This article reflects the status of ChatGPT Ads as of October 2026 and will be updated as new information is confirmed.
ChatGPT Ads is OpenAI’s advertising platform, launched in the United States in February 2026 and in Canada in April 2026. It displays sponsored ads below ChatGPT’s responses, targeted based on the topic of the conversation rather than a user’s profile. At launch, more than 600 major brands tested the advertising platform, and 80% of them chose to continue their investments after the trial period.
Shopify has also become ChatGPT Ads's first official e-commerce partner, alongside HubSpot as its first CRM partner.
Here’s what we know so far, and why it’s worth paying attention to right now.
ChatGPT Ads is a sponsored insert that appears below the response generated by ChatGPT, clearly labeled as “Sponsored.” It is not integrated into the text of the response itself; the user first sees a neutral response, followed by a relevant ad below it.
The most common format right now is a carousel of product cards (name, price, availability, direct link), which is particularly useful for e-commerce thanks to existing partnerships with Shopify and Etsy.
The second, more conversational format allows users to ask questions directly to the brand, making it better suited for services and B2B.
Alongside the launch of Intelligent UI in ChatGPT, OpenAI is also experimenting with more visual ad formats: wider cards and larger images on desktop, and more prominent, full-width images on mobile. These tests use existing campaigns and creative, with no action required from advertisers. OpenAI also plans to test a new multi-image visual ad format, starting during image generation in ChatGPT, in the United States and with a select group of advertisers. The ad is clearly labeled and kept separate from the image being created.
Source: OpenAI
AI-powered assistance is now available directly within Ads Manager to suggest headlines, descriptions, and visuals based on the landing page, as well as an option for automatic translation of ad copy
Targeting on ChatGPT Ads is contextual: ChatGPT analyzes the topic of the current conversation to determine if an ad is relevant—and which one. Signals of purchase intent (“best,” “buy,” “compare,” “price”) increase the likelihood that an ad will be displayed; a simple conceptual question, much less so.
On the advertiser side, there’s the option (which is highly recommanded) to add context to best describe the conversations in which you’d like your ad to appear.
You can also create an audience in ChatGPT Ads by importing email addresses, phone numbers, or Android advertising IDs.
No ads appear in conversations related to health, mental health, or politics, nor are they shown to users under the age of 18. Conversations remain private: advertisers never see the content of the exchanges, only aggregated views and clicks. For brands with stricter placement requirements, eligible advertisers can now exclude specific phrases. OpenAI is also running pilot programs with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science (IAS), which assess how its brand safety standards are applied in a controlled test environment, without access to users' conversations.
Here are the models available:
A new optimization model is also in development: it will allow campaigns to optimize based on view-through conversions, in addition to click-based ones. Billing would remain impression-based, while delivery optimizes toward the selected conversion goal. More details will follow as this campaign type rolls out more broadly.
ChatGPT now reaches 1.2 billion people every week. Only Free and Go accounts ($8/month) are exposed to them; for now, Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans are not included. And most importantly: fewer than 20% of eligible users see an ad per day. Ad delivery remains intentionally limited for now, making a test budget relatively affordable.
ChatGPT Ads is now also live in a selection of countries across Europe, India, the Middle East, and North Africa.
OpenAI has just launched Sponsored Agents, a feature currently in testing that allows users to continue the conversation directly with a brand-dedicated agent after clicking on an ad.
Ads Manager is also getting easier to use day to day. The Conversions page has been redesigned: an overview, visible across all its tabs, brings together conversion event volume and trends, the share of active campaigns optimizing for conversions, active warnings (linked to the Diagnostics tab), and recommendations to improve event quality. Advertisers with active campaigns now receive a weekly performance summary by email, including week-over-week changes. Finally, you can report a bug or share product feedback directly from the account menu in the bottom left corner of Ads Manager.
Three reasons:
That’s not really the right way to look at it. The two channels are complementary: Google Ads remains unbeatable for search volume and precise geographic targeting. ChatGPT Ads captures a different moment—the one where the user articulates a complete need in natural language, often with a well-defined purchase intent.
Yes. HubSpot has added ChatGPT Ads to its Ads tool, alongside Meta, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok, Microsoft, and Reddit. In practical terms, this changes three things for a marketing team: campaigns can be managed without leaving the HubSpot ecosystem; UTM parameters are automatically generated to attribute each click to its source; and a contact who interacts with a ChatGPT ad can be automatically enrolled in a follow-up workflow, just like with the other networks already connected. ROI is then calculated in the same place as the rest of the ad portfolio.
OpenAI is also launching an Ads Manager plugin directly inside ChatGPT. It lets advertisers create, manage, and analyze campaigns without leaving the interface: turn a website or brief into ready-to-launch ads using plain language, create variants, update a campaign in progress, troubleshoot delivery issues, and get prioritized recommendations. Every recommended change is previewed, with confirmation required before it's applied — no automatic changes without human approval.
The best preparation involves laying the groundwork in AEO (structuring your content, sourcing your statistics, and designating a credible author) and ensuring that conversion tracking is already up and running, so you can take advantage of CPC and, potentially, CPA models. The good news: conversion data can now be sent to ChatGPT Ads through Hightouch, Tealium, or LiveRamp, and leading web and app attribution tools (AppsFlyer, Adjust, Branch, Triple Whale, and Northbeam, among others) are supported. Geo-based incrementality tests are also available with Haus, Measured, and WorkMagic, although OpenAI acknowledges this work is still in its early days.
As of October 2026, only Free and Go accounts ($8/month) are exposed to ads. Upgrading to a higher plan completely eliminates ads.
Yes. Users can hide an ad, report content, or adjust their ad preferences directly in ChatGPT—a process similar to the controls already offered by Google Ads or Meta Ads.
Currently, for a campaign with a reach or click objective, the minimum daily budget is $25 CAD. OpenAI recommends starting with a maximum bid of $4 to $7 CAD per click.
OpenAI recently announced a change to how daily budgets work. Previously, the daily budget represented a strict cap — spending couldn't exceed that amount on any single day. Now, it instead represents a target average over a 7-day period: a campaign can spend up to 2x the daily budget on a given day (if delivery opportunities are stronger), as long as the total over 7 days doesn't exceed 7x that same budget. In practical terms, a $100 daily budget allows spending up to $200 on certain days, without ever exceeding $700 over a full week.
Campaigns using a total budget (rather than a daily budget) now benefit from pacing that spreads spend more evenly over time.
Advertisers create their own ads using OpenAI’s self-service tool (Ads Manager), much like on Google Ads or Meta Ads. Each brand provides its own headline, description, and image, within the character limits set by OpenAI.
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