Why connect OpenAI Ads Manager?
ChatFeatured already shows you which competitors are advertising in ChatGPT for your prompts. Connecting your own OpenAI Ads account closes the loop—you can act on that intelligence and run your own campaigns in the same place you track them. With the connection in place you can:- Create and manage campaigns, ad groups, and ads
- Pull performance insights (impressions, clicks, conversions, spend, CTR, CPC, CPM)
- Generate ad copy and images with AI in the Creative Studio and push them to a new ad
Each API key is scoped to a single OpenAI Ad Account and is stored per brand. The connection is managed by workspace owners only.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, you’ll need:- An OpenAI Ads account
- An Advertiser API key for the ad account you want to manage
- Owner access to the ChatFeatured workspace for the brand you’re connecting
Setup Instructions
Step 1: Create or sign in to your OpenAI Ads account
If you don’t already advertise on ChatGPT, create an account at ads.openai.com and complete the ad account setup. If you already have an account, simply sign in.Step 2: Get your Advertiser API key
Generate an Advertiser API key from your OpenAI Ads account. For the current location and steps, see OpenAI’s Advertiser API authentication guide. Copy the key—you’ll paste it into ChatFeatured in the next step.Step 3: Connect in ChatFeatured
- In ChatFeatured, open ChatGPT Ads for your brand
- Go to the Settings tab
- Paste your key into the Advertiser API key field
- Click Test key to verify it works (ChatFeatured will resolve and display the ad account name)
- Click Connect to save the connection
Step 4: Verify the connection
Once connected, the Settings tab shows:- The connected ad account name and ID
- A masked version of your API key
- The last validated timestamp
What you can do once connected
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Campaigns | Create and manage campaigns (objective, budget, locations, schedule), ad groups (max CPM bid, context hints), and ads (title, description, landing URL, image). |
| Insights | Query impressions, clicks, conversions, spend, CTR, CPC, and CPM—scoped to the account, a campaign, an ad group, or an ad, broken down by day. |
| Creative Studio | Generate ad copy variants and images with AI, then push a selected variant to a new ad in your account. |
Managing the connection
Recent API calls
The Settings tab includes a Recent API calls log showing the last 7 days of requests ChatFeatured made to the OpenAI Advertiser API. It auto-refreshes every 10 seconds and can be filtered to errors only—useful for diagnosing a failed campaign action or insight query. Expand any entry to see the status code, duration, retries, and request ID.Disconnecting
Click Disconnect in the Settings tab to remove the connection. ChatFeatured deletes the stored API key—we don’t retain a copy. Reconnect anytime by pasting a key again.Security Best Practices
- One key per ad account — each Advertiser API key is scoped to a single OpenAI Ad Account
- Owner-managed — only workspace owners can view or change the connection
- No copy retained — disconnecting deletes the stored key
- Rotate periodically — regenerate the key in OpenAI Ads and reconnect if you suspect it’s been exposed
- Transport to the OpenAI Advertiser API is over HTTPS
Troubleshooting
'API key is required' or key rejected on Test
'API key is required' or key rejected on Test
Cause: The key is empty, truncated, or invalid.Solution:
- Copy the entire key with no leading/trailing spaces
- Generate a fresh key in your OpenAI Ads account and try again
- Confirm the key belongs to an active ad account
401 Unauthorized on campaign or insight actions
401 Unauthorized on campaign or insight actions
Test succeeds but no ad account name appears
Test succeeds but no ad account name appears
Cause: A brand-new ad account may not expose account details until it’s fully provisioned.Solution:
- The key still works—you can connect and start creating campaigns
- The account name will populate on the next successful validation
I don't see Campaigns, Insights, or Creative Studio
I don't see Campaigns, Insights, or Creative Studio
Cause: These tabs are owner-only and require an active connection.Solution:
- Confirm you have the owner role in the workspace
- Make sure the connection shows Connected in Settings
- Ask a workspace owner to connect the account if you’re not an owner
See Also
- ChatGPT Ads — Competitor intelligence and campaign management
- Prompts — Power competitor ad tracking with tracked prompts
- Visibility Analytics — Track your brand’s presence in AI answers