How to Advertise on ChatGPT and Other AI Chat Apps? (2026 Guide)
Learn how to advertise on ChatGPT in 2026, from Ads Manager setup to bids, budgets, and policies, plus how to reach other AI chat apps.
Can You Advertise on ChatGPT?
Yes. OpenAI sells ChatGPT Ads through Ads Manager, a self-serve platform in beta at ads.openai.com, and larger advertisers can also work with OpenAI’s ads team. Ads appear below ChatGPT responses for people on the Free and Go plans. OpenAI says ad testing started in the United States on February 9, 2026, and availability now depends on the country where your business is based.
This guide covers how ChatGPT Ads work, how to launch a campaign step by step, what it costs, and what your options are beyond ChatGPT, including Google, Microsoft Copilot, and independent AI chat apps.
How Do ChatGPT Ads Work?
ChatGPT Ads are paid units that appear below a ChatGPT response and are clearly labeled. According to OpenAI’s help center, ads run on separate systems from the chat model, so advertisers cannot shape, rank, or alter ChatGPT’s answers. Each ad includes an advertiser name, a logo, a headline, a description, a landing page, and an image.
OpenAI selects ads using the context and intent of the current conversation, the ad’s landing page, title, and copy, and the context hints the advertiser provides. When a user has ad personalization turned on, signals from their broader ChatGPT use can also play a part. If several ads qualify, OpenAI weighs relevance and bids, and its advertiser basics page describes the auction as relevance-weighted and second-price.
Ads can appear for users on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts do not see ads, and OpenAI does not show ads to accounts identified as belonging to people under 18 or in Temporary Chats.
Advertisers never receive users’ chats, memories, or personal details. They only get aggregated results such as views and clicks. For coverage of how the format first launched, see our post on ChatGPT ads launching.
How Do You Advertise on ChatGPT, Step by Step?
You advertise on ChatGPT in six steps inside Ads Manager. OpenAI’s quickstart groups them into three stages: create an account, build campaigns, and monitor early performance. The steps below break those stages down.
1. Check availability and eligibility
The legal entity that will advertise and be billed must be based in a country where Ads Manager is available. OpenAI’s availability list includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, India, Japan, and Turkey, among many others. You can create an account in an unsupported country, but you cannot use it until Ads Manager becomes available there.
2. Create your Ads Manager account
Sign in at ads.openai.com with an OpenAI account tied to your work email. Add your brand logo, set up your billing profile and payment method, and complete account verification. You can then invite teammates who need access.
3. Build your campaign structure
Every ChatGPT campaign has three levels: a campaign, an ad group, and an ad. The campaign sets the objective, budget, dates, and targeting. The ad group organizes ads around a theme and holds context hints. The ad is the creative, with a title, copy, image, and landing page.
Ads Manager supports guided campaign creation and bulk upload. Some new self-serve accounts can initially advertise only in their home country, according to OpenAI’s campaign guidance. Other countries unlock after identity verification is approved and the account reaches the required spend.
4. Write context hints
Context hints describe the conversations, topics, or keywords where your product may be relevant. They guide ad matching, but they are not exact-match keywords and they do not guarantee delivery in specific conversations. Write them at the ad group level, one theme per group.
5. Set your bid and budget
You choose whether to buy Views, Clicks, or Conversions, and you set a maximum bid at the ad group level: a maximum CPM for reach campaigns or a maximum CPC for click campaigns. OpenAI recommends starting CPC campaigns with a maximum bid of $3 to $5.
The standard minimum daily campaign budget in the US is $25. OpenAI’s daily budget guidance says a daily budget is an average over seven days, so spend on a single day can reach twice the budget but never more than seven times the budget in a week.
6. Submit for review and measure
OpenAI checks each ad against its policies before it goes live. Once campaigns serve, Ads Manager reports impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate, average CPC, average CPM, and conversions. Impressions, clicks, and CTR refresh about every 15 minutes, while spend can lag by seven to eight hours.
To measure conversions, set up conversion measurement in Ads Manager. You can also add UTM parameters to landing page URLs so traffic from ChatGPT Ads shows up in your existing analytics.
How Much Do ChatGPT Ads Cost?
ChatGPT Ads are billed on impressions or valid clicks, and you set the maximum bid. OpenAI recommends starting CPC campaigns at $3 to $5 per click, and the standard minimum daily campaign budget in the US is $25. What you actually pay depends on the auction, your bids, and competing advertisers.
Conversion-optimized campaigns with click billing charge for valid clicks, not for conversions. For a wider look at CPC, CPM, and CPA across AI chat ads, see our cost benchmark guide.
What Can’t You Advertise on ChatGPT?
