OpenAI has denied the reports that it has rolled out ads on ChatGPT Plus after users spotted recommendations for shopping apps.

As potted on X, a ChatGPT Plus user casually asked a normal question about Windows BitLocker. While the AI answered the question, it also recommended shopping at Target for groceries.

Now, groceries or home food are clearly not related to BitLocker, but the "Shop for home and groceries" bubble still appears, and it's quite fair to assume that it's an ad.

However, an OpenAI executive argues that this is not “not an ad” but an app recommendation from a pilot partner, and that the company wants app suggestions to appear more “organic” inside ChatGPT.

"We've launched apps from some of our pilot partners since DevDay, including Target, and have been working to make the discovery mechanism for apps more organic inside ChatGPT," Daniel McAuley wrote in a post on X.

"Our goal is that apps augment the ux when relevant to a conversation, and we're still working on it. Anyone can build apps using the apps SDK, and we plan to open submissions and the app directory soon," he explained.

For most people, it still looks and feels like an ad. You see a brand logo, a short shopping message, and a call-to-action, inside a paid product, even though you never asked about shopping or Target.

ChatGPT is automatically pushing a commercial suggestion into an answer, just like how recommendation appear in the Windows 11 Start menu, and still defending it.