As of May 5, 2026, yes — any US business in an eligible category can run ChatGPT ads through OpenAI's self-serve Ads Manager. No agency required, no minimum spend. The Feb 2026 enterprise pilot ($60 CPM, $200K min, Omnicom/WPP only) is over. CPC bidding ($3–$5 max bid recommended), product feed campaigns, and a conversion pixel (OAIQ) are all live. Health, financial services, political, and dating/adult remain excluded.
UPDATE — May 2026: This post has been updated to reflect OpenAI's May 5, 2026 launch of the self-serve Ads Manager, CPC bidding, product feed campaigns, and international expansion. The original post was written when ChatGPT ads were enterprise-only. That's no longer the case.
ChatGPT ads launched on February 9, 2026 with a six-figure minimum spend and invitation-only access through major holding companies. Three months later, the playbook has completely changed.
On May 5, 2026, OpenAI opened its self-serve Ads Manager to all US businesses. No agency required, no minimum spend. Any brand can now sign up, set a budget, upload creative, and go live. The window that was previously reserved for Adobe, Target, and Omnicom's roster is now open to everyone.
Here's everything you need to know about access, costs, formats, and what's off-limits, updated for where the platform actually stands today.
Can you actually run ads on ChatGPT?
Yes. As of May 5, 2026, OpenAI's self-serve Ads Manager is open to any US business in an eligible category — no agency intermediary, no minimum spend. The Feb 2026 enterprise pilot with its $200K minimum is over. Brands can register, upload creative, set a budget, and go live in a session.
What does it cost to run ChatGPT ads now?
Both CPM and CPC bidding are supported. OpenAI recommends a $3–$5 starting max CPC bid. For reference, the original enterprise CPM was $60 vs. Meta's $14–$20 — the premium reflects high-intent reach during active decision-making, not passive scrolling.
What categories can't run ChatGPT ads?
Health, mental health, financial services, political advertising, dating, adult content, and gambling are excluded at launch. Eligible verticals concentrate around household and consumer goods, local services, travel and entertainment, and digital products/education.
Who Can Run ChatGPT Ads?
Any US business. That's the short answer as of May 5, 2026.
The original pilot required a reported $250,000 minimum spend and access through Omnicom, WPP, Dentsu, or Publicis. That phase is over. OpenAI has now rolled out a beta self-serve Ads Manager that lets businesses of any size register directly, add payment information, set budgets, upload ads, and manage campaigns. All without an agency intermediary.
Technology partners including Adobe, Criteo, Kargo, Pacvue, and StackAdapt are also integrated, meaning if you already buy media through those platforms, you can access ChatGPT inventory through existing workflows.
Category restrictions still apply. Eligible categories at launch are concentrated in household and consumer goods, local services, travel and entertainment, and digital products and education. Restricted verticals — health, financial services, political, dating, adult content — remain off-limits for now. OpenAI has signalled these will expand as its review infrastructure matures.
A note from Jack: If you're in a currently restricted category, register your interest at openai.com/advertisers now. Getting on the record early matters as OpenAI expands eligible verticals.
Who Were the First Brands Running ChatGPT Ads?
The February pilot launched with a set of partners that revealed exactly what OpenAI was building toward:
- Adobe — The headline launch partner, running campaigns for Acrobat Studio and Firefly via WPP
- Target, Albertsons, Williams-Sonoma — Major retail brands that gave OpenAI product-level eCommerce data to work with
- Omnicom clients (30+) — Spanning apparel, automotive, beauty, CPG, hospitality, QSR, tech, and telco
- WPP and IPG rosters — Including some of the world's largest consumer brands across finance, automotive, and consumer goods
The vertical spread was intentional. OpenAI needed data across categories, not just tech-adjacent brands, to build a relevance engine that works in the real world.
"The introduction of ads in ChatGPT creates a new way for brands to introduce products appearing at a moment when engagement and relevance are inherently high."
— Justin Wroe, Chief Commercial Officer, Omnicom Media (quote source)
What Do ChatGPT Ads Cost Now?
The original pilot pricing — a $60 CPM with a $200K+ minimum — was the enterprise entry price. With the self-serve launch, the model has evolved:
CPM (Cost Per Mille): Still available. You pay per 1,000 impressions. Useful for brand awareness objectives.
CPC (Cost Per Click): Added on April 21, 2026. OpenAI recommends a starting max bid of $3–$5 per click. You're only charged when a user actually clicks. Better suited for performance-oriented campaigns.
