OpenAI is testing a new ChatGPT advertising format that moves beyond the traditional click. Sponsored Agents let users who encounter a relevant ad choose to start a separate conversation with an AI agent sponsored by the advertiser.
The feature was officially announced by OpenAI on September 16, 2026 and is currently being tested with select advertisers in the United States.
From an ad click to a branded AI conversation
Instead of sending every interested user immediately to a conventional landing page, Sponsored Agents create an intermediate conversational layer inside ChatGPT. Users can ask follow-up questions, explain what matters to them, explore options and learn more about a company's products or services.
When they are ready to take the next step, the Sponsored Agent can direct them to the business's website.
The sponsored conversation is separate from ChatGPT
OpenAI makes an important distinction: the Sponsored Agent conversation is clearly labeled, distinct from ChatGPT's independent answers and separate from the original conversation the user was having in ChatGPT.
That separation matters because the new format effectively creates a branded conversational environment without turning the advertiser's agent into part of ChatGPT's organic answer.
A new advertising funnel inside AI
The conventional digital advertising funnel often moves from impression to click to landing page. Sponsored Agents introduce another possible sequence: impression, ad interaction, branded conversation and then external conversion.
For advertisers, that means questions normally answered by product pages, sales representatives or comparison content can potentially be handled conversationally before the user leaves ChatGPT.
Sponsored Agents remain a limited test
The format is not generally available to advertisers. OpenAI says Sponsored Agents are being tested with selected U.S. advertisers, while its Help Center describes the program as a limited alpha and says early-access requests are not currently being accepted.
Why this matters for AI visibility
Sponsored Agents add a commercial discovery surface alongside organic ChatGPT answers, citations and conventional ads. A brand can potentially move from being displayed as an advertisement to becoming the interface through which a user evaluates the product itself.
This creates a new measurement layer for AI marketing: visibility may increasingly include not only impressions and clicks, but also conversations initiated, questions answered and users moved from an AI interaction to the advertiser's site.
The NetContentSEO view
Sponsored Agents show how conversational AI can change the unit of advertising. The valuable action is no longer necessarily the click itself. It can be the start of a branded dialogue.
If the format expands, AI advertising will increasingly compete not only for placement but for the conversation that follows it — creating a parallel commercial layer beside organic AI discovery and citation visibility.