Razorpay Brings Indian Brands Into ChatGPT’s Advertising Ecosystem as Shoppers Turn to AI for Purchase Recommendations
Published: October 7, 2026
Razorpay is helping Indian businesses explore a new digital advertising channel as consumers increasingly use artificial intelligence to research products and make purchase decisions.
Through Razorpay Engage, the fintech company has partnered with OpenAI to help Indian brands prepare for and manage ChatGPT advertising campaigns. The initiative is designed to support businesses with product catalogue preparation, campaign setup, optimisation and performance measurement as conversational AI becomes a growing part of online customer discovery.
The programme was announced on October 5, 2026, with several well-known Indian brands among the early participants.
Razorpay Partners With OpenAI for ChatGPT Advertising
The collaboration between Razorpay and OpenAI is intended to make it easier for Indian businesses to participate in ChatGPT’s developing advertising ecosystem.
Razorpay will provide this support through Razorpay Engage, its growth marketing platform.
Rather than requiring brands to independently build the expertise needed for a relatively new advertising channel, Razorpay Engage aims to manage much of the process for them.
Its support includes:
- AI discovery readiness assessment
- Product catalogue and feed preparation
- Advertising campaign setup
- Campaign optimisation
- Performance measurement
- Expansion of successful campaigns
Razorpay is also offering businesses a free website audit as an initial step toward evaluating their readiness for AI-based product discovery.
Tanishq, Titan, Tata Neu and Other Indian Brands Join the Programme
Several major Indian brands have been identified among the first businesses participating in the programme.
They include Tanishq, Titan, Palmonas, Traya, Innovist, Tata Neu and Axis Max Life.
The participating companies span multiple industries, including jewellery, consumer products, wellness and financial services.
Their participation suggests that conversational advertising is being tested across sectors rather than being limited to traditional e-commerce businesses.
For marketers, the development represents another potential customer-acquisition channel alongside search advertising, social media, marketplaces and brand websites.
Why Are Brands Interested in Advertising on ChatGPT?
Consumer search behaviour is changing.
Instead of always typing a few keywords into a search engine, shoppers can now describe their requirements directly to AI assistants.
For example, a user could ask:
“What is a good birthday gift under ₹5,000 for someone who prefers minimal jewellery?”
The conversation could then become increasingly specific.
The shopper might add preferences related to:
- Price
- Material
- Size
- Style
- Intended use
- Delivery requirements
- Product features
This conversational process can reveal considerably more context about a customer’s needs than a traditional search query.
For advertisers, the potential opportunity is to become visible while shoppers are actively evaluating their options.
Conversational AI Could Become a New Product Discovery Channel
Traditional online product discovery often starts with search engines, e-commerce marketplaces or social media.
Conversational AI introduces another possibility.
Instead of browsing dozens of listings, consumers may increasingly ask AI assistants to help them narrow down options.
Consider someone searching for a laptop bag.
A traditional search might be:
“Laptop bag under ₹3,000.”
A conversational request might instead say:
“I need a lightweight office bag under ₹3,000 that fits a 14-inch laptop, has space for a charger and looks professional.”
That additional context can help narrow down what the shopper is actually looking for.
For businesses, this creates an important requirement: product information must be detailed, accurate and easy to understand.
Product Catalogue Quality Could Become More Important
The growth of AI-assisted shopping may increase the importance of structured product information.
A product listing that simply says “premium laptop bag” may not answer the questions a customer actually has.
Useful product information could include:
- Exact dimensions
- Compatible product sizes
- Materials
- Available colours
- Price
- Stock availability
- Delivery information
- Product specifications
- Usage information
Suppose a shopper needs a bag specifically for a 14-inch laptop.
If the product catalogue does not clearly state compatibility or internal dimensions, the customer may have difficulty determining whether the product is suitable.
This does not mean adding more catalogue information automatically guarantees advertising visibility or sales.
However, clear and accurate information can help customers evaluate whether a product meets their needs.
What Razorpay Engage Will Do for Indian Businesses
Razorpay Engage is positioned as the operational layer between participating businesses and the emerging ChatGPT advertising ecosystem.
The platform will assist businesses with several stages of campaign management.
1. AI Discovery Readiness Assessment
The first stage evaluates whether a business’s website, product catalogue and digital information are sufficiently prepared for AI-based product discovery.
2. Catalogue Preparation
Businesses may need to organise product information so that relevant details such as prices, specifications and availability are clearly represented.
3. Campaign Launch
Razorpay Engage will help businesses prepare and launch their campaigns within the available advertising environment.
4. Campaign Optimisation
According to Razorpay, an AI agent can assist with operating and refining campaigns while human involvement remains available when necessary.
5. Performance Tracking
Businesses will be able to evaluate advertising performance and determine whether the new channel is producing commercially useful outcomes.
6. Campaign Expansion
Campaigns that demonstrate value could potentially be expanded as businesses gain more experience with conversational advertising.
AI Agents Will Help Manage Campaigns
One notable element of Razorpay Engage is the use of AI in campaign operations.
Razorpay says an AI agent can help operate and refine advertising campaigns, with human support available where required.
This may reduce the amount of specialist work businesses need to perform internally.
For smaller companies in particular, managing another advertising platform can require additional people, technology and marketing expertise.
A managed system that combines catalogue preparation, campaign management and measurement could lower some of those operational barriers.
ChatGPT Ads and AI Answers Are Separate
An important point for users and advertisers is the distinction between advertising displayed in ChatGPT and ChatGPT’s regular answers.