No platform minimum. The self-serve platform has no stated minimum spend, meaning you can test with a modest budget.
For context, Meta's average CPM runs around $14–20. ChatGPT's premium reflects the intent quality difference: you're reaching someone actively mid-decision, not mid-scroll.
What Ad Formats Are Available?
Two primary formats are live as of May 2026:
Sponsored card (text + image): A clearly labeled "Sponsored" unit that appears below the AI's response. Shows an advertiser name, favicon, headline, short description, image, and a link. This is the core format across all eligible categories.
Product feed campaigns (new for eCommerce): OpenAI recently launched product feed ad campaigns that let retailers connect their product catalog and automatically generate ads from product names, images, and attributes — without building each ad manually. If you run Google Shopping or Meta Catalog ads, you can push your existing feed to ChatGPT. For brands with large catalogs, this is what makes the channel actually viable at scale.
Conversational units (on roadmap): OpenAI has confirmed that interactive ad units — where users can ask ChatGPT follow-up questions directly about an advertiser's product — are coming. Not live yet, but worth building a creative strategy around.
📝 A note from Jack: The product feed launch is the most important development for eCommerce brands. This is OpenAI going directly after Google Shopping and Meta Catalog budgets. If you're running product feeds on other channels, getting your catalog connected here is the fastest path to a live ChatGPT campaign.
Who Sees ChatGPT Ads?
Free and Go-tier ($8/month) users in the US. That's the addressable audience.
Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education subscribers don't see ads — a deliberate design choice that protects paying users from ad friction and creates a clean upsell incentive.
International expansion is now underway. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand came online in late March 2026. The UK, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico are being added next. US capabilities are currently the most advanced, including the ability to reach logged-out users alongside logged-in ones.
What Types of Ads Aren't Allowed?
OpenAI has drawn clear category lines both on advertiser verticals that are excluded from the pilot entirely, and on the types of content and audience contexts where ads simply won't serve. This is important: these aren't just content policy rules, they're structural constraints baked into the ad matching system.
❌Health & Mental Health Advertisers: Excluded from the pilot entirely as a vertical. Ads also will not serve near any health or mental health topics in conversation — regardless of the advertiser.
❌Political Advertising: Political advertisers and political topics are fully excluded. No political ads will serve on the platform during the pilot — or apparently beyond it.
❌Financial Services: Listed as a "sensitive or regulated vertical" that is excluded from advertising in ChatGPT during the current phase. This covers banking, lending, investment products, and similar.
❌ Dating & Adult Services: Excluded as a sensitive vertical. No dating app advertising or adult content of any kind is permitted on the platform.
❌Users Under 18: Ads will not serve to accounts where OpenAI has identified or predicted the user is under 18 — using both self-declaration and AI-based age estimation from usage behavior.
❌ Misleading, Harmful, or Scam Ads: OpenAI has stated that guardrails are in place to prevent narrow targeting that could facilitate scams, predatory offers, or otherwise harmful or misleading advertising.
🚩 Worth flagging: If your brand operates in health, finance, or politics, ChatGPT ads are not an available channel right now — and given the sensitivity of those categories in an AI context, it's unlikely they open up quickly. Redirect your planning accordingly.
What's the Access and Rollout Timeline Now?
Here's where things actually stand in May 2026, significantly ahead of what was projected when the pilot launched:
| Phase | Status |
|---|---|
| Enterprise pilot (Feb 9 – April 2026) | Complete. $200K+ minimum, agency-only access. |
| CPC bidding added | Live as of April 21, 2026. |
| Self-serve Ads Manager (US) | Live as of May 5, 2026. No minimum spend. |
| Product feed campaigns | Live. Connect existing catalogs directly. |
| International (Canada, AU, NZ) | Live. UK, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Mexico rolling out now. |
| CPA bidding | In development. OpenAI has confirmed this is coming. |
| Third-party measurement | In development. OpenAI has committed to independent verification tools. |
The pace of development has been significantly faster than the "late 2026 self-serve" projection from the original post. OpenAI is moving quickly — driven by a reported $2.5 billion ad revenue target for 2026 and a longer-horizon goal of $100 billion by 2030.
Advice for Marketers Right Now
- If you're a US business in an eligible category: The self-serve Ads Manager is live. You can go from zero to a campaign today. Early movers on new ad platforms consistently outperform latecomers on CPM efficiency and relevance scoring during the period before auction competition intensifies.
