ChatGPT ads: where they are available, how they are shown and what to prepare

What advertising in ChatGPT is, per OpenAI's own help pages

OpenAI's help centre describes chatgpt ads as paid placements. An ad appears below a ChatGPT response and carries an advertiser name, a logo, a headline, a short description, a landing page and an image. OpenAI is also testing a multi-image format that shows while an image is being generated. The page adds that seeing an ad does not mean OpenAI endorses or recommends the advertiser.

Ads can appear only for people on the Free and Go plans. Accounts on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu will not have ads, and OpenAI says it does not show ads to accounts identified as belonging to people under 18. A person on the Free plan can also switch to an ads-free option, which comes with lower usage limits and fewer tools.

Where and since when: the dates OpenAI has published

The help page states that ad testing started in the United States on 9 February 2026. On 18 August 2026 OpenAI announced that ChatGPT Ads would reach 31 European markets, including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria, and later added that self-service access through Ads Manager was open across them from 31 August.

On 21 October 2026 OpenAI said ads were launching in 26 more countries, bringing the total to 89, and that more than 100,000 advertisers had run campaigns since the launch a little over eight months earlier. The post names additional Latin American markets, Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It says the launch follows recent expansions in Europe, Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

One point stays open. OpenAI's help page describes a gradual rollout to eligible Free and Go users in select regions, and it gives no per-country date for when people in a given country start to see ads. Treat the advertiser list below as the firm fact and the audience side as not confirmed.

Who can advertise: the self-service country list

OpenAI's Ads Manager availability page carries a country list and a rule that matters: to use self-service, the legal entity that will advertise and be billed must be based in a listed country. The list includes the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates, among many others.

Russia does not appear in that list. The page says that if a country is marked coming soon or is not listed, self-service is not yet available there, although you can create an account at ads.openai.com and be notified. It also says that creating an account does not give early access. Larger advertisers can use the OpenAI Ads team, and in some markets agency and technology partners, so ask whether your agency has that route.

How an ad is chosen, bought and priced

The help pages say the system selects ads by expected relevance, using the context and intent of the current conversation, the landing page, title and copy, and the context hints and targeting choices set by the advertiser. Hints describe conversations, topics or keywords where an offer may fit, but they are not exact-match keywords and do not guarantee delivery in a given conversation.

Buying can be by views, by clicks or by conversions. For click campaigns OpenAI recommends starting with a maximum bid of $3–$5 USD per click, and it uses a relevance-weighted second-price auction. Reporting covers impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate, average CPC, average CPM and conversions, and static tracking parameters such as UTM tags persist on clicks. Spend figures can lag by several hours, so a zero is not proof of no charge.

Labels, independence and what stays private

OpenAI states that ads do not influence ChatGPT's answers, that they run on systems separate from the chat model and that advertisers cannot shape, rank or alter responses. Ads are labelled and shown apart from the response or the image being created. It also says ads are not eligible to appear near sensitive topics such as personal health, mental health and politics, and that Temporary Chats show no ads.

On privacy, OpenAI says it does not share conversations with advertisers and never sells user data. Advertisers receive only aggregated information, such as total views or clicks. OpenAI also says it will always offer a way to avoid ads, including paid tiers without them. Users can turn off ad personalization, hide or report an ad, see why they got it and clear ads data. The help page adds that personalized ads are not initially available in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.

Ad policies: categories, honesty and the landing page

OpenAI's ad policies, last updated on 10 September 2026, say that during the early period advertising is mostly limited to consumer categories such as lifestyle and home goods, local services, travel and experiences, and digital products or education. Financial, health and legal advertisers may be approved case by case, and the policy says financial services ads outside the United States are generally prohibited. Political advertising is not allowed.

Every ad must be truthful, and exaggerated results or false testimonials are refused. Ads must be clearly distinct from the ChatGPT interface and may not imitate its look or style. The landing page must be clearly tied to the advertiser and match the offer, and approved creatives may not lead to prohibited content. In the United States, the FTC's native advertising guide makes the same point from the consumer side: an ad should not suggest that it is anything other than an ad.

Beta status and honest expectations for a first campaign

OpenAI's FAQ describes ChatGPT Ads as being in beta and in the early stages of scaling, after a focused pilot from February to April. It says delivery and spend can fluctuate while systems change, and that as an early platform it has no performance benchmarks by industry or campaign type. Results, it says, depend on objective, creative, landing page experience, relevance and setup. The August post adds that measurement now goes beyond clicks, through the OpenAI Pixel, a Conversions API and third-party integrations, and that geo-targeting and custom audiences have been introduced.

Ads must pass review before they serve, and an account may need verification. A campaign can also stop because of a budget limit, an end date or a payment problem. Plan the first campaign as a measured test: a small budget, a landing page that matches the promise, tracking in place before launch and a decision rule written in advance about what counts as enough.

What to prepare before ordering a ChatGPT ads setup

Prepare the facts that decide eligibility. Which legal entity will advertise and pay, and in which country is it registered. Which category your offer belongs to under OpenAI's ad policies. A landing page that states the offer plainly and matches the ad. A conversion you can measure, such as a request or a purchase, and access to the site settings to install tracking.

VITON13 Studio offers this as a package called ChatGPT ads setup. It includes a check of ad availability for your account and country, ad copy and targeting by topic, and conversion tracking. Before payment, the studio does the availability check and writes a first ad copy, so you learn whether the programme is open to you before you spend on anything else.

The fixed price is $113, and the work takes 5–8 working days. If OpenAI's list shows that self-service is not open for your entity, the check will say so, and no campaign can be promised. The ad budget itself is paid to OpenAI and is separate. The package page and the free-draft page show the exact terms.