ChatGPT ads went from a test to a business in eight months. OpenAI began showing ads in the US in February 2026, and by the end of August it said advertising had reached a $1 billion annualised run rate. This post covers how ChatGPT advertising works, who sees it, what OpenAI says about targeting and privacy, what it costs to run, and the part that matters most for everyone else: ads do not buy a place in the answer.
What ChatGPT ads are
ChatGPT ads are sponsored units that appear below a ChatGPT response when there is a relevant sponsored product or service for the conversation. OpenAI says they are clearly labelled as sponsored and visually separated from the organic answer[2]. It has also described a conversational side to them: seeing an ad and being able to ask ChatGPT questions about it before deciding[3].
Sources, in order[1][2][6][7][8]. Market counts are as OpenAI stated them on each date.
Who sees ads in ChatGPT
OpenAI’s help centre is specific: ads may appear for users on the Free and Go plans, and Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts do not have ads. Accounts identified as belonging to people under 18 are not shown ads[2]. Try the combinations, and the budget arithmetic, below.
How ChatGPT ads are targeted, and what advertisers see
| OpenAI's statement | Your control | |
|---|---|---|
| Matching | Ads are chosen for the current conversation. | Personalisation can be turned off |
| Memory | If memory is on, memories and recent chats may be used to select an ad. | Memory can be turned off or cleared |
| Advertisers | No access to chats, history, memories or personal details; only aggregated views and clicks. | Nothing to do |
| Selling data | OpenAI says it never sells data to advertisers. | Nothing to do |
| Sensitive topics | During testing, no ads near health, mental health or politics. | Stated for the test period |
The targeting and privacy statements are from OpenAI’s help centre and announcement[2][1]. The sensitive-topics rule was announced for the testing period; OpenAI has not, as far as we could find, restated it for the wider rollout.
What OpenAI ads cost to run
OpenAI ads are bought either on reach, with a maximum CPM bid, or on clicks, with a maximum cost-per-click bid, set at the ad-group level. For clicks, OpenAI suggests starting with a maximum bid of $3 to $5[4]. Daily budgets are averaged over a week, a single day never spends more than twice the daily budget, and the standard minimum in the US is $25[5]. Campaigns can also be built from a product feed.
If you run ads, one technical detail matters: OpenAI uses a crawler called OAI-AdsBot to check the safety of pages submitted as ad landing pages[10]. Blocking it in robots.txt can stop your ads being approved. The AI Crawler Checker shows whether your site allows it.
What ChatGPT ads do not change
For anyone working on organic visibility, this is the important part. OpenAI says ads do not influence ChatGPT’s answers, run on separate systems, and give advertisers no way to shape, rank or alter a response[1]. In shopping, product results are described as selected independently by ChatGPT and not ads, nor influenced by any OpenAI partnership[9].
So the two are separate budgets and separate work. Ads buy attention under the answer; being named in the answer is earned the same way as before, through the sources ChatGPT reads. The post on how ChatGPT picks the products it recommends covers that side, and the ChatGPT Shopping guide covers product feeds and checkout.
Questions people ask
Does ChatGPT have ads?
Yes. OpenAI began testing ads in the United States on 9 February 2026 and has since expanded them to Europe, India and Southeast Asia, reaching more than 60 countries by late September 2026. Ads appear only for users on the Free and Go plans.
Which ChatGPT plans have no ads?
OpenAI's help centre says ads may appear on the Free and Go plans, and that Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts do not have ads. Accounts identified as belonging to people under 18 are not shown ads either.
Do ads change what ChatGPT recommends?
OpenAI says they do not: ads run on separate systems from the chat model, and advertisers have no ability to shape, rank or alter ChatGPT's responses. Product results in ChatGPT shopping are also described as organic and not ads.
Does OpenAI share my chats with advertisers?
OpenAI says it does not share conversations with advertisers or sell data to them. Advertisers get aggregated performance data such as views and clicks. Ads are matched to the current conversation, and if memory is on, recent chats and memories may also be used to select an ad.
How much do ChatGPT ads cost?
OpenAI publishes no rate card. Its advertiser help centre suggests starting with a maximum bid of $3 to $5 per click and gives a standard minimum daily budget of $25 in the US. CPM figures quoted on marketing blogs are third-party observations, not OpenAI prices.
How do I advertise on ChatGPT with OpenAI ads?
Through OpenAI's Ads Manager for eligible businesses, OpenAI's ads sales team, or one of its agency and technology partners. Campaigns can be bought on clicks or on reach, and can be built from a product feed.
Can I turn off ads in ChatGPT?
You can turn off ad personalisation and clear the data used for ads. To not see ads at all, OpenAI offers ad-free paid plans such as Plus.