Platform information: ChatGPT Ads are developing and platform requirements can change. This article was last reviewed on 11 September 2026. Shays Media rechecks material platform information before relying on it for client decisions.
Who does this, and who doesn't
Before the steps: this is a guide for the business creating its own advertiser account. If you're planning to work with an agency, including us, it's worth knowing upfront that agencies can't currently create an advertiser account on a client's behalf — OpenAI's setup process is built around the business itself completing this stage. An agency is invited onto the account afterwards, once it exists. We cover why in Who Can Advertise on ChatGPT in the UK?.
That means this guide is genuinely useful whether you plan to self-manage or later grant Shays Media access for Setup Only or ongoing management.
The current setup flow, at a high level
OpenAI's current process runs through five broad stages: accessing Ads Manager Beta and creating an account; providing business and account details, going through Persona verification, and account review; completing account information; setting up billing and a payment method; and inviting team members. Campaigns won't be able to deliver until the required setup and review is complete, so it's worth treating this as a sequence to get right rather than something to rush through.
1. Access Ads Manager and start account creation
This is the entry point — accessing Ads Manager and beginning the account-creation flow as an eligible business advertiser.
2. Business and account details, Persona verification, and account review
Current setup documentation lists business name, website, logo, industry, country, currency and time zone among the details requested at this stage, followed by Persona verification and OpenAI account review. The exact order and labels should be checked against the live setup flow when you create the account.
This is also where country, currency and time zone selections matter more than they might appear to: get the country wrong and you may run into the "legal entity must be based in an available country" requirement covered in Who Can Advertise on ChatGPT in the UK?; get currency or time zone wrong and budgeting and reporting can end up confusing later, even if it doesn't block setup outright. We come back to why these specific fields deserve extra care below.
Having accurate, consistent details between your application and your actual website reduces friction at both the verification and review stages.
3. Complete account information
Beyond the initial verification details, account information includes how your business will be displayed to users — account name and logo as they'll actually appear alongside your ads — so it's worth treating this as a small brand decision, not just a form field. A logo that's low resolution or a business name that doesn't match what your landing page says can create a credibility gap for anyone who sees the ad.
4. Billing and payment
ChatGPT Ads currently uses postpay billing, which means a billing profile and payment method need to be set up before campaigns can actually deliver. OpenAI's current guidance mentions that a temporary card-authorisation hold may appear when a card is first added — we're deliberately not quoting a specific hold amount here, because OpenAI's documentation on this detail has changed before and should be rechecked immediately before this article is relied on for exact figures.
5. Invite team members
Once the account exists, you can invite other users onto it — including an agency, if you're working with one. This is the point at which Shays Media, or anyone else managing the account on your behalf, actually gets access. The account, and the billing behind it, remains yours throughout.
A few things worth doing deliberately
Don't submit duplicate applications to try to speed up or bypass review. A second application does not provide a reliable way around review. If an application is delayed, use the current account/support process rather than creating another account solely in an attempt to bypass the existing review.
Keep your business details consistent across the application and your website. Verification is looking for a coherent, genuine business; a mismatch between what you've entered and what's publicly visible is the kind of thing that slows the process down.
Get country/region, billing currency and time zone right the first time. Current OpenAI documentation states plainly that these cannot be changed after advertiser-account creation, and that incorrect settings may require creating a new advertiser account altogether. That's a firmer statement than "worth getting right" — it's a one-shot decision at setup, so it's worth double-checking before you submit rather than after.
Don't assume UI labels in this article match exactly what you'll see. Ads Manager is a beta product that OpenAI has said continues to evolve — screen names, field order and terminology can shift. Use this article for the sequence and the reasoning, and check the live interface for the exact wording on the day.
A quick checklist before you start
Having these ready before you open the account-creation flow tends to make the process smoother:
- business name;
- website;
- logo;
- industry;
- correct country/region (double-checked, since it can't be changed afterwards);
- currency;
- time zone;
- billing details;
- access to the email address or account owner who'll be handling Persona verification.
This isn't a screenshot-by-screenshot walkthrough — the live interface should be checked on the day, since a beta product's screens and field order can shift without much notice.
Once the account exists
From here, the practical work shifts to campaign structure, context hints, ad creative and the congruence between your offer and your landing page — covered in ChatGPT Ads Context Hints: What They Are and How They Work and What Makes a Good Landing Page for ChatGPT Ads?. If setup and everything after it feels like more than you want to take on directly, that's what our Setup Only service is built around — we can't create the account for you, but once you have, we handle the suitability check, campaign build, launch gate and handover.
Check Your Fit first, if you haven't already — setting up an account is worth doing once you're confident there's a credible case for testing, not before. Prefer to talk it through first? Contact us via the Contact page.
A few questions people ask at this stage
Can you create my advertiser account for me? No — OpenAI's current process requires the business itself to create the account. You create and own it; we're invited on afterwards as an authorised user.
What happens to my account if I stop working with Shays Media? The account is yours throughout — it was created by you, owned by you, and billed to you directly by OpenAI. If a working relationship ends, the account and everything in it stays with your business; removing an agency's access is a matter of removing that team-member invitation.
Who pays the advertising spend? You do, directly to OpenAI, through the billing profile and payment method set up as part of account creation. Shays Media's fees are entirely separate.