What are sponsored prompts? | Particular Audience
Sponsored prompts are a retail media format for AI conversations. When a shopper asks a retailer's assistant, voice service or AI search for something,.
What are sponsored prompts?
Sponsored prompts are a retail media format for AI conversations. When a shopper asks a retailer's assistant, voice service or AI search for something, products an advertiser has picked can appear in the answer, labelled as sponsored, if they are a strong match for the meaning of the request.
Where they appear
Chat assistants on the retailer's site, the retailer's app inside ChatGPT or Claude, AI search boxes, voice assistants, smart fridge screens and visual search through smart glasses. Any AI surface the retailer owns can carry them.
How they differ from keyword ads
Keyword ads match the exact words a shopper types. Sponsored prompts match the meaning of a free-form request, so "watch for marathon training" and "GPS tracker for jogging" can both reach a running-watch campaign without either phrase being bought.
How a campaign is set up
With Sponsored Prompts the advertiser picks a product or a collection. Each item is scored against every incoming request, and only high scorers enter the auction.
Run it with Particular Audience
Sponsored Prompts runs on Adaptive Transformer Search and the open-source ATS MCP server. Advertisers pick products or a collection; each item surfaces automatically, labelled, in chats, prompts and AI searches where it scores highly.
Sources
- Adaptive Transformer Search MCP server (GitHub), checked 2026-10-25
How Particular Audience does it
Frequently asked questions
Are sponsored prompts the same as ChatGPT ads?
No. They are the retailer's own retail media inside its own assistant or app, not ads sold by an AI platform.
Do shoppers see they are sponsored?
Yes. Every sponsored product is labelled in words.
Related guides
- Sponsored products in agentic and conversational AI: How retailers run sponsored products inside their own AI assistant, ChatGPT app or Claude connector: relevance-first ranking, labelling, CPM and CPC pricing, pacing and holdout measurement.
- Retail MCP product search with Adaptive Transformer Search: Connect Adaptive Transformer Search to ChatGPT, Claude and onsite assistants through PA's open-source MCP server, with retailer-controlled ranking and checkout.
- What is agentic retail media?: Agentic retail media is advertising that runs inside AI agents and assistants which act for shoppers: finding, comparing, reordering or swapping products..
- What is conversational commerce advertising?: Conversational commerce advertising places sponsored products inside chat and voice shopping conversations. The ad is a product in the answer, chosen.