ChatGPT Ads Manager: A Full Walkthrough for New Advertisers

A screen-by-screen tour of the ChatGPT Ads Manager interface — where to find everything, what each setting does, and how to navigate from campaign creation to reading your first report.

Darlington

Last updated May 22, 2026 10 min read

The ChatGPT Ads Manager borrows the best structural ideas from Google and Meta and strips out the complexity. If you've used either platform before, you'll feel at home within an hour. If this is your first time in a self-serve ad manager, this walkthrough covers everything you need.

Dashboard overview

When you first log in to the ChatGPT Ads Manager, you land on the main dashboard. The layout is clean: left-side navigation, central data panel, and a top toolbar for account-level actions.

Left navigation structure

• Campaigns — top-level campaign management and status overview
• Ad Groups — targeting, scheduling, and budget configuration
• Ads — creative library and individual ad performance
• Audiences — custom audiences, retargeting lists, and lookalikes
• Measurement — pixel, events, and Conversions API configuration
• Billing — payment methods and spend history
• Reports — custom report builder and exports

Creating a campaign

Click the blue "Create Campaign" button in the top right to start. You'll work through four setup steps:

Step 1: Choose your objective

The objective you choose tells the algorithm what to optimise for. Options: Conversions, Traffic, Awareness, Lead Generation. For most performance advertisers, start with Conversions.

Step 2: Name your campaign

Use a naming convention that includes the objective, target audience, and date. Example: Conv | SaaS Founders | May25. Consistent naming saves hours when you're managing multiple campaigns.

Step 3: Set campaign-level budget

You can set a daily or lifetime budget at campaign level. For testing, daily budgets give you more control. Set daily budget at 3–5x your target CPA to give the algorithm enough room to find converters.

Step 4: Choose bidding strategy

For Conversions objective, you'll choose between Maximise Conversions (spend full budget, find as many conversions as possible) or Target CPA (try to hit a specific cost per acquisition). Use Maximise Conversions for the first 2–3 weeks while the system learns.

Setting up ad groups

Ad groups sit below campaigns and contain your targeting configuration. One campaign can have multiple ad groups — useful for testing different audience segments against the same creative, or different creative against the same audience.

Targeting options at ad group level

• Topic categories — select the content verticals where your ads should appear
• Audience segments — OpenAI's pre-built segments based on user behaviour patterns
• Custom audiences — website visitors, email lists, and retargeting pools
• Geography — country, region, city, or radius targeting
• Device — desktop, mobile, or both
• Schedule — day of week and hour of day targeting

Uploading creative

Within each ad group, you'll create individual ads. The interface guides you through each format:

For sponsored response ads

You'll write a headline (up to 60 characters), body copy (up to 200 characters), and a destination URL. The system previews how your ad will appear within a conversation thread.

For display ads

Upload your image creative (1200×628px recommended for inline placements), add headline and description text, and set your destination URL. You can upload multiple creative variations per ad and the system will rotation-test them automatically.

Reading the reports

The Reporting section of ChatGPT Ads Manager is clean and fast. Default view shows: Impressions, Clicks, CTR, Conversions, CPA, and Spend. You can customise columns to add ROAS, conversion value, view-through conversions, and more.

Key metrics to monitor in the first month

• Impression share — are you reaching your target audience at the volume you expected?
• CTR by ad format — which format is driving engagement?
• Conversion rate by topic category — which content contexts convert best?
• CPA trend — is the algorithm improving as it learns?

Darlington

Paid Media Agency · $50M+ Annual Ad Spend Managed

Darlington is a revenue-first paid advertising agency founded by Alexander Darling. We manage Google Ads, Meta Ads, ChatGPT Ads, and Vibe CTV campaigns for founders, ecommerce brands, and SaaS companies. Every guide is written from active campaign experience.