ChatGPT advertising: your brand, inside the answer.
OpenAI now shows a sponsored card under some ChatGPT answers. We make sure the one your buyers see is yours, and that it earns the click instead of the scroll.
- Format
- Sponsored chat card
- Targeting
- Conversation context
- Available
- Live since Feb 2026
The format
The chat card, explained.
ChatGPT ads take one shape: a sponsored card that appears under the assistant answer. An advertiser name and favicon, a short title, a line of copy, an image and a link, inside a clearly labeled box. OpenAI publishes no character limits, so short wins. It never changes the answer above it.
That constraint is the whole game. The card follows a good answer the reader just got, so it has to add what the answer left out, in the same calm voice. Write it like a banner and it gets scrolled straight past.
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One card, under an answer the reader already believes. That is the entire inventory, and it is the only part of this screen you control.
The mechanics
How ChatGPT Ads actually work.
Contextual, not behavioral
Placement keys off what the conversation is about right now, guided by the context hints you write, not a profile stitched together across the web. When a user has ads personalization on, OpenAI may also use select signals from their wider ChatGPT use. Advertisers see aggregate results, never chat content.
Where it runs
Users on the Free and Go plans see ads. Plus, Pro and Business plans stay ad-free, and so do accounts OpenAI identifies as under 18. Businesses in 63 countries can buy them.
The auction
A relevance-weighted second-price auction. OpenAI recommends starting at a 3 to 5 dollar maximum CPC, and every campaign has a daily minimum, 25 dollars in the US. Relevance weighting means the most useful card, not simply the highest bid, tends to win the slot.
Labeled and gated
Every card is marked as an ad and held to creative rules: nothing aggressive, misleading, or visually jarring, and nothing served to accounts predicted to belong to users under 18.
Where the surface stands today
Feb 2026
ads went live inside ChatGPT
63
countries where businesses can buy them
$3–5
OpenAI's recommended starting CPC
Contextual
targeting, with no cross-web tracking
Why it is not a search ad.
The search-ad playbook
Inside the answer
Ten blue links to pick from
One answer, then one card
Keywords the user typed
The intent behind the whole conversation
The click starts the research
The reader already has the answer; the card must add to it
The method is the same
However the surface works, we run the same five layers.
Questions, answered.
How do ChatGPT ads work?
ChatGPT ads appear as a sponsored card below the assistant answer, in a clearly labeled box. Placement is contextual, matched to what the current conversation is about and the context hints advertisers write, rather than a cross-web profile. The card carries a logo, a short headline and description, and a link, and it never alters the answer above it.
How much do ChatGPT ads cost?
Every campaign has a minimum daily budget, 25 dollars in the US and a published minimum for 30 billing currencies. OpenAI recommends starting at a 3 to 5 dollar maximum CPC in a relevance-weighted second-price auction. The 200,000 dollar entry commitment from the original pilot was removed in May 2026.
Where do ChatGPT ads appear?
Ads show to users on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro and Business plans are ad-free. The card sits below a relevant answer, not inside it, and businesses in 63 countries can buy them.
Can I target specific audiences on ChatGPT?
Mostly through context: the conversation and the context hints you write. You can also target by country and, where available, by region, city or postal code, by platform, and with custom audiences built from your own customer lists (25,000 matched users to include; OpenAI advises against them in the EEA and Switzerland). Advertisers receive aggregate metrics, never chat content.
How is this different from Google Search ads?
A search ad competes for a click among ten ranked links. A ChatGPT card follows a single answer the reader already has, so it wins by adding new, provable information in the same voice, not by restating the answer or shouting louder.
The other surface
Google AI Mode Ads