Checked 19 October 2026
The ChatGPT Ads guide
Everything we can verify about the platform, written plainly and cited. If a number here has no source behind it, we have left it out.
19 questions, answered
Start where your problem is
How to open a ChatGPT Ads account
What you need before you apply, the steps, and where to log in.
ReadChatGPT ad examples
Six example ads by industry, with the conversation and context hints behind each.
ReadHow to choose a ChatGPT Ads agency
The four ways to buy, the pricing models you will meet, and what to ask on the first call.
ReadWhat is ChatGPT Ads Manager
The interface, the campaign structure, and what each level controls.
ReadChatGPT Ads cost and the $25 minimum
The $25 daily floor, the 3 pricing models, and the $50,000 figure people keep repeating.
ReadHow to advertise on ChatGPT
From account application to live ad, in 8 steps.
ReadChatGPT Ads targeting: context hints
Why there is no keyword list, and how to describe a conversation instead.
ReadChatGPT ad specs and character limits
Every field, every limit, and what survives the character count.
ReadAnswer engine optimization vs ChatGPT ads
Answer engine optimization earns a mention. Ads buy a placement. Which one you actually need.
ReadAmazon is now a way to buy ChatGPT ads
Amazon DSP can now buy ChatGPT ad space. What changed, and why self-serve is still where most people start.
ReadChatGPT Ads conversion tracking
Pixel, Conversions API, the 13 events, and which attribution window your numbers use.
ReadChatGPT Ads policy: what you can advertise
Banned categories, the US-only finance and health lists, and how review works.
ReadChatGPT Ads text customization
When ChatGPT rewrites or translates your ad, and when to turn it off.
ReadChatGPT Sponsored Agents
The brand chat that opens after an ad click: who has it, and how to get ready.
ReadChatGPT shopping ads and product feeds
The 9 required fields, how to upload a feed, and which countries it can reach.
ReadChatGPT Ads custom audiences
Customer lists, the 25,000 match floor, exclusions and bid multipliers.
ReadChatGPT Ads benchmarks
Every public CTR, CPC and CPM figure, who reported it, and how far to trust it.
ReadWhere you can advertise
All 63 eligible countries, and the notable gaps.
ReadThe Advertiser API
What the API can do, why there is no agency dashboard, and the rate limits.
ReadTimeline
How it got here
Every date below is from an OpenAI announcement. Checked 19 October 2026.
16 Jan 2026
OpenAI announces ads in ChatGPT and starts showing them to US Free and Go users.
Mar 2026
New ad formats introduced in the US.
17 Apr 2026
Expansion to Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
5 May 2026
Self-serve Ads Manager opens to US businesses.
6 Jun 2026
United Kingdom opens via managed sales.
11 Aug 2026
Live in the UK, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and South Korea.
31 Aug 2026
Self-serve expands from 4 countries to 52. OpenAI announces a $1B run rate (yearly pace of ad revenue), reached in under 200 days.
4 Sep 2026
Product feeds become required to appear in ChatGPT shopping placements. OpenAI adds a conversational Ads Manager Plugin and new audience tools.
10 Sep 2026
Amazon Ads and OpenAI announce a pilot letting advertisers buy ChatGPT ad inventory through Amazon DSP, a third route alongside self-serve Ads Manager and OpenAI managed sales.
16 Sep 2026
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey open for self-serve, taking the list to 56. OpenAI starts testing Sponsored Agents with select US advertisers, Angi among them, and adds Shopify and HubSpot integrations. Conversion campaigns can now bill per impression (oCPM), and you can target each platform (iOS, Android, desktop) on its own.
23 Sep 2026
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan open, with self-serve from day one. The list reaches 63 countries.
30 Sep 2026
The Advertiser API lets you pick attribution windows in reports. The default becomes a 30-day click and 1-day view window, so API conversion totals now include view-through.
5 Oct 2026
OpenAI announces a visual ad format shown next to images while ChatGPT creates them, tested in the US from later in October. It also names measurement partners, including AppsFlyer, Northbeam and DV Rockerbox, plus geo tests with Haus and brand lift tests with Kantar.
Keep this page useful
OpenAI changes this platform most weeks. We re-check these pages and write down what actually moved, once a month.
How to use this
Read it in this order
If you are starting from nothing, this order saves you from fixing things after you have already paid for them.
Can you even buy?
Start with eligibility. Self-serve is open in 63 countries and the account carries your own legal entity, so this is the one gate nobody can get around for you. If the answer is no, the rest is academic.
Is it worth your money?
Then what it costs. The campaign floor is $25 a day, which is lower than most people expect, and the $50,000 figure you will find quoted elsewhere belongs to a different product entirely.
What is actually different?
Context hints and 24 character creative. These are the two places where Google and Meta instincts actively hurt you. There is no keyword bidding, and your whole pitch is one short sentence.
Then build it
How to advertise on ChatGPT covers the 8 steps in the order that matters. Two of them are only fixable before you spend money, which is why the order is worth following.
Every figure is dated
Facts on these pages were verified on 19 October 2026 and each one cites a primary source. Where no public number exists yet, we say so instead of guessing.
Have us do it
Fixed fee, live in 14 days, then month to month. Or use the guide and run it yourself.