sure you have consent for any list you upload.
ChatGPT Ads vs Amazon Ads: my rating for a seller
This is my agency opinion, not an official benchmark, for a brand that sells on marketplaces:
| Criteria | Amazon Ads | ChatGPT Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase intent | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| New brand discovery | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Sales measurement | ★★★★★ closed loop | ★★★★★ pixel and API |
| Tools and automation | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Competition (today) | High | Low |
| Availability in Mexico | Yes | Yes, since August 2026 |
So it isn’t either-or. Amazon and Mercado Libre are still where sales close, and their closed-loop measurement has no rival. ChatGPT is where you reach the “what should I buy” conversation before your competitors do. For US brands entering Mexico or Latin brands entering the US, it’s also a cheap way to test messaging by country.
A 30-day plan to test ChatGPT Ads as an ecommerce brand
| Week | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Clean your feed, install the pixel and Conversions API, set purchase as your conversion. |
| 2 | Submit the 100-product sample and launch a catalog campaign with your top 20 sellers. |
| 3 | Add a manual campaign by intent (“compare”, “gift”, “solve a problem”). |
| 4 | Compare CPA against Google Shopping and Meta. Scale, adjust or pause. |
Agency secrets for ecommerce on ChatGPT Ads
What I apply with consumer brands already investing in marketplaces.
Don’t upload the whole catalog. Your 20 best converters with the best reviews make the expensive click worth it.
In a carousel, shoppers compare prices in seconds. If you’re the priciest, make the reason obvious.
Send traffic to Amazon and the pixel goes blind. Use Amazon Attribution or your own store to measure.
Rewrite titles to answer a question: “for oily skin”, “for 3-year-olds”. That’s how they fit the conversation.
With a big list, excluding recent customers is the fastest way to lower CPA.
The brands that win a new channel arrive with their catalog ready. The boring feed work beats any bidding trick.
Conclusion: ChatGPT finds, your marketplace sells
ChatGPT Ads now has what ecommerce needs for a serious test: catalog, carousels, pixel and conversion bidding. It doesn’t replace Amazon or Mercado Libre, but it gets you into the conversation before the shopper hits the marketplace search bar. Start with the ChatGPT Ads Manager tutorial and size your budget with the ChatGPT Ads cost calculator.
If you want a full commerce media strategy across Amazon, Walmart, Mercado Libre and ChatGPT, see my services. More on Retail Media con Alonso (in Spanish).
Frequently asked questions
Can I advertise my products on ChatGPT with my catalog?
Yes. With product feed campaigns you upload your catalog and the system builds ads with name, image and price. You first submit a sample of around 100 products.
Can people buy directly inside ChatGPT?
OpenAI stepped back from in-chat checkout in March 2026. ChatGPT now helps people discover and compare, and the purchase happens on the merchant’s site or its app inside ChatGPT.
Do ChatGPT Ads work for Amazon or Mercado Libre sellers?
They work for discovery. If you send traffic to a marketplace, measure with tools like Amazon Attribution, because the ChatGPT pixel can’t see that sale.
Is ChatGPT Ads retail media?
It’s commerce media: advertising close to the purchase moment, but without a retailer’s own sales data. It complements retail media networks.
Can I do remarketing on ChatGPT?
You can upload your own lists to include or exclude, as long as they reach at least 25,000 matched users.
OpenAI: product discovery · Common Thread: oCPC and feeds · Martech: carousels · Retail Insight: end of Instant Checkout · Shopifreaks: audiences