OpenAI does not currently allow political advertising in ChatGPT. Ads are also not eligible to appear near sensitive topics, including personal health, mental health, and politics. Some advertisers in regulated categories, such as health and financial services, may be eligible if they meet OpenAI’s strict criteria.
Read OpenAI’s ad policies before you build creative, because ads that break them can be rejected or stop serving.
How Do You Advertise on Other AI Chat Apps?
You can reach people in AI conversations outside ChatGPT, but the way you buy differs by platform. Some run through tools you may already use, and some are not available at all. These are the main options in 2026.
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode
Ads in Google’s AI search experiences run through your existing Google Ads campaigns, not a separate campaign type. Google has said that advertisers using Performance Max, Shopping, and Search campaigns with broad match, including AI Max for Search, are eligible, and its Ads Liaison recently said nothing has changed on eligibility. Google has not placed ads directly inside the Gemini app, according to Campaign.
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Advertising has announced ad formats designed for Copilot, including Showroom ads, which let people explore a product in an interactive experience next to the chat. When Microsoft announced them in March 2025, Showroom ads were set to pilot with select advertisers. Check Microsoft Advertising for current availability before you plan around them.
Perplexity
Perplexity has been winding down its ad program. The company tested sponsored follow-up questions beginning in 2024, and the Financial Times reported that it is ending advertising, citing user trust concerns, according to Campaign. Confirm Perplexity’s current status before you budget for it.
Independent AI chat apps
Independent AI chat apps, meaning assistants and chatbots built outside OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, usually sell ad space through ad networks. Elo is one such network. According to its advertisers page, advertisers paste their website to get a free campaign preview with three campaign angles shown across four conversational formats: card, compact, text-only, and integrated.
Campaigns run across web, iOS, and Android apps on the Elo publisher network. Elo says it reads the live context of each conversation server-side to match an ad, with no keywords or third-party cookies, filters sensitive conversations before an ad is considered, and labels every placement as sponsored. You choose the payout model per format: CPM, CPC, or CPA. Elo is invite-only while the network scales, so access starts with a call.
To see what ads in ChatGPT look like in practice, browse Elo’s ChatGPT Ad Library, which collects real examples of ads shown in ChatGPT.
ChatGPT Ads vs Other AI Chat Ad Options
The table below compares the four routes.
| Option | How You Buy | Where Ads Appear | Good For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Ads | Self-serve Ads Manager (beta) at ads.openai.com | Below ChatGPT responses for Free and Go users | Brands that want reach inside ChatGPT | Billed on impressions or valid clicks; relevance-weighted second-price auction |
| Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | Existing Google Ads campaigns | Inside Google’s AI search experiences | Advertisers already running eligible campaigns | No separate campaign type |
| Microsoft Copilot | Microsoft Advertising | Inside Copilot | Existing Microsoft Advertising users | Formats announced for Copilot, check current availability |
| Independent AI chat apps via Elo | Elo network, invite-only (book a call) | Inside AI chat apps on the Elo publisher network | Brands that want reach across several AI apps | Choose CPM, CPC, or CPA per format |
Which Option Should You Start With?
Start where your customers already are and where you can buy today. If your audience uses ChatGPT and your business is eligible in a supported country, Ads Manager is the most direct place to test. If you already run Google Ads, check whether your campaigns are eligible for AI Overviews and AI Mode.
To reach people across several independent AI apps, an ad network is the usual route. Whichever you choose, test one channel at a time with a small budget and track results separately, since these platforms are new. Ads in chat also need clear labeling, so see our guide to AI chat ad disclosure.
FAQ about Advertising on ChatGPT
How much does it cost to advertise on ChatGPT?
You pay per impression or per valid click, and you set the maximum bid. OpenAI suggests starting CPC campaigns at $3 to $5 per click, and the standard minimum daily campaign budget in the US is $25. Actual costs depend on the auction and competing advertisers.
Who can advertise on ChatGPT?
Eligible businesses in countries where Ads Manager is available can advertise, as long as their ads follow OpenAI’s policies. The legal entity that advertises and is billed must be based in a listed country. Political ads are not allowed, and some regulated categories need to meet extra criteria.
Do ChatGPT ads change ChatGPT’s answers?
No. OpenAI says ads run on separate systems from the chat model, and advertisers have no ability to shape, rank, or alter ChatGPT’s responses. Ads are shown below responses and are clearly labeled as paid placements.
Can advertisers see ChatGPT conversations?
No. OpenAI says it does not share conversations with advertisers and never sells user data to them. Advertisers receive only aggregated, non-identifying results such as total views or clicks.
Sources
ChatGPT details come from OpenAI’s help center and were checked in October 2026. OpenAI’s ad products change often, so confirm current terms in Ads Manager.