Last updated: 21 September 2026. This article is kept in line with OpenAI's official Ads Manager Availability table; the country list and prices may change during the beta.
What is ChatGPT Ads? The short answer
ChatGPT Ads is the sponsored advertising system that OpenAI shows inside ChatGPT. It started as a test in the US in February 2026, opened to all US businesses with the self-serve Ads Manager on 5 May 2026, spread to Europe, India, the Middle East and North Africa at the end of August, and on 16 September 2026 self-serve access reached 56 countries with the addition of Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel. A legal entity registered in Türkiye can open an ad account directly at ads.openai.com today. Ads are shown only to adult users on the Free and Go plans, as a card labelled "Sponsored" below the answer; Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts have no ads.
ChatGPT Ads is sponsored content shown in a separate area below the AI answer when a user is talking to ChatGPT about a topic and there is a product or service that fits the context of the conversation. There is no keyword targeting as in Google Ads; targeting is based on the topic of the conversation, not on the user's profile. According to OpenAI, ads do not influence the answer ChatGPT gives, they run on a separate system and they are clearly labelled "Sponsored". No ads are shown on sensitive topics such as politics, health and mental health, and ads are switched off for profiles under 18.
On the advertiser side, the system is managed through OpenAI Ads Manager at ads.openai.com. Opening an account requires business details, a tax number, a billing method and the page to be promoted (landing page). The critical rule is this: what counts is not the country where the person opening the account is located, but the country where the legal entity being billed is registered.
From the US to Türkiye: the rollout timeline in date order
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 9 February 2026 | The first ad test for Free and Go users started in the US. The enterprise pilot ran with a minimum spend requirement of 200,000 dollars. |
| April 2026 | The minimum spend was lowered to 50,000 dollars. Conversion tracking became visible for the first time. |
| 5 May 2026 | The self-serve Ads Manager opened to all US businesses with no minimum spend. CPC bidding was added to ads that until then had been sold on CPM only; the Conversions API and pixel based measurement were released. StackAdapt, Pacvue and Kargo became technology partners. |
| Summer 2026 | Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea were added to the self-serve list. |
| 4 August 2026 | Brazil was added. |
| 20 August 2026 | Mexico was added; the list reached 9 countries. |
| 24 August 2026 | Ads started being shown to users in 31 European markets (EEA + Switzerland); advertiser access opened first through the OpenAI Ads Solutions team and agency/technology partners. |
| 31 August 2026 | OpenAI announced that ChatGPT Ads had reached a 1 billion dollar annualized run rate in under 200 days. On the same day self-serve access opened to Europe, India, the Middle East and North Africa; the list grew to 52 countries. |
| 16 September 2026 | Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Israel were added; self-serve access reached 56 countries. On the same day the Sponsored Agents test, natural language campaign management and the HubSpot and Shopify integrations were announced. |
ChatGPT Ads in Türkiye: what is possible today?
Türkiye is listed as "Available" in OpenAI's official Ads Manager Availability table. In practice this means that a company registered in Türkiye can open an account and create a campaign directly at ads.openai.com, without going through one of OpenAI's agency partners or its sales team. According to reports, ads have also started being shown to Free and Go users in Türkiye.
There are two limits. OpenAI still describes this access as a beta; opening an account does not guarantee that the campaign will run, the ad has to pass policy review and the category has to be approved. The second limit is on the user side: the audience in Türkiye that uses ChatGPT on a Plus plan or above cannot be reached through this channel. That is why, for now, ChatGPT Ads should be seen as a channel added alongside Google and Meta, not one that replaces them.
For businesses in Türkiye that tried to open an account earlier and received a "your country is not supported yet" message: OpenAI says it notifies these accounts when access opens, but signing in to ads.openai.com again and checking the status is faster.
Ad formats, pricing (CPM and CPC) and who sees the ads
chat_card. This is the main format at the moment: a sponsored card below the AI answer made up of a title, a short description, an image and a destination link. When it is clicked, the user goes to the advertiser's site.
Sponsored Agents. Testing started in the US with selected advertisers on 16 September 2026. When the user clicks the ad, they move into a conversation that is separate from ChatGPT itself and customised with the brand's own information; there they can ask questions about the product, describe what they need and get recommendations, and they are directed to the brand's site. OpenAI says brands will be able to shape this agent around their own needs. No date has been announced for Türkiye.
