--- title: "Paid ads on ChatGPT: what you should know about them" description: "Learn how ChatGPT ads work, who can run campaigns, what to budget, and which limitations to consider before investing." author: "Andrea Tendero" date: "2026-10-11T12:00:00.000Z" url: "https://freshjuice.dev/blog/paid-ads-on-chatgpt-what-you-should-know/" --- # Paid ads on ChatGPT: what you should know about them October 11, 2026 • Written by [Andrea Tendero](https://freshjuice.dev/authors/atenlotrad/) People are increasingly using AI tools to search, and companies are working their asses off to get mentioned in the answers. The platforms know they can go one step further and take advantage of the situation by offering paid placements. Google is doing it, and now ChatGPT has joined the conversation. But paying to appear below an answer is different from getting recommended in the answer itself. Before adding ChatGPT ads to your [paid media strategy](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/is-it-worth-making-paid-media-part-of-your-digital-marketing-strategy/), it’s worth understanding what you’re actually buying. ## Does ChatGPT have ads? Yes, ChatGPT has introduced ads to its platform, so you can sponsor your products or site when people have relevant conversations. [OpenAI started testing ads in February 2026](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001047-ads-in-chatgpt?utm_source=freshjuice.dev), and the platform is still in the early stages of scaling. Ads Manager is a beta product, and its features and delivery systems are still changing. However, it looks promising: as more people use ChatGPT, there may be more opportunities to reach them through ads, if done well. ### How do ChatGPT ads work? ChatGPT ads share some of the basics of other paid advertising platforms like Google Ads: advertisers set budgets, create ads, and compete for placements. But it’s important to distinguish paid placements from the answers ChatGPT generates. As [OpenAI explains](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001047-ads-in-chatgpt?utm_source=freshjuice.dev): > Ads run on separate systems from our chat model, and advertisers have no ability to shape, rank, or alter ChatGPT’s responses. Ads are separate and clearly labeled. ChatGPT offers an Ads Manager platform where you can create and manage campaigns, setting factors like budget, location, and the topics or conversations where your products may be relevant. What’s interesting is that the tool doesn’t focus only on keywords. It also considers the context and intent of the conversation, alongside your ad and landing page. At the ad-group level, you can provide [context hints](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001211-create-ad-groups-for-chatgpt?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) describing your offering and when it might be useful. This means your ad could appear even when someone hasn’t used the specific words you included. However, context hints are not exact-match keywords or targeting rules, and they don’t guarantee that your ad will appear in a particular conversation. There are different campaign objectives, including Views, Clicks, and Conversions. What differs from platforms like Google is the placement of the ads. While Google offers placements across search results, website banners, and YouTube, ChatGPT ads operate within ChatGPT. Advertisers can choose supported platforms such as the Android app, iOS app, and web. ### Who can create campaigns? Businesses with an eligible Ads account can create campaigns. To run them, you need to complete the required verification and billing process, and Ads Manager must be available in the country where your advertising legal entity is based. [Check OpenAI’s availability list](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001245-ads-manager-availability?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) before getting started, as creating an account doesn’t automatically give you access in an unsupported country. Having a paid ChatGPT subscription won’t give you an advertising account or include any ad spend. These are separate services. On the viewing side, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts don’t see ads; ads may appear on eligible Free and Go accounts. ## How to run ads on ChatGPT If, after learning how ChatGPT ads work, you are still interested in running them, now it’s time to learn how to do it. The process is guided, but there are some things to take into account before launching. Here are the steps to create a campaign. - **Create an account.** You won’t be able to run ads without an Ads account. Before getting started, check whether Ads Manager is available in your country and review the eligibility requirements. Sign up at [ads.openai.com](https://ads.openai.com/?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) and follow the onboarding steps. - **Access Ads Manager.** Once you’ve created your account, it’s important to set it up with all the information required to run ads, including verification and billing details. Once everything is ready, you can start creating campaigns. - **Create the campaign.** ChatGPT supports standard campaigns and product-feed campaigns. Standard campaigns let you create the ads and choose their content and settings. Product-feed campaigns are designed for businesses with a product catalogue, using information such as product names, images, prices, and links to create product ads. Depending on your goal and eligibility, you can choose Views, Clicks, or Conversions as the objective. Conversion optimization doesn’t mean you pay per conversion: billing is based on valid clicks or impressions, depending on the supported billing method. - **Set up the campaign.** Choose the website or landing page you want to promote, define the supported targeting settings, set your budget, and choose the schedule where available. Create your ad groups and context hints, then add the ad text, image, and other required assets. Before launching, check that the information is correct and that your billing details are ready. You can use our [campaign URL builder](https://freshjuice.dev/tools/campaign-url-builder/) to add UTM parameters to your landing page URL and distinguish paid ChatGPT traffic in your analytics. - **Publish it.** Now that everything is set and checked, publish the campaign. Ads need to pass review before they can run, and account readiness, billing, budget, and schedule also affect delivery. You can pause campaigns and adjust supported settings afterwards, but don’t assume everything is editable: changing the objective requires a new campaign, and some budget-type changes can’t be reversed. If you need a specific start date and the first-campaign onboarding flow doesn’t offer scheduling yet, don’t publish just to unlock those settings. - **Check it.** Without being obsessed with it, check how the campaign is working from time to time to understand whether it’s doing great (or not). Reports currently include impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate (CTR), average CPC, average CPM, and conversions. Set up conversion measurement if that’s what you want to track. Spend reporting can be delayed, so a displayed zero doesn’t necessarily mean you haven’t been charged. - **Optimize it.