- If you're an eCommerce brand: Get your product feed connected. This is the format that scales for large catalogs and the one most analogous to how Google Shopping and Meta Catalog work — just with conversational intent layered on top.
- If you're in a restricted category: Register at openai.com/advertisers now. Category expansion is coming and being early on the waitlist matters.
On measurement: CPC bidding and a Conversions API are now available, which gives you more to work with than the impression-only reporting from launch. Still set realistic expectations — this channel is closer to CTV than Google Search in terms of attribution maturity.
ChatGPT Ads are no longer coming. They're here. We're already equipped as a ChatGPT ads agency with the tracking frameworks, creative playbooks, and platform knowledge to get campaigns live and generating results. Reach out if you want to move fast.
Advice for Growth Marketers Right Now
If you're a US business in an eligible category: The self-serve Ads Manager is live. You can go from zero to a campaign today. Early movers on new ad platforms consistently outperform latecomers on CPM efficiency and relevance scoring during the period before auction competition intensifies.
If you're an eCommerce brand: Get your product feed connected. This is the format that scales for large catalogs and the one most analogous to how Google Shopping and Meta Catalog work — just with conversational intent layered on top.
If you're in a restricted category: Register at openai.com/advertisers now. Category expansion is coming and being early on the waitlist matters.
On measurement: CPC bidding and a Conversions API are now available, which gives you more to work with than the impression-only reporting from launch. Still set realistic expectations — this channel is closer to CTV than Google Search in terms of attribution maturity.
ChatGPT Ads are no longer coming — they're here. We're already equipped as a ChatGPT ads agency with the tracking frameworks, creative playbooks, and platform knowledge to get campaigns live and generating results. Reach out if you want to move fast.
When Can Any Business Run Ads in ChatGPT?
OpenAI has not announced a date. What they have said many times is that the current phase is about learning, not scale.
The company wants to observe how users respond to placements, how formats perform, and how to refine the relevance matching before opening the floodgates.
Reading between the lines of OpenAI's communications and the typical lifecycle of ad platform launches, here's a reasonable projection:
- Now — Q1 2026
Closed pilot. Invitation-only via Omnicom, WPP, and direct enterprise partners. Min spend ~$250K. Formats: product cards and sponsored content below responses.
- Q2–Q3 2026 (Projected)
Expanded pilot. Likely opening to more agency partners and potentially a managed-service tier for mid-market brands. Pricing may shift as competition for inventory begins.
- Late 2026 (Projected)
Self-serve launch. OpenAI is building ad platform infrastructure. A public-facing Ads Manager — similar in concept to Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads — is the expected end state. This would open the channel to any business with a budget.
- Late 2026–2027 (Roadmap)
International expansion and interactive formats. OpenAI has hinted at conversational ad units where users can ask questions directly to an advertiser. Global rollout will follow domestic stabilization.
The action right now for any business: register at openai.com/advertisers.
It's a simple interest form, not a spend commitment. Being early on that list likely influences prioritization when OpenAI begins selecting the next wave of beta advertisers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can any business run ChatGPT ads now?
Yes — as of May 5, 2026, any US business in an eligible category can sign up directly through OpenAI's self-serve Ads Manager at no minimum spend. International markets including the UK, Canada, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, and Mexico are also coming online.
What does ChatGPT advertising cost?
The platform supports both CPM (cost per thousand impressions) and CPC (cost per click) bidding. OpenAI recommends a starting CPC max bid of $3–$5. The original $200K+ minimum from the enterprise pilot is gone — there's no stated minimum for the self-serve platform.
What are product feed ads on ChatGPT?
Product feed campaigns let eCommerce brands connect their product catalog (from Google Merchant Center, Shopify, or similar) and automatically generate ads from product data — no manual ad building required. Ads still appear as clearly labeled sponsored cards below ChatGPT responses, but the creative is generated automatically from your feed.
Who sees ChatGPT ads?
Free and Go-tier ($8/month) users in the US, plus expanding international markets. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education subscribers don't see ads.
How is ChatGPT advertising different from Google Ads?
Google captures users with explicit search intent. ChatGPT catches users earlier — in active research and comparison mode, asking follow-up questions. The intent is high but the attribution is less mature. CPC and Conversions API tracking are now available, but third-party measurement tools are still being built out.
What categories are excluded from ChatGPT ads?
Health, mental health, financial services, political advertising, dating and adult content, and gambling remain excluded. Ads also won't serve in conversations involving sensitive topics including self-harm, child safety, hate speech, and weapons — regardless of the advertiser category.
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