ChatGPT Ads: How to Advertise on ChatGPT in the UK and Europe (2026 Guide)

ChatGPT ads are now live in the UK and across much of Europe. Since 31 August 2026, eligible businesses can buy them through OpenAI’s self-serve Ads Manager, without the large minimum budgets of the early pilots. For marketers, it is a new kind of ad channel: ads appear below ChatGPT’s answers and are matched to the conversation rather than to keywords. This guide explains how ChatGPT ads work, who sees them, what they cost, the privacy rules in the UK and EU, and how to set up your first campaign step by step.

The details below were checked on 11 October 2026 against OpenAI’s help centre and reporting from Digiday, Search Engine Land, Campaign and Blog du Modérateur. OpenAI is changing its ad products quickly, and some features launch in the US first, so confirm the options available in your Ads Manager account before you plan a budget.

ChatGPT Ads Timeline in the UK and Europe

According to Campaign, OpenAI says ChatGPT Ads reached an annualised revenue run rate of $1 billion in under 200 days. Search Engine Land did not publish the full list of 31 countries, so check availability for your target markets, such as Ireland or Poland, in Ads Manager before you plan a campaign.

How ChatGPT Ads Work

Where ads appear

Ads appear below ChatGPT’s responses and are labelled as ads. OpenAI’s help centre says each ad includes the advertiser’s name, favicon, a title, a short description, an image and a landing page. OpenAI says ads do not influence ChatGPT’s answers and are shown separately from them.

Who sees ads

Ads are shown to logged-in adult users on ChatGPT’s Free and Go plans. According to OpenAI, they do not appear for Plus, Pro or Business plan accounts, or for accounts identified as belonging to under-18s. That matters for targeting: you reach ChatGPT’s free and low-cost users, not its paying professional subscribers.

How ads are chosen

This is the biggest difference from Google Ads. There are no exact-match keywords. Instead, OpenAI says its system chooses ads based on:

• The context and intent of the conversation.
• Your landing page, ad title and description.
• Context hints: descriptions you add at ad-group level of the conversations or topics where your ad is relevant. OpenAI stresses that they are not keywords and do not guarantee delivery.
• Optional personalisation signals, where the user has allowed them.

Eligible ads then compete in what OpenAI describes as a relevance-weighted, second-price auction, so relevance, not just bid size, affects which ad wins.

UK and EU Privacy Rules for ChatGPT Ads

Europe has its own rules. Digiday reported that OpenAI relies on user consent, not “legitimate interest”, as the legal basis for personalised ads in the EU:

• Users who consent can see ads personalised using signals from their wider ChatGPT experience.
• Users who do not consent still see ads, but they are contextual and based on limited information such as the current conversation, approximate location and time.

The UK operates under UK GDPR rather than EU GDPR, so check UK-specific guidance with your legal or data protection team. OpenAI also says it blocks ads in sensitive or brand-unsafe contexts, and it works with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science on brand suitability. Those partners do not get access to private conversations.

For marketers, the practical upshot is to write ads that make sense from the conversation alone, without relying on audience data. Your landing page also counts towards which ad is shown, so make it relevant.

How Much Do ChatGPT Ads Cost?

There is no fixed price; you bid in an auction. Here is what is known:

• No minimum budget. The early pilot asked for a commitment of $200,000, later $50,000; Blog du Modérateur reports that self-serve now has no minimum spend.
• Two main billing models. Reach campaigns use a maximum cost per thousand impressions (CPM), and Clicks campaigns use a maximum cost per click (CPC).
• Suggested starting bids. OpenAI’s help centre recommends starting CPC bids at $3 to $5, and Ads Manager may show bid-strength guidance.
• Conversion optimisation. You can optimise for Views, Clicks or Conversions. With conversion-optimised campaigns billed per click (oCPC), you still pay for valid clicks, not for conversions.

Treat these figures as a starting point. Actual costs will depend on your category, country and competition, and early benchmarks in a brand-new channel change quickly.

How to Advertise on ChatGPT: Step by Step

Step 1: Check eligibility and create an account

Go to OpenAI’s Ads Manager at ads.openai.com and create an advertiser account. Blog du Modérateur lists the requirements as company verification, a payment method, an eligible advertiser category and ads that follow OpenAI’s advertising policies. If you work with an agency, the client should create the account and invite the agency through Settings > Users > Invites, rather than the agency creating it on the client’s behalf.

Step 2: Set up conversion tracking

Before spending money, install OpenAI’s tracking so you can measure results. Ads Manager supports a pixel and a Conversions API, with developer guidance at developers.openai.com/ads. You can also add UTM parameters to your landing-page URLs so ChatGPT traffic shows up correctly in Google Analytics or your CRM. A Shopify app and a HubSpot integration were announced in September, with US availability first according to Arvis.

