Ads in ChatGPT explained: who sees them, how targeting works and how to turn them off

Ads in ChatGPT are no longer a test at the edges. OpenAI started showing them to US users on the Free and Go plans on February 9, 2026, and said on August 31 that the business had passed a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate. On October 5, it announced a new visual ad format for image generation. This explainer covers how ChatGPT ads work: who sees them, where they appear, what data shapes them, and how to limit or remove them. It also covers The Information's new report that OpenAI has slashed ad prices to sign up more advertisers.

This explainer is based on OpenAI's "Ads in ChatGPT" help article, its Ads Manager availability page and release notes, and its January 16, August 31 and October 5 posts, plus reporting by The Information and others as credited, checked October 16, 2026.

The short version

• Who sees ads: Free and Go users ($8/month). Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu are ad-free. No ads for accounts identified or predicted as under 18.
• Where: below a ChatGPT answer, labeled as sponsored. Not in Temporary Chats, and not in the Atlas browser during the test.
• Targeting: the current chat by default. With personalization on, also past chats, memory and how you interact with ads.
• Your options: turn off personalization, delete ad data, hide or report ads, use Temporary Chat, switch Free to Ads-Free with lower limits, or pay for Plus.
• What's next: visual ads during image generation, tested in the US "later this month," per OpenAI's October 5 post.
• The business: The Information reports price cuts and a hiring push from Meta. OpenAI says small businesses are now a "material share" of advertisers.

When did ChatGPT ads launch, and where?

OpenAI announced the plan on January 16, 2026, in a post titled "Our approach to advertising and expanding access to ChatGPT". It promised tests on Free and Go "in the coming weeks" for logged-in US adults. According to OpenAI's help center, testing began in the US on February 9, 2026. The ChatGPT release notes say ads began rolling out to Free and Go users in the UK on June 4, 2026.

Beyond that, it's harder to pin down. OpenAI's help article says ads are rolling out gradually to "select regions," without listing them. Its August 31 post says ads are "available in over 40 countries" for advertisers working with its sales team and partners. The Ads Manager availability page lists 63 countries where businesses can buy through the self-serve Ads Manager, from the US, UK and Canada to India, Japan and most of Europe. Neither list says exactly which users will see ads. One notable limit: personalized ads aren't initially available in the EEA or Switzerland.

Which plans see ads?

Last verified: October 16, 2026

Prices are from our ChatGPT plans comparison. Accounts that OpenAI identifies as belonging to someone under 18 don't see ads. OpenAI uses stated age and, where available, age prediction based on signals such as account age, usage times and general topics. The help article also refers to ads "shown in logged-out experiences," which it says are "appropriate for all audiences," while mature-content ads are limited to eligible logged-in users. It doesn't say where logged-out ads run.

What do ChatGPT ads look like?

Today's ads appear below the end of a ChatGPT response, labeled as sponsored and visually separated from the answer. The help article shows a product-card example. One ad unit can contain items from more than one advertiser. You can also message some advertisers directly, and that advertiser sees those messages.

Visual ads are next. On October 5, OpenAI announced image-based ads showing "product inspiration, product usage, or the experiences a product enables." They'll appear during image generation for Free and Go users, starting "later this month in the US with an initial group of advertisers." OpenAI says they will be "clearly labeled, and remain separate from the image being created." As of October 16, OpenAI hadn't said the test had started.

How are ChatGPT ads targeted?

Per OpenAI's help article, two modes apply:

• Personalization off: ads are chosen from the current chat and basic context such as general location and language.
• Personalization on: ads can also use past chats and memory, and how you've interacted with ads. A separate toggle controls whether past chats and memory are used.

What advertisers get: "aggregated, non-identifying information," such as views and clicks. OpenAI says advertisers never receive your chats, memories, name, email, precise location or IP address. Advertisers can, however, connect their own conversion data. The October 5 post lists integrations with data and measurement firms such as LiveRamp, AppsFlyer and Northbeam to attribute purchases to ad clicks.