OpenAI says advertising is clearly labelled and operates separately from the system that generates responses.
Advertisers cannot pay to change, rank or influence ChatGPT’s answers.
Therefore, the appearance of a sponsored product should not be interpreted as an independent ChatGPT recommendation or an endorsement from OpenAI.
This distinction is especially important as consumers begin using conversational AI for shopping decisions.
Advertisers Do Not Receive Users’ Private Chat History
Privacy is another important consideration.
OpenAI says advertisers do not receive users’ private conversations, chat histories or memories.
Advertisers may receive aggregated advertising performance information.
If a user voluntarily communicates directly with an advertiser through an advertising feature, however, information included in that direct interaction may be shared with the advertiser.
This distinction helps separate advertising measurement from users’ wider private ChatGPT conversations.
Who Can Currently See Ads on ChatGPT?
ChatGPT advertising availability depends on both the user’s subscription plan and regional rollout.
According to OpenAI’s guidance, advertisements may appear for eligible users on Free and Go plans.
Users on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans are not included in the ad-supported experience.
Therefore, Razorpay’s partnership with OpenAI does not mean participating Indian brands will automatically reach every ChatGPT user.
Actual advertising reach will depend on eligibility, geographic availability, campaign delivery and other platform factors.
OpenAI Is Expanding Its Advertising Capabilities
The Razorpay announcement arrives as OpenAI continues developing its broader advertising infrastructure.
In a separate update on October 5, 2026, OpenAI announced additional advertising measurement capabilities and a new visual advertising format.
Testing of the visual format is expected to begin later in October in the United States with an initial group of advertisers.
However, that programme should be viewed separately from Razorpay’s initiative for Indian businesses.
The announcement does not establish that every advertising format being tested by OpenAI will automatically be available to brands using Razorpay Engage.
What the Razorpay-OpenAI Partnership Means for Indian Businesses
For Indian businesses, one of the most significant potential benefits is easier experimentation with conversational advertising.
Launching campaigns on a new advertising platform normally requires brands to understand:
- Technical requirements
- Product-feed standards
- Campaign structure
- Audience behaviour
- Performance measurement
- Optimisation methods
Razorpay Engage aims to combine much of this work into a managed service.
This could particularly benefit companies that want to test ChatGPT advertising without immediately building an internal team dedicated to the channel.
Small Brands Could Find New Discovery Opportunities
Conversational shopping could also create opportunities for smaller or specialist brands.
Traditional advertising often rewards businesses with strong brand recognition, large marketing budgets or high visibility in search results.
AI-assisted discovery may sometimes begin with the shopper’s specific problem rather than a particular company name.
For example, someone might ask for:
“A fragrance-free shampoo suitable for a particular hair type under a specific budget.”
A specialist brand could potentially become relevant if its product closely matches that requirement.
However, relevance alone does not guarantee visibility or sales.
Actual results will depend on advertising delivery, competition, pricing, product quality and the post-click customer experience.
Established Brands Also Need Better Product Information
Large companies face a similar challenge.
Brand recognition can attract customers, but conversational commerce may require businesses to describe individual products with greater precision.
Prices, product claims, specifications and availability need to remain consistent across digital channels.
Advertising may introduce consumers to a product, but it cannot compensate for:
- Unclear product descriptions
- Incorrect prices
- Poor availability
- Delivery problems
- Complicated checkout processes
- Weak after-sales service
For conversational advertising to translate into revenue, the overall customer journey remains important.
Will ChatGPT Replace Google Search or Online Marketplaces?
It is too early to conclude that conversational AI will replace existing customer discovery channels.
Search engines, marketplaces, social media platforms and brand websites continue to play major roles in online commerce.
Instead, ChatGPT advertising currently represents an additional discovery channel.
Businesses may eventually need to understand how consumers move between several platforms during a single buying journey.
A shopper could discover an item through an AI conversation, compare reviews through search, check prices on a marketplace and finally purchase from the brand’s own website.
Understanding that journey will be important for marketers deciding how much money to allocate to conversational advertising.
Businesses Should Focus on Results, Not Only Visibility
The Razorpay-OpenAI partnership demonstrates growing commercial interest in conversational advertising.
However, it does not yet demonstrate that ChatGPT ads will produce better financial results than other advertising channels.
Razorpay’s announcement does not provide detailed campaign-level results for the participating brands.
Businesses therefore need to evaluate performance using measurable outcomes.
Important metrics may include:
- Customer enquiries
- Clicks and engagement
- Completed purchases
- Conversion rates
- Customer acquisition cost
- Average order value
- Repeat purchases
- Return on advertising spend
- Customer lifetime value
Businesses should also examine whether campaigns are generating genuinely new customers or primarily reaching consumers who were already likely to buy.
Measuring Incremental Business Will Be Important
One of the most important questions in digital advertising is incrementality.
A campaign may appear successful because someone clicked an advertisement and completed a purchase.
But that does not necessarily mean the advertisement caused the purchase.
The customer may already have intended to buy from the brand.
For Indian businesses experimenting with ChatGPT advertising, measuring incremental sales could therefore become an important part of understanding the channel’s true value.
What Happens Next?
The next stage will be determined by real-world campaign performance.
Advertisers, marketers and industry observers will likely watch several indicators closely.
These include campaign results, advertiser retention, conversion quality, customer acquisition costs and repeat purchase behaviour.
If businesses continue investing after initial campaigns and can demonstrate sustainable commercial returns, conversational advertising could become an established part of India’s digital marketing landscape.
If results remain limited, brands may instead treat it as a supplementary experimentation channel.
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