Since August 31, a business based in Spain can set up its own campaigns in Ads Manager, according to OpenAI’s update on its European expansion. On September 16, the company also announced a limited test of Sponsored Agents: after clicking an ad, a person can open a conversation with an agent sponsored by the business. That format isn’t available through self-serve to every advertiser.
It is tempting to treat this as one more paid channel and simply carry over the keywords from other campaigns. But ’s documentation describes a system that reads far more than the bid: the conversation, the landing page and the ad copy itself. Our argument is simple: on , what makes an ad work happens before and after the click. This article sums up what is confirmed today and what to prepare before you spend your first euro.
What is available in Spain today
In August, announced that Ads would reach 31 European markets, Spain among them, initially through its sales team, agencies and technology partners. The August 31 update confirms self-service access across those markets. The Ads Manager availability table adds a practical condition: the legal entity that advertises and is billed must be based in a listed country. Spain is listed as available.
The audience has limits too. According to OpenAI’s help center, ads may appear to users on the Free and Go plans; Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts do not see them. Ads are not shown to accounts identified as belonging to under-18s, in Temporary Chats, or next to conversations about personal health, mental health or politics. Political advertising is not allowed.
One detail matters directly to anyone advertising in Spain: personalized ads are not initially available in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. According to the same page, without personalization ads are based on the context of the current chat, plus basic signals such as general location or language. What someone is asking right now therefore counts for more than their history.
Sponsored Agents, by contrast, aren’t available through self-serve to every advertiser. According to OpenAI’s help article on the format, they are available only to selected advertisers in a limited alpha test, and the company is not currently accepting early access requests. Seeing a Sponsored Agent in does not mean the format is available for your campaigns.
How ChatGPT chooses which ad to show
The help center lists the signals the system uses: the context and intent of the conversation, the ad’s landing page, its title and copy, context hints supplied by the advertiser, and the targeting selected. When several ads are eligible, the order combines relevance and bid. The ad appears below the response, labeled as sponsored and visually separated from it.
The consequence is that the landing page is no longer just where the click lands: it is one of the inputs the system weighs when deciding whether your ad fits. A generic page that does not explain who the product is for, what it costs or on what terms it is delivered offers little to that system, and even less to someone arriving from a specific question.
It also sets a boundary. Among its advertising principles, states that ads do not influence ’s answers, and its help center adds that ads run on systems separate from the model. Paying does not put you inside the answer. Getting to mention your business when someone asks about your sector is still organic visibility work, separate from the campaign.
Fix the page before the ad
The new tools point the same way. According to the September 16 announcement, Ads Manager suggests copy and imagery based on the landing page and campaign objective, and advertisers can review and edit the suggestions before using them. Campaigns can also be created, updated and analyzed with natural-language prompts inside through the Ads Manager plugin.
The most sensitive option is AI-powered text customization, which is opt-in. It adapts existing headlines and descriptions to the context of each conversation and automatically translates them into the user’s preferred language. If you turn it on, your base copy will be reused in conversations you did not anticipate. It should only contain claims that remain true in any of them.
Before launching your first campaign, check these points:
- One page per intent. Someone comparing options needs differences and prices; someone who has already decided needs a short path to buying or getting in touch.
- Explicit terms. Delivery or service area, lead times, price with or without tax, and exactly what is included.
- Ad and page that match. If the headline promises something the page does not explain, the visit is wasted.
- Visible limits. What you do not offer should be as clear as what you do, both on the page and in the base copy.
Measure before you scale
Ads were first sold on a cost-per-thousand-impressions basis. In May, added cost-per-click bidding, where advertisers are charged only when a click occurs. In August, when it announced the European expansion, the company said it now supports conversion optimization, geo-targeting, custom audiences and measurement through the Pixel, the Conversions API and third-party integrations.
What advertisers receive is aggregated data: says it does not share conversations with advertisers. Useful measurement therefore has to happen on your side. Define what counts as a result (a sale, a qualified lead, a booking), install the pixel or the Conversions API with whatever consent your site requires, and compare the cost per result with your other channels. Start with a small budget and a fixed period. If you cannot attribute results, you do not yet have a figure that justifies scaling.
If you already use HubSpot or Shopify, has announced integrations with both. From HubSpot, businesses can connect a Ads account, create ads, track performance and follow up on leads. The Shopify app started with US merchants and, according to , reaches the markets where Ads are available from September 23.
The approach we suggest for working out the real cost of finishing a task with an AI agent applies here as well: add up the spend on every attempt and divide it by the results you would actually accept.
Sponsored Agents: what to prepare before they arrive
This format changes what an ad is. According to , after seeing a relevant ad a person can start a clearly labeled conversation with a business-sponsored agent, explain what they need, ask follow-up questions and follow a link to the website when ready. That conversation is distinct from ’s independent answers and separate from the original chat. The help center adds that if someone messages an advertiser through an ad, the advertiser only sees the messages that person sends them directly.
There is currently no way to request it: says it will announce how to participate when it expands access. Nor has it publicly detailed how a Sponsored Agent is configured or what information it draws on. What can be anticipated is the need: an agent answering on behalf of your business needs a source of truth. That means an up-to-date catalog, terms and policies written without ambiguity, real FAQs and a list of things the agent must not promise. That work pays off for your website, your chatbot or your sales team too, whether or not you get access to the format.
Practical summary
- Check eligibility. Your entity must be in a self-service country, and your audience must use plans that show ads.
- Treat the landing page as part of the ad. Clear terms and one intent per page.
- Decide deliberately whether to enable AI text customization.
- Measure your own conversions before raising the budget.
- Organize the information an agent would need to speak for you.
At LetBrand we approach visibility and web development from the same starting point: pages that explain clearly what you sell, and data that lets you measure it. If you want to review your site before trying Ads, tell us what you want to achieve.