OpenAI Launches Ads Manager for ChatGPT: An Advertising Revolution

OpenAI Unveils Ads Manager for ChatGPT

A few months after beginning to introduce advertisements in certain regions for free users and ChatGPT Go subscribers, OpenAI is ramping up its advertising efforts. The company has announced the launch of Ads Manager, a self-service ad management tool. This tool allows advertisers to create campaigns, bid, and track their performance directly within ChatGPT. The introduction of a cost-per-click (CPC) model accompanies this announcement.

Initial Rollout in the United States

Ads Manager was initially tested as part of a pilot phase with a small group of advertisers. This group was later expanded to include agencies such as Dentsu and Publicis Groupe, as well as technology partners like Adobe and Criteo. During this experimental period, advertisers had the opportunity to purchase ChatGPT ads on a CPM model, allowing them to test demand, delivery, and initial performance in an unprecedented environment.

Since May 5, 2026, the tool has been available in the United States for businesses of all sizes. Advertisers can create an account on Ads Manager to purchase and manage ad space on ChatGPT. The self-service manager offers the ability to set campaign objectives, a budget, start and end dates, as well as targeting options. A guided creation mode is available to build campaigns step by step, or advertisers can choose to import existing campaign templates. Once campaigns are live, a dashboard centralizes key performance indicators such as impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate (CTR), average CPM, and conversions.

Future Expansion and CPC Model

Currently, Ads Manager is in beta and limited to U.S. advertisers. OpenAI has not yet communicated a timeline for potential expansion to other markets. The company has also introduced the cost-per-click (CPC) bidding model, where advertisers are only charged when a user clicks on the ad. According to OpenAI, this model is particularly well-suited for ChatGPT, as many conversations on the platform are active and decision-oriented. Users often explore a category, compare options, or seek to know what to do next. In these moments, a click serves as a significant signal indicating that the ad was relevant and helped the user move forward. The CPM model remains available, and OpenAI plans to introduce additional bidding modes in the future.

Displaying Ads in ChatGPT

Ads on ChatGPT are displayed to free users and ChatGPT Go subscribers. They appear at the bottom of responses and are clearly labeled as sponsored content, visually separated from the content generated by the model. OpenAI assures that the presence of these ads does not influence what the model generates, and that conversation data is not shared with advertisers. Users have the option to disable ad personalization, delete targeting data, and hide or report ads they find irrelevant.