ChatGPT ads: should your business advertise on ChatGPT yet?

What ChatGPT ads are

Since early 2026, OpenAI has been showing ads inside ChatGPT. They appear next to the conversation, clearly labelled and separate from ChatGPT's answer. OpenAI says advertising doesn't influence the answers ChatGPT gives, and that conversations are kept private from advertisers. Ads are only shown to people on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro and Enterprise users don't see them.

According to OpenAI, more than 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT every week, and a lot of them are comparing options before they buy something. That's the attraction for a business: your ad can show up while someone is still deciding, in a conversation that's already about the problem you solve.

Where you can run them

Self-serve access through Ads Manager is available in 89 countries. That includes the UK, the US, Canada, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and most of Europe. One rule matters here: the business that advertises and pays has to be registered in one of those countries. So the ad account is always in your business's name, even when someone like me runs it for you.

If you sell abroad, know this before you plan: some new accounts can only advertise in their home country at first. They become eligible for other countries once identity verification is approved and they've spent enough at home. So a UAE business that mainly wants UK customers may need to start closer to home.

How they work, and how they're different from Google

• No keywords. You don't bid on search terms. You write "context hints": short, specific descriptions of what you offer, who it helps and when it's useful. OpenAI uses them to judge when your ad is relevant, and it's clear that they are not exact-match keywords and don't guarantee your ad shows in a particular conversation.
• Three objectives. Views (you pay per 1,000 impressions), Clicks (you pay per click) or Conversions. With Conversions the system optimises for an action like a purchase or a form, but you still pay per click or per 1,000 impressions, not per conversion.
• Targeting. Country, and in many countries region, city or postcode. Device platform (iPhone, Android, desktop). Custom audiences too, but you need at least 25,000 matched people to target one.
• Budget. The minimum daily budget depends on your billing currency: for example 25 USD, 15 GBP, 25 CAD or 65 AED. A daily budget is an average over the week, so a single day can spend up to twice that.

Should you try it?

Here's how I think about it. A new ad platform won't fix ads that aren't working. If your Meta or Google campaigns bring clicks but not customers, the problem is usually the offer, the website or the tracking, and ChatGPT ads will run into exactly the same problem. You'll just be paying for it on one more platform.

It's worth testing if:

• your customers research and compare before they buy, the kind of questions people really do ask ChatGPT: which option is better, what to look for, how much it should cost
• your conversion tracking already works, so you can see enquiries or sales and not just clicks
• you can set aside a test budget on top of the channels that already work for you
• your business is registered in one of the supported countries

I'd wait if your website isn't converting yet, if you can't measure results, or if your budget is already stretched across Meta and Google. In that case the money does more where you already have data.

How I'd run a first test

1. Tracking first. Ads Manager supports conversion measurement. If we can't see what happens after the click, we're paying to guess.
2. One clear offer, a few focused ad groups. Each ad group is built around one customer need, with specific context hints. OpenAI's own example makes the point: "cushioned everyday running shoes for beginners training for their first 5K" tells the system far more than "running shoes".
3. A daily budget to start. That's what OpenAI recommends for new advertisers, and it lets us watch how the campaign delivers before committing more.
4. A decision date agreed before launch. On that date we compare the cost of a real enquiry or sale with what Meta and Google bring for the same offer, then decide together: keep it, change it or stop.

Expect the numbers to move around. OpenAI says delivery and spend can fluctuate during the beta while it keeps changing its systems, so I wouldn't judge it on the first few days.

ChatGPT ads are not the same as showing up in ChatGPT's answers

These are two different things. Ads are paid, labelled and shown separately. Being mentioned in ChatGPT's actual answers depends on what's written about your business across the web, and you can't buy it. That's AI search visibility (GEO) work. Some businesses will want both, but they're decided separately.

If you'd like to test ChatGPT ads alongside your Meta and Google campaigns, it's part of my Paid Media Growth Partnership. And if you're not sure your current ads are working, start with a marketing audit before adding another platform.