Where ads won't appear: near personal health, mental health or political conversations. Political ads aren't allowed. Some regulated advertisers, such as health and financial services, can still buy ads elsewhere.

Answers and ads: OpenAI says ads run on systems separate from the chat model and that "advertising does not influence the answers ChatGPT provides." These are company commitments. No outside audit checks them, as our OpenAI explainer notes.

How do you turn off ChatGPT ads?

You can't switch ads off on Free without trade-offs, but you have five options:

1. Limit targeting. Open Settings > Ads controls and turn off Personalize ads, or just the past chats and memory toggle. You still see ads, chosen from the current chat only.
2. Clear your ad data. In the same menu, view your ad history and topics, or delete them. OpenAI says full removal can take up to 30 days. Deleting ad data doesn't delete chats.
3. Hide or report. Each ad's three-dot menu has Hide ad, Report ad and About this ad.
4. Use Temporary Chat. It shows no ads.
5. Remove ads.
   • On Free, go to Settings > Ads controls > Change plan to go ad-free > Reduce message limits. You'll get fewer messages, and tools such as image generation and deep research become unavailable. You can switch back from the same menu or the rate-limit banner.
   • On Go, switch to Free first.
   • Upgrade to Plus ($20/month) or a higher plan to remove ads without the lower limits.

What did The Information report about ad prices?

The Information published a paywalled report by Alix Coutures headlined "OpenAI Accelerates Ad Sprint With Meta Hires, Slashed Prices." The details below come from an October 15 summary by Shopifreaks and haven't been confirmed by OpenAI:

• OpenAI has cut ad prices. An unnamed agency founder said his business-software clients pay about $5 per click on ChatGPT, compared with $30 to $50 on Google.
• Close to half of OpenAI's roughly 140 ad employees were hired in the third quarter, more of them from Meta than from any other company. Ad chief Dave Dugan reorganized sales into industry teams.
• Ad revenue hit a $1 billion annualized pace in late August, but OpenAI will likely miss the $2.4 billion it projected to investors for 2026.

The advertiser count comes from elsewhere. New Street Research analyst Dan Salmon counted more than 60,000 advertisers from an OpenAI and AppsFlyer slide at Advertising Week New York, per Tipsheet on October 9. OpenAI's own August 31 post said "tens of thousands," and Tipsheet says an OpenAI executive cited "20K+" that day.

Smaller businesses are already a target. The Information reported in May that OpenAI wanted small and local advertisers, according to EMARKETER's summary. Reported minimum commitments fell from six figures at launch (EMARKETER says $200,000; The Next Web says $250,000) to $50,000, then to none in the self-serve Ads Manager. OpenAI confirmed on August 31 that Ads Manager, "introduced in May," opened the platform to small and medium-sized businesses, "which now make up a material share." Cost-per-click and outcome-based bidding now account for most campaigns, OpenAI says.

Why it matters

Ads now help pay for ChatGPT's free tier. OpenAI's ad revenue is still small next to the capital it is raising (our report on its funding talks), but cheaper clicks and more advertisers mean more ads competing for space below free users' answers. For users, the choice is now explicit: accept ads, accept lower limits, or pay.

What's confirmed, reported and uncertain

• Confirmed (OpenAI):
  • February 9 US launch and June 4 UK rollout
  • Free and Go only; under-18 exclusion
  • placement, targeting modes and the controls above
  • Ads-Free trade-offs
  • the October 5 visual-ad announcement
  • the $1 billion run rate and SMB share (August 31)
• Reported:
  • price cuts, the $5-per-click example, Meta hiring and the likely miss of the $2.4 billion target (The Information, via Shopifreaks, October 15)
  • 60,000+ advertisers (New Street Research, via Tipsheet)
  • the May SMB push (The Information, via EMARKETER)
• Uncertain:
  • exactly which countries' users see ads
  • whether visual-ad testing has begun
  • the size of the price cuts in CPM or CPC terms
  • whether ads will reach paid plans; OpenAI has said they won't