OpenAI is putting always-on agents inside ChatGPT that can take on marketing work in the apps a team already uses. OpenAI calls them dots, and each one can connect to over 4,000 apps through ChatGPT’s plugins.
How a dot works
A dot runs on GPT-6 Astra, OpenAI’s newest model, with its own cloud computer and browser, and works toward a goal around the clock rather than waiting for a prompt. Its owner reaches it in ChatGPT, Slack or Teams, and it messages back “with progress, questions, or decisions that need you,” in OpenAI’s words. OpenAI launched dots at DevDay on 29 September.
What a dot can touch is set by the plugins its owner has already installed. OpenAI’s dots documentation says a dot can use supported plugins installed and enabled for the account, with their existing permissions, and those permissions are shared across dots, ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex. Custom Rules then let the owner allow a specific action, require approval for it, or block it.
When nobody is working with it, a dot looks for ways to help on its own. OpenAI calls this proactive research, and restricts it to read-only tools that “can’t send messages, change app content, or control your browser or computer.” A dot can notice something overnight, but anything it changes waits for the rules its owner has set.
What OpenAI shows a dot doing for marketers
Several of OpenAI’s own examples on the dots feature page are marketing work. For content creators, a dot learns their voice and audience, finds interview moments to clip, and drafts show notes and social posts for approval. OpenAI says it “learns what resonates to improve the next batch.”
Another example starts from a retention problem: “Sales are up, but fewer customers are coming back.” The dot checks the numbers against customer feedback, looks into what changed and updates the leadership deck. A third has a dot flag that a launch email still promises a feature that has moved out of scope, with the edits already prepared for review.
OpenAI is also piloting specialist dots, which a company sets up with their own identity and access to take on a defined job. It lists email marketing among the areas it has tested inside OpenAI, alongside procurement, invoice processing, customer support and commercial contracting.
Which marketing tools a dot can reach
The marketing plugins in ChatGPT’s directory split into two kinds: those that can create or change something, and those that mainly read and report. HubSpot’s plugin can now create and update CRM records and log activities. Canva’s creates social posts, presentations and marketing materials, and Shopify’s can create discount codes and manage inventory. Klaviyo says most of its endpoints are read-only, with some draft and template operations.
- Can create or change things
HubSpotCreates and updates CRM records, logs activities
CanvaCreates social posts and marketing materials
ShopifyCreates discount codes, manages inventory
SalesforceCreates follow-ups and CRM updates
AdspirerDrafts campaigns in Google, Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok Ads, created paused
- Mainly read and report
KlaviyoMostly read-only, with some draft and template operations
SemrushSEO, traffic and competitive data
LinkedIn AdsRead-only ad set performance, in beta
Windsor.aiAnalyses Meta Ads and Google Ads performance
The largest ad accounts are the gap. Neither Meta nor Google has a first-party ads plugin in ChatGPT’s directory. Meta’s ads AI connectors can create and edit ads, ad sets and campaigns from ChatGPT, but only as a custom app added through Developer Mode, and OpenAI’s dots documentation does not say whether a dot can use one. Google’s open-source Google Ads API server launched as read-only, for reporting and diagnostics.
Third-party plugins fill part of that space. Adspirer connects Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads and TikTok Ads accounts, creates every new campaign paused for review, and changes budgets, bids or status only when asked. Windsor.ai offers separate plugins for analysing Meta Ads and Google Ads performance.
Dots arrive as Meta points Muse at advertisers
OpenAI launched dots on the same day Meta announced Muse for Small Business, and Adweek framed dots as OpenAI taking on Muse. The two agents approach the same marketer from opposite ends: Muse starts inside Meta’s own ad accounts and pages, while a dot starts from whatever apps its owner has connected.
Muse
DotsMuse has the tighter link to ad spend, and Meta has a reason to grow it. Casey Newton, who writes Platformer, notes that Meta plans to fund Muse by taking a cut of transactions, and expects advertising to follow.
Zuckerberg says Meta plans to fund Muse by taking a cut of transactions, which means that it will soon be some team’s job to massively increase the number of transactions that take place within Muse. (I imagine ads will play a starring role here.)
Who can use dots, and what OpenAI is holding back
Dots are rolling out to ChatGPT Pro users in markets outside the European Economic Area, Switzerland and the UK, and to Business Premium users in every supported ChatGPT region, according to OpenAI’s help centre. Enterprise workspaces can try a beta once an admin turns it on. A UK or EU marketing team can therefore get a dot only through a business plan.
The first dot is included in either plan at no extra cost. Pro starts at $100 a month. Business Premium costs $100 per user a month billed annually, or $125 billed monthly, and a Business workspace needs at least two seats.
OpenAI is also holding back its next model. Bloomberg reports that Saachi Jain, OpenAI’s head of safety systems, said GPT-6.1 Astra fell short on “staying within scope and authorization, and how it communicates back to the user about the type of work it’s done.” OpenAI did ship a different 6.1 model at DevDay, GPT-6.1 Sol, which OpenAI’s system card addendum describes as matching GPT-6 Astra’s capability with greater speed and lower cost, so what is held back is the Astra upgrade rather than the 6.1 family. OpenAI’s own launch post ends on the same caution: “Dots can still make mistakes, so always review consequential work.”
Plugins become a place marketing tools get found
The nearest use for most teams is monitoring. Search Engine Journal points out that in search marketing, “rankings, competitor pages, and campaign settings are checked periodically, with each check often starting anew,” and that a dot’s read-only research can catch a change overnight. Approval rules then decide whether the dot only reports the change or prepares a response.
The other shift is in how plugins are found. OpenAI’s DevDay recap says “improved ranking and recommendations help people find relevant plugins in the directory and in conversations,” and TechCrunch reports that ChatGPT will begin suggesting apps within the flow of conversation. For a marketing software company, a ChatGPT plugin is now a listing that can be ranked and recommended, much like an app store page. For a team running a dot, the plugins it has enabled set the edge of what it can do.
Recap
What are OpenAI dots?
Dots are always-on agents in ChatGPT that OpenAI launched at DevDay on 29 September 2026. Each runs on GPT-6 Astra with its own cloud computer and browser, and can connect to over 4,000 apps through ChatGPT’s plugins. Owners reach their dot in ChatGPT, Slack or Teams.
Can OpenAI dots manage Meta or Google ad campaigns?
Not through a first-party plugin. Neither Meta nor Google has an ads plugin in ChatGPT’s directory, and Google’s open-source Google Ads API server launched as read-only. Third-party plugins such as Adspirer connect Google, Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok ad accounts and create new campaigns paused for review.
Who can use OpenAI dots and how much do they cost?
Dots are rolling out to ChatGPT Pro users outside the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, and to Business Premium users in all supported regions. Pro starts at $100 a month, and Business Premium costs $100 per user a month billed annually. The first dot is included at no extra cost.