Albertsons Cos. Inc., Target Corp., and Williams-Sonoma Inc. announced they are now testing ad placements in ChatGPT through an early pilot with OpenAI, as retailers explore AI as a new retail media channel.
In early tests now underway, the ads appear within the chatbot’s responses. OpenAI said it matches them to user prompts and clearly labels them. The placements are displayed separately from organic responses, the company noted. It added that the sponsored content does not influence the platform’s answers.
“We believe ads play an important role in continuing to support broad access to AI,” said Asad Awan, head of ads and monetization at OpenAI, in a statement. “By working closely with partners like Target in this pilot, we’re able to thoughtfully test new ad experiences and learn together to ensure ads are separate and clearly distinct, relevant, and useful while maintaining the trust people place in ChatGPT.”
ChatGPT’s pilot rolls out with privacy guardrails
The ad pilot – which launched in early February – is currently available to logged-in U.S. adults. They will see the ads on ChatGPT’s free and Go tiers, OpenAI said. Go is the company’s lower-cost paid plan, priced at $8 per month in the U.S. Ads are not being shown to paid users on its Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Education plans.
More broadly, OpenAI said the test includes guardrails around privacy and ad placement. Advertisers do not receive access to user histories or personal data, for example. Instead, brands receive aggregated performance metrics, such as views or clicks.
Ads also will not appear alongside sensitive topics — including health or politics — or for users identified as under 18, the company said.
Since the pilot’s announcement, a handful of advertisers have signed on, including Adobe, Amazon’s Audible and HelloFresh. Agency partners are also getting involved. WPP Media said it’s working with brands such as Ford, Mazda, Mrs. Meyer’s and Audemars Piguet to test placements. Meanwhile, Dentsu and Omnicom said they intend to bring client campaigns into ChatGPT. Albertsons, Target and Williams-Sonoma are the latest to announce their participation.
Target is No. 5 in the Top 2000 Database. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of North America’s online retailers by web sales. Albertsons follows at No. 18, while Williams-Sonoma, Inc. ranks No. 23.
Retailers test early AI advertising use cases
For retailers, the pilot represents an early test of how retail media could work inside conversational AI.
For its part, Target said its “sponsored, contextual and clearly labeled ads” will feature its own product assortment, as well as those from brand partners within its Roundel retail media network.
In a Feb. 9 blog post, the retailer added that traffic from ChatGPT to Target.com has been growing at an average of 40% month over month.
The pilot also builds on Target’s broader push into agentic commerce. Those efforts involve AI-powered experiences designed to act on a shopper’s behalf. More recently, the retailer launched an app experience inside ChatGPT. In addition, it partnered with Google on the Universal Commerce Protocol, an open standard for interactions between agentic AI and ecommerce platforms.
“By extending our brand experience into conversational AI environments, we can better understand how to use these platforms to connect guests to the right products faster, in the moments that matter,” the company said.
What retailers will look for in the ad tests
Meanwhile, Williams-Sonoma said the pilot will allow it to explore how ads will reach customers at key decision-making moments.
The home furnishings retailer — which operates its namesake brand as well as West Elm and Pottery Barn — said the test also extends its broader investments in emerging technologies.
“AI is rapidly enhancing product discovery and becoming an integral part of how consumers make informed purchasing decisions,” said Laura Alber, president and CEO of Williams-Sonoma, in a statement.
“By collaborating with OpenAI in this early test, we have the opportunity to help develop a new advertising approach — one designed to engage consumers thoughtfully, contextually, and in a manner that aligns with how users expect to interact with information on their platform,” Alber said.
Albertsons integrates AI advertising with retail media arm
Albertsons Companies said its ChatGPT ads are expected to include both its own merchandising and — as the program evolves – campaigns run through its retail media arm, Albertsons Media Collective.
At the same time, the grocer is running seasonal ChatGPT ads tied to Valentine’s Day.
Consumers who enter queries such as “best flowers for Valentine’s Day” or “how to celebrate Galentine’s” may see ads from local Albertsons Cos. banners. Those include its namesake store along with Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, ACME and Tom Thumb, the company said.
Shoppers who engage with the ads are then directed to Valentine’s Day landing pages featuring deals, gifts and recipes, such as fresh flowers and chocolates. Some items can be delivered in as little as 30 minutes through the company’s Flash service, Albertsons said.
“By joining the OpenAI Ad Pilot Program, we have a unique opportunity to explore and help shape cutting-edge ways to connect consumers with the right Albertsons Companies products at the right time by thoughtfully integrating into the digital experiences they already love,” said Jennifer Saenz, chief commercial officer at Albertsons Cos., in a statement.
The pilot also builds on Albertsons’ wider investments in AI-enabled commerce. The grocer said its proprietary tools — including the Albertsons AI shopping assistant and an “Ask AI” search tool — are seeing strong engagement, with basket growth in the double digits.
Generative AI’s role as a commerce channel
Taken together, the pilot suggests commerce activity may increasingly originate inside AI platforms, analysts say.
“We’re witnessing the shift from AI-assisted shopping to AI-native commerce, where major retailers are embedding full transactional experiences directly within AI platforms rather than using AI to drive traffic to traditional ecommerce sites,” said Sandy Carter, chief business development officer at Unstoppable Domains and a former AWS and IBM executive.
In a LinkedIn post about the pilot, Carter described the transition as a potential “unbundling” of traditional ecommerce.
“Instead of browsing websites, consumers may increasingly shop through conversational AI that can access multiple retailers seamlessly,” she wrote. “I think that these movements will disintermediate traditional ecommerce platforms and websites, similar to how social media changed content discovery.”
As a result, retailers that move early to develop AI-native commerce experiences may capture higher market share, Carter said, while those that stay reliant on traditional websites could risk becoming invisible.
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