ChatGPT Ads for Agents
XOXO, The Jenns
A workbook you build with, not just read.
Keep this open beside you — in class, and after. Wherever you see a Do This Now box, stop and do the one small task, then check it off. Wherever you see a worksheet, write right in it. The little screen pictures show you roughly where to click — your actual screen may look a little different, and these tools change over time, so trust what's in front of you. Work in order. By the last page, you won't just understand ChatGPT ads — you'll have one ready to launch.
By the end of this workbook, you'll have:
- An approved ChatGPT ads account at ads.openai.com
- One ad group built from a template, with your city swapped in
- A square image, sized right and saved on your device
- That image uploaded to your ad
- One ad ready to launch — or ready to bring to the Friday Lab
Get your account started
This is the only thing that's time-sensitive — approval takes a few days, so start it before class. It's a separate website from the ChatGPT app.
- Open a browser and go to ads.openai.com (not the ChatGPT app).
- Log in with the same ChatGPT account you already use.
- Click Apply for access. That's it for now — we do the rest together.
You'll see a $100 hold — don't worry, it comes back.
When you add a payment method, ChatGPT places a temporary $100 hold on your card to verify your billing. They won't take it off right away — it sits on your account until your billing is verified, then it's returned to you in full. It's a hold, not a charge you lose.
Start your account. Go to ads.openai.com, log in, and hit Apply. Then come back here.
The three pieces, in plain English
Every ad system uses the same three nested pieces. Once you see how they fit, the portal stops feeling scary.
Campaign is the big bucket — you'll use just one, named ChatGPT Ads for Agents, for everything. Ad group is one audience (one template = one ad group, like "Find an Agent"). Ad is what people actually see: your image, a title, a description, and a link.
Name your campaign. When you're in the portal, create one campaign called “ChatGPT Ads for Agents.” You’ll reuse it for every template.
Build the words (from a template)
You don't write from scratch. Open Your 25 ChatGPT Ad Templates, pick 1–2 that fit your business, and copy them straight in — the context hint, a title, and a description are all there, pre-checked for length.
Your bid is simply the most you're willing to pay when one person clicks your ad — a ceiling, not a flat fee. You only pay when someone actually clicks, and never more than your bid. Set it to $3.00–$3.50 (that's the range where the portal shows a "Strong Delivery" signal), and start there. You can always change it later.
Set up your first ad group
Paste your words in. Copy your chosen context hint, title, and description from the templates tool. Then set your bid to $3.00–$3.50 (see the note above on what "bid" means).
Your image
This is the part most agents freeze on — so we're going slow. The image is the little square that shows next to your ad inside a ChatGPT conversation. Get it right and your ad looks like a real, local human. Get it wrong and it looks like spam.
The one rule: make it square
ChatGPT ads use a square image, at least 256 × 256 pixels. Bigger is fine and looks crisper — aim for 1080 × 1080. A wide or tall photo gets awkwardly cropped or rejected.
What to use (and what to skip)
You're not making art. You're making something that looks trustworthy and local at thumbnail size.
Where to get your image — pick one
- Your phone. A clear, friendly headshot, or a nice photo of one of your listings. Easiest, and usually the best.
- A listing photo you already own. A clean exterior of a local home reads instantly as "real estate near me."
- Canva. Open Canva → Custom size → 1080 × 1080 → drop in your photo → Share → Download. A square in two minutes.
How to make it square (if it isn't already)
- Open the photo in Canva (1080 × 1080), your phone's photo editor, or any crop tool.
- Drag a square crop over the part you want to keep — your face, or the front of the home.
- Export / download the square. Save it somewhere you'll find it in class.
My image plan
Where to upload it in the portal
Back in your ad, find the Image field and click Upload image. Choose your square. That's the whole job.
Get your square ready. Pick your image, crop it to a square, and save it. If you get stuck, bring the photo to the Friday Lab and we’ll crop it together.
Launch — or bring it to the Lab
One last look before it goes live. Run this quick pre-flight:
- Just one campaign: “ChatGPT Ads for Agents”
- Context hint pasted, with my city in the [brackets]
- A title under 50 and a description under 100
- Bid set to $3.00–$3.50
- Link points to the page that matches the ad (not a generic homepage)
- Square image, at least 256×256, uploaded
Friday, June 19 · 9:00 AM CT — Live Lab
Join at www.hivehangout.com. Bring the ad you built — image and all — and we'll look at it together: what's working, what to tweak, and any questions you've got.
Launch one ad, or save it for Friday. If you’re ready, set it live. If you’d rather get eyes on it first, save it and bring it to the Lab. Either way — you built one. That’s the win.
That's it. You started an account, built an ad, and got the image right — which is more than almost every agent out there has done. You're not behind. You're early.