Step 3: Create a campaign

Campaigns follow a three-level structure: campaign, ad group and ad. Choose your objective (Views, Clicks or Conversions), set a budget and choose the countries you want to target. Ads Manager also offers device and platform targeting, including the iOS and Android apps and web.

Step 4: Write context hints for each ad group

Instead of keywords, describe the conversations where your ad would genuinely help. For example, a UK accountancy software brand might write “small business owners asking how to file a self-assessment tax return or choose bookkeeping software”. Create separate ad groups for distinct themes so each set of hints stays focused.

Step 5: Write the ad

Keep the title short and the description useful. Speak to the problem the person is already discussing, and send them to a landing page that answers it directly. Because relevance affects the auction, a specific page usually works better than your home page. Add a clear image that represents the product.

Step 6: Set bids and launch

Start with OpenAI’s suggested CPC range, or use a CPM bid for awareness. Launch with a modest budget, then let the campaign run long enough to gather data before you change bids.

Step 7: Monitor and optimise

Ads Manager reports impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate, average CPC, average CPM and conversions. OpenAI notes that impressions and clicks refresh about every 15 minutes, but spend can lag by seven to eight hours, so a spend of zero early in the day does not mean you have not been charged. Review which ad groups convert, refine your context hints and move budget to what works.

ChatGPT Ad Formats

• Text-and-image ads below answers. This is the core format, with a title, description, image and landing page.
• Shopping ads from product feeds. Search Engine Land reported in May 2026 that retailers can connect product catalogue feeds to generate ads. Check whether this is available in your market.
• Visual ads during image generation. Announced in October 2026 as a US-only test with an initial group of advertisers.

Best Practices for ChatGPT Ads

• Match intent, not words. Think about the questions your customers ask ChatGPT, not just the terms they type into Google.
• Make landing pages answer the question. Relevance affects both whether your ad shows and what it costs.
• Do not rely on personal data in Europe. Users who decline personalisation see contextual ads only, so the ad must work without targeting.
• Use negative controls where available. OpenAI offers Negative Phrases to qualifying advertisers to keep ads away from unsuitable conversations.
• Measure from day one. Set up the pixel or Conversions API and UTM tags before launch.
• Test small. Treat the first month as a learning budget, and compare cost per conversion with Google and Meta before scaling up.
• Follow advertising codes. UK ads must still meet the Advertising Standards Authority’s CAP Code, just as on any other platform.

ChatGPT ads are also not the only way to appear in AI answers. Organic visibility still matters, and our guide to AI search monitoring shows how to track where your brand is mentioned, while our list of the best AI SEO tools covers optimisation. For the wider toolkit, see our roundup of AI tools for marketing.

What ChatGPT Ads Mean for Users

If you use ChatGPT on the Free or Go plan, you may now see ads below some answers. In Europe, OpenAI asks for your consent before personalising ads; declining changes which ads you see, not whether you see them. Paid plans such as Plus, Pro and Business are ad-free, as explained in our ChatGPT pricing guide. Ad-free alternatives with cited answers, such as Perplexity, are covered in our Perplexity pricing guide. We have also reported on OpenAI’s ad-tracking cookie, which is worth reading if privacy is a concern.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are ChatGPT ads available in the UK?

Yes. Ads launched in the UK in June 2026, and self-serve buying through Ads Manager opened to eligible European advertisers on 31 August 2026.

How much do ChatGPT ads cost?

They are sold by auction on a CPM or CPC basis with no minimum budget. OpenAI suggests starting CPC bids at $3 to $5, but actual costs vary by market and category.

Who sees ads in ChatGPT?

Logged-in adult users on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro and Business users, and under-18s, do not see ads.

Can I target keywords in ChatGPT ads?

No. ChatGPT ads use the conversation’s context and your “context hints”, which describe relevant topics but are not exact-match keywords.

Is my ChatGPT conversation shared with advertisers?

OpenAI says its brand-safety partners do not get access to private conversations. In Europe, personalised ads require your consent, and ads are otherwise contextual.

Conclusion

ChatGPT ads give UK and European marketers a new way to reach people at the moment they ask for advice, with no minimum budget and a familiar CPM and CPC auction. Success depends less on keywords and more on relevance: clear context hints, helpful ads and landing pages that answer the question. Start with a small test, measure conversions properly and compare the results with your existing channels before committing serious budget.

Sources: OpenAI Help Center – Ads in ChatGPT: the basics; Digiday – ChatGPT ads land in the UK; Search Engine Land – expansion to 31 European countries; Campaign – $1bn run rate and self-serve access; Blog du Modérateur – Ads Manager in self-service; BleepingComputer – visual ads test; Arvis – ChatGPT Ads in Europe and the UK.