** If, when checking it, you notice that the campaign isn’t working as expected, you can adjust the budget, creative, context hints, or supported targeting settings based on the results. As with Google Ads, the idea is to keep improving the campaign while it runs, rather than leaving it untouched and hoping for the best. For the current setup options, restrictions, and reporting details, keep [OpenAI’s campaign guide](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001210-create-campaigns-for-chatgpt?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) and [advertiser overview](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001207-ads-in-chatgpt-the-basics?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) handy. ### How much should I invest in ChatGPT ads? There isn’t one starting budget that makes sense for every business. OpenAI’s current [minimum daily budget table](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001210-create-campaigns-for-chatgpt?utm_source=freshjuice.dev#minimum-campaign-spend) lists $25 for USD accounts and €15 for EUR accounts. These are minimums, not recommendations or promises of good results. The amount you should invest depends on the topic, target audience, goals, competition, and results you want to achieve. It’s important to start with a budget that lets you test the ads and understand how they perform before increasing your investment. Also, a daily budget is an average, not a strict daily cap. OpenAI says spending can reach twice the selected daily budget in one day, within its applicable weekly limits. If you need a stricter limit on total spending, review the campaign-total budget option before launching. And, as you would with any platform or process, give the campaign time to gather useful data. You won’t necessarily get the best results in just a week. Let the tool work and let the algorithm cook, but keep checking the results and don’t spend more than you can afford to test. ## Things to consider before investing in ChatGPT ads We don’t want you to think this is the best investment of your life or get the wrong idea about how it works, so we have listed some things worth knowing before investing. This way, you can make a decision based on the limitations as well as the potential. - **Ads are clearly labeled as ads.** They are not part of the answers to prompts. Paying for ads won’t get your brand mentioned in the answer itself. Instead, your ad may appear below the response as clearly labeled sponsored content. For example, if someone asks for the best toothpaste brands, paying for a campaign doesn’t buy you a place on the list of recommended products. Your brand may appear separately as an ad. - **Some people won’t see ads.** ChatGPT’s [ad-free plans and age restrictions](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001047-ads-in-chatgpt?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) limit your audience. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts don’t see ads, and OpenAI doesn’t show them to accounts identified as belonging to people under 18. Eligible Free and Go accounts may see ads, depending on availability and other controls. That means you can’t treat ChatGPT’s entire audience as reachable ad inventory. - **Temporary Chats won’t show ads.** Temporary Chat is a separate mode that doesn’t use or update memory; it isn’t another name for browsing without logging in. OpenAI says Temporary Chats don’t show ads, while ads can appear in some logged-out experiences. This is another limit to keep in mind when estimating your reach. - **Sensitive contexts and restricted categories have different rules.** OpenAI doesn’t place ads near sensitive personal conversations, such as personal health, mental health, or politics. Some regulated advertisers, including certain healthcare, financial, and legal services businesses, may be eligible under strict conditions, while categories such as weapons and political advertising are prohibited. Check the [advertising policies](https://openai.com/policies/ad-policies/?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) for your specific business rather than assuming every health-related product is banned or allowed. - **You can manage ChatGPT ads through HubSpot.** This is, in fact, a good thing because [you can connect HubSpot with your ChatGPT Ads account](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001522-set-up-chatgpt-ads-in-hubspot?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) to create campaigns and review performance from there. You already know that we love HubSpot, and being able to do this is quite nice, as you can centralize more of your marketing work in one place. Check the required account permissions; Business and Enterprise organizations also need global-admin approval for HubSpot’s Ads access. ## Are ChatGPT ads worth it? We can’t give you a definite answer for now, as the advertising platform is still developing. Google is also integrating ads into its AI experiences, so there are more placements for marketers to consider, but that doesn’t mean every new placement is worth your money. What we can say is that it looks like a reasonable moment to test it if your audience, product, and budget fit. However, [OpenAI says there aren’t yet performance benchmarks](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001220-frequently-asked-questions?utm_source=freshjuice.dev) across advertisers, industries, or campaign types. ChatGPT ads also have fewer placements than Google’s advertising network, and the ad-free plans and other restrictions limit who you can reach. Don’t assume they will be cheaper, more expensive, or more effective than Google Ads without comparing your own results. This makes the investment something that may be easier to test for businesses with room in their budgets, but not necessarily as attractive for small or medium-sized brands that need predictable returns straight away. A new advertising channel is still an expense, even if everyone is talking about it. However, and as mentioned earlier, its value will depend on the topic, as some businesses may benefit from appearing in these conversations even in an ad format. If we were you, we would do an in-depth analysis of your topic or product and especially look for [prompts and conversational questions](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/prompt-research-for-ai-visibility/) where an ad could actually help someone before jumping into the investment. Right now, it looks worth testing for the right business, but it’s still early to know whether it deserves an ongoing place in your budget. ## Related - [Is it worth making paid media part of your digital marketing strategy?](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/is-it-worth-making-paid-media-part-of-your-digital-marketing-strategy/) - [Prompt research: find real AI prompts to boost your visibility](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/prompt-research-for-ai-visibility/) - [AI is overtaking Google: news that you should care about](https://freshjuice.dev/blog/ai-is-overtaking-google/) - [#AI](https://freshjuice.dev/tags/ai/), - [#AISearch](https://freshjuice.dev/tags/ai-search/), - [#DigitalMarketing](https://freshjuice.dev/tags/digital-marketing/), - [#MarketingStrategies](https://freshjuice.dev/tags/marketing-strategies/)