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On February 9, 2026, OpenAI announced that it would officially begin testing ads in ChatGPT for its US-based audience. As of May 2026, OpenAI is set to expand its pilot even further.
And so far, the response has been mixed.
Ad industries are excited, of course, as it provides them with a new opportunity to get their products and services in front of potential buyers.
To help you get the insights you need, here’s what we know so far about ChatGPT ads.
Maintain transparency about whether what you’re reading is Likely AI or human-written as AI becomes increasingly integrated across industries, from marketing to advertising, with Originality.ai’s AI Detector.
It seems OpenAI may need the revenue from ChatGPT ads to help keep the chatbot accessible.
The company’s announcement notes that its Free and Go plans (its no-cost and low-cost options) still require “significant infrastructure and ongoing investment” to maintain the same kind of speed and reliability users have come to expect from ChatGPT.
And so far, it seems like it may accomplish its goals with these ads. In a post published March 31st, 2026, OpenAI shared that its “ads pilot reached more than $100 million in ARR” in less than six weeks.
In the initial testing phase, only Free and Go users in the US will see ads on ChatGPT.
However, in the following updates from OpenAI, the initial audience expanded:
OpenAI has been clear that no ads will show up for users on the following accounts:
At least, so far. Considering that a January 2025 X post by Sam Altman revealed that OpenAI Pro subscriptions were actually losing them money, it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if this list changed in the near future.
According to OpenAI’s ad policies, there is a fairly short list of ad types allowed during the early stages of their ChatGPT advertising rollout.
ChatGPT ads are limited to a certain set of consumer categories, including:
OpenAI reports that “we expect to expand eligible categories over time as our safeguards, review systems, and compliance infrastructure mature”.
OpenAI has also specified which ads it doesn’t allow. A list of both its allowed and disallowed ads is noted in OpenAI’s ad policies.
When there’s a relevant match to their chat, users may see an ad at the end of a ChatGPT response.
In the ad demo shared in their announcement, the ads also have a “sponsored” label and are visually separated from the generated text.
In a help article posted to its website, OpenAI repeatedly claims that ads don’t influence ChatGPT’s answers, aren’t integrated into responses, and aren’t meant to be endorsements. They are simply paid placements.
In addition to following the criteria for OpenAI’s allowed ad types, there appear to be two main factors influencing which ads ChatGPT shows to users: contextual matching and personalization settings.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ads users see on ChatGPT largely depend on what they’re currently talking about with the chatbot.
For example, if you’re using ChatGPT to help plan a dinner party, you might see ads for a meal-kit service or a grocery list app.
In other words, it takes your current conversation topic and matches it to relevant ads and advertisers.
If you opt for personalized ads, OpenAI may also consider the information collected through that setting to help determine your ChatGPT ads, including your current chat, past chats, and ad interaction patterns.
OpenAI notes that it only shares aggregated performance data with advertisers, such as total ad views or clicks.
During the test, ChatGPT’s Free and Go users in the US can control some of their ad settings/preferences by logging into ChatGPT and going to Settings > Ads controls.
From these settings, you can:
Keep in mind that if you turn off personalization, you might still see ads based on the current chat thread.
OpenAI has actually included an Ads-Free option for Free users to opt out of ads entirely. However, it comes with a few catches, including lower usage limits and little to no access to image generation, deep research, or other tools.
Free users can switch to the ChatGPT Ads-Free experience in just a few steps:
For a complete ad-free experience, users need to upgrade to at least a Plus or Pro account.
Right now, ChatGPT ads are clearly labeled, limited in scope, and controlled by a fairly strict set of rules.
Advertisers don’t see your conversations, and users can still limit or avoid ads entirely.
However, the rollout is still in a testing phase. Because of that, it’s important to watch how many of these limits stay the same as OpenAI considers expanding ad formats, advertiser types, and availability over time.
As AI is increasingly integrated across industries, from content marketing to advertising, maintain transparency with Originality.ai.
Further reading on ChatGPT and AI:
Yes, as of February 2026, ChatGPT has started testing ads for its US audience. During the initial testing phase, users with Free or Go plans may see a clearly labeled ad unit under ChatGPT’s generated responses.
So far, OpenAI has only shared an example of what a ChatGPT ad can look like in their announcement, and from that, it looks like they’ll appear at the bottom of ChatGPT-generated responses when the system identifies an ad relevant to the conversation.
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