As conversational AI continues to shape how consumers discover ideas, compare options and make purchases, Target is using technology to meet guests in new ways during those shopping moments. The goal: Make the experience even more personalized and helpful by connecting them with relevant products and ads that feel useful, contextual and aligned with what they’re actively looking for.
Starting this month, Target will be among the first companies to work with OpenAI to test contextual advertising in ChatGPT. Sponsored, contextual and clearly labeled ads from Target and from our Roundel retail media business partners will appear alongside users’ shopping conversations in ChatGPT, helping them discover products, deals and inspiration that meet what they’re seeking at that moment.
Ads are served based on keywords in a guest’s ChatGPT prompt, ensuring they’re relevant to the conversation. For example, a guest asking, “What are some countertop cooking appliances that make everyday meals more convenient?” may see an ad for an air fryer from a pilot participant embedded in the personalized response. This ad would appear separately and distinctly, and not influence the answer provided by ChatGPT.
As an early pilot program partner, Roundel is unlocking the opportunity for brand partners to show up in relevant moments beyond traditional media placements — and benefit from the learnings around user behavior.
"We believe ads play an important role in continuing to support broad access to AI,” said Asad Awan, Ads and Monetization lead at OpenAI. “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.”
With traffic from ChatGPT to Target growing 40% on average each month, the pilot reflects our broader strategy of meeting consumers wherever they are in their discovery journey. It also marks the latest chapter in Target’s advancements in agentic commerce, which includes the recent launch of the Target app in ChatGPT and partnering with Google to co-develop the Universal Commerce Protocol. 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.