Pricing. Between February and May, ads were sold only per 1,000 impressions (CPM); industry sources reported the starting CPM at around 60 dollars. From 5 May, cost per click (CPC) bidding was added and it was shared that OpenAI's suggested CPC range was between 3 and 5 dollars. These figures are for the US market; because the auction has only just started in Türkiye, real CPCs will take shape over the first weeks. There is no minimum spend, so it is possible to start with a small test budget.
Who sees ads and who does not. Ad display depends on the plan:
| Plan | Ads shown |
|---|---|
| Free | Yes (adult users) |
| Go | Yes (adult users) |
| Plus | No |
| Pro | No |
| Business / Team | No |
| Enterprise / Edu | No |
| Profiles under 18 | No |
Measurement: OpenAI Pixel and the Conversions API
The most important difference between ChatGPT Ads and Meta or LinkedIn is that there is no in-platform form product (instant form). The user clicks the ad, lands on your site and the conversion happens there. That is why measurement has two parts: the OpenAI pixel added to your site and the Conversions API, which sends events from your server. Server side delivery is more reliable because it is not affected by browser blocking, and identity data is sent hashed.
This is where the RevOps side of the work comes in: if the Conversions API feeds back to OpenAI whether a click from ChatGPT turned into a qualified lead or a sale in your CRM, the platform starts learning the profile that "becomes a customer" rather than the profile that "fills in a form". The closed loop architecture we build for Meta and LinkedIn can be extended to ChatGPT Ads on the same principle; details are on our RevOps service page.
Paid visibility and organic visibility are not the same thing
There are two ways to appear in ChatGPT. Advertising is one of them. The other is ChatGPT choosing and citing your site as a source while it produces the answer. This second one cannot be bought; it is earned with llms.txt, structured data, E-E-A-T signals and crawler accessibility. We call this GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and offer it as a separate service that works together with classic SEO. For a business that allocates budget to ChatGPT Ads, building its organic citability at the same time means appearing both inside the answer and below the answer in the same conversation.
Checklist for opening a ChatGPT Ads account from Türkiye
- Have the company's legal entity registered in Türkiye, its tax number and its billing details ready.
- Create an account at ads.openai.com; if you previously received a "your country is not supported" message, sign in again.
- Confirm that your ad category is among OpenAI's approved categories (there are restrictions on categories such as alcohol, gambling, pharmaceuticals and similar).
- Prepare the landing page; if the promise of the card and the message of the page do not match, clicks may come but conversions will not.
- Add the OpenAI pixel to the site and set up server side events with the Conversions API.
- Start with a small CPC test budget; because targeting is based on conversation context, the first 2-4 weeks should be planned as a learning period.
- Feed the lead and sales outcomes in your CRM back through the Conversions API.
Frequently asked questions
Is ChatGPT Ads available in Türkiye?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Türkiye is listed as "Available" in OpenAI's official Ads Manager Availability table. A business registered in Türkiye can open a self-serve account at ads.openai.com.
How much does it cost to advertise on ChatGPT?
There is no minimum spend. In the US the reported starting CPM was about 60 dollars and the suggested CPC range was between 3 and 5 dollars. Real costs in Türkiye will become clear as the auction matures.
Who sees ChatGPT ads?
Only adult users on the Free and Go plans. No ads are shown on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts.
Do ChatGPT ads influence the answers?
According to OpenAI, no. Ads run on a separate system and are shown in a separate area below the answer with a "Sponsored" label.
Which countries have ChatGPT Ads?
As of 21 September 2026, self-serve access is available in 56 countries: the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, India, 31 European markets, 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and Türkiye. The current list is on OpenAI's Ads Manager Availability page.
What are Sponsored Agents?
A new format that moves a user who clicks an ad into a separate conversation with a brand specific AI agent. Testing started in the US with selected advertisers on 16 September 2026.
What is the difference between ChatGPT Ads and GEO?
ChatGPT Ads is paid visibility; it appears as a card below the answer. GEO is the organic work that gets your site cited as a source inside the answer. One does not replace the other.
Does ChatGPT Ads have a lead form?
No. The conversion happens on the advertiser's own site and is measured through the OpenAI pixel and the Conversions API.
Sources: OpenAI Help Center, Ads Manager Availability (16 September 2026 update); OpenAI, "A milestone in expanding access to AI" (31 August 2026); Adweek, "OpenAI Opens ChatGPT Ads to Self-Service Platform" (5 May 2026); TechRepublic, Sponsored Agents announcement (16 September 2026).
