OpenAI’s advertising business is moving beyond placing sponsored messages around ChatGPT answers and into branded conversations that can carry a user closer to a transaction, with Angi identifying itself Wednesday as one of the advertisers testing the new format.
The AI giant formally introduced Sponsored Agents on September 16, describing them as business-sponsored AI agents that users can choose to engage with after clicking an advertisement in ChatGPT. The agent can answer follow-up questions before directing the user to the advertiser’s website or another next step.
OpenAI said the sponsored exchange is clearly labeled, distinct from ChatGPT’s independent answer, and separate from the conversation the user originally started. The format is currently being tested with select advertisers in the US.
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For Angi, the test puts a lead-generation funnel directly behind a conversational ad. The home-services marketplace said an Angi-sponsored agent may appear around relevant home-services discussions. A homeowner can provide additional information about a repair or improvement project through the sponsored experience and, when professional help is needed, move into Angi’s service-request process to connect with local contractors.
“With OpenAI’s Sponsored Agent pilot, homeowners can go directly from discussing a home project in ChatGPT to connecting with a skilled local pro who can help,” Angi co-founder Angie Hicks said.
OpenAI’s Ad Tools Terms already defined a Sponsored Agent as an advertiser-sponsored conversational experience representing a company, product, or service. The terms also put responsibility for an agent’s content, configuration, actions, and output on the advertiser and treat claims involving the agent as advertising-related claims.
The experiment comes as Angi continues an AI-focused overhaul while its core business remains under pressure. Second-quarter revenue fell 11% year over year to $248.0 million, total service requests declined 6%, and leads dropped 13%. Adjusted EBITDA fell 14% to $28.2 million, attributing the decline primarily to macroeconomic conditions and lower spending by home-service professionals.
Angi already launched an optional ChatGPT app in March that allows users to move from home-improvement questions into contractor matching. It also became a connected app in Google’s Gemini in August.
Unlike the existing ChatGPT app, which users deliberately add, the Sponsored Agent gives Angi a paid route into relevant user journeys through ChatGPT’s advertising system.
