ChatGPT Ads: How They Work in Europe and When They Pay Off

Since 31 August 2026 any business in the EU, EEA or Switzerland (31 countries) can buy ads in ChatGPT through Ads Manager, without going through OpenAI's sales team, from €15 a day. They appear below the answer, labelled as sponsored, and according to OpenAI they do not change what ChatGPT answers. Here is how you buy them, who sees them, which sectors cannot advertise and how to tell whether they pay off compared with Google Ads.

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  • €15/day minimum budget in Europe
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Definition

What are ChatGPT ads?

They are ads that OpenAI shows below ChatGPT's answer, labelled as sponsored, to adult users on the Free plan and the low-cost paid Go plan. The ad is chosen by the context of the conversation, not by keywords, and you pay per click or per thousand impressions. In Europe they have been shown since late August 2026, and since 31 August you can buy them self-serve in Ads Manager, from €15 a day. They do not get ChatGPT to cite you in the answer: that is still organic work.

This page does not come from campaigns of ours: self-serve opened in Europe on 31 August 2026 and we have no results of our own to show yet. It gathers what OpenAI publishes in its help centre and announcements, checked on 26 September 2026, plus the press figures we cite with their dates. OpenAI does not publish performance benchmarks yet either, so anyone promising you a ROAS on ChatGPT is guessing. When we have our own data, we will add it here.

In numbers

The essentials in four figures

According to OpenAI's documentation, checked on 26 September 2026.

  • €15 Minimum daily budget In Europe ($25 in the US). A given day can spend up to twice the daily budget; a week, up to 7 times.
  • 31 European countries The 27 EU countries plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, with self-serve since 31 Aug 2026.
  • $3-5 Starting bid per click The maximum bid OpenAI recommends starting with. There are no public cost-per-click figures for Europe.
  • Context No Personalisation in Europe No personalised ads in the EEA or Switzerland at launch: what counts is the conversation, approximate location, time and device.

Key points

How to Advertise on ChatGPT in 6 Steps

The order we would follow with a client. The first two decide whether you can advertise at all.

  1. 01

    Check that your sector can advertise

    Outside the US, OpenAI does not accept ads for legal services, almost anything health-related, alcohol, gambling, dating or politics, and almost everything financial is restricted to approved advertisers. Ads are also not shown near conversations about health, mental health or politics. Check this before you prepare anything.

  2. 02

    Create the account in your company's name

    OpenAI verifies the business and the domain, and the review can take up to 7 working days. An agency cannot create the account for you: you create it and invite them. That way the account and its history are yours from day one, as we do in Google Ads.

  3. 03

    Track conversions before you spend

    Install the OpenAI pixel or its Conversions API and tag your links with UTMs. Without conversions you cannot optimise bids or compare with Google Ads. And watch your analytics: many visits from ChatGPT arrive with no referrer; we explain it in how to track ChatGPT traffic.

  4. 04

    Choose a format: ad or catalogue

    The standard ad has a name, logo, headline, text, image and landing page. If you sell online, you can upload a product catalogue (CSV, URL or SFTP) and show price, discount and ratings; according to OpenAI, these are among the best-performing ads. Products expire after 2 weeks if you do not update the catalogue.

  5. 05

    Write context hints, not keywords

    There is no exact match. You give "context hints" and the system decides based on the conversation, your landing page and the ad text. The ad wins a second-price auction weighted by relevance: an ad that fits the conversation can beat one that bids more.

  6. 06

    Start small and compare with Google Ads

    Bid per click (CPC), per thousand impressions (CPM) or optimised for conversions. OpenAI recommends starting with a maximum bid of $3 to $5 per click. After 4 to 6 weeks, compare the cost per lead or per sale with Google Ads, measured the same way. If it falls short, you can stop whenever you like.

Who it is for

Is advertising on ChatGPT worth it for you?

Today it is a channel to test, not a replacement for Google Ads.

Who it's for

  • Online stores with an up-to-date product catalogue: according to OpenAI, product ads are among the best-performing ones.
  • Businesses that already track conversions well in Google Ads and can compare cost per lead or per sale.
  • Products or services people research by talking it through (comparing options, planning a purchase) before deciding.
  • Anyone who can set aside a test budget for several weeks without relying on it to sell.

Who it's not for

  • Excluded or restricted sectors: legal services, healthcare, alcohol, gambling, dating, politics and almost everything financial.
  • Anyone who needs interest targeting or remarketing: in the European Economic Area and Switzerland there are no personalised ads today.
  • Anyone who wants ChatGPT to recommend them in the answer: that cannot be bought, it is earned with GEO.
  • Anyone who does not track conversions: without the pixel or the Conversions API you will not know whether it works.

FAQ

FAQs About ChatGPT Ads

What people ask us when they are thinking of trying them.

If I pay for ads, will ChatGPT recommend me in its answers?

No. OpenAI puts it this way: "Ads do not influence ChatGPT's answers". Ads run through a separate system and the advertiser cannot change, reorder or alter the answer. Products in your ad catalogue do not appear in organic shopping recommendations either. To get ChatGPT to cite you in the answer, see how to show up in ChatGPT.

Who sees ChatGPT ads?

Adult users signed in on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans do not see them, nor do under-18s or anyone using a temporary chat. They also do not appear near conversations about health, mental health or politics. On the Free plan, users can choose not to see ads in exchange for fewer messages.

How much does it cost to advertise on ChatGPT?

The minimum budget is €15 a day in Europe, and OpenAI recommends starting with a maximum bid of $3 to $5 per click. There are no public cost-per-click figures for Europe and no performance benchmarks from OpenAI. The only sourced price reference is from the US and predates self-serve: according to Digiday (April 2026), the CPM went from $60 to $25-45. If an agency manages the campaign, its fee is separate.

Can I target by interests or do remarketing?

Not in Europe. For now there are no personalised ads in the European Economic Area or Switzerland: the ad is chosen by the conversation, approximate location, time and device. You can target by country, region, city or postcode where available, and by platform. Custom audiences require at least 25,000 users, and OpenAI advises against using them in campaigns for Europe while there is no personalisation.

What data does the advertiser receive?

Only aggregated figures: impressions, clicks, spend, CTR, average CPC and CPM, conversions and order ROAS. Never the chats, history, memory, name, email, IP or exact location of the user. Attribution is last-touch, with a window of 7, 14 or 30 days after the click and 0 or 1 day after the view.

Can an agency manage my ChatGPT ads?

Yes, as an invited user. OpenAI does not let the agency create the account on the client's behalf: your company creates it, passes verification and invites us. It is the same model we follow in Google Ads: the account is yours and you keep it if we stop working together.

What is the difference between an ad and a ChatGPT shopping result?

The ad is labelled as sponsored, kept separate and always after the answer. The shopping results ChatGPT shows inside the answer are chosen by ChatGPT itself, according to OpenAI, based on availability, price, quality and whether the store is the manufacturer or the main seller, and they "are not ads". Being in one does not get you into the other.

Are there ads inside Google's AI Overviews or AI Mode in the EU?

Inside them, not yet. According to Google Ads help, ads inside AI Overviews only run in English and in countries such as the US, Canada, Australia or India, none of them in the EU. Google is testing ads in AI Mode in the US and said in October 2025 that it had not announced plans for the EU; as of 26 September 2026 we have not seen any later announcement. What does happen in Europe: your Google Ads ads can appear above or below the AI Overview, without changing anything in the account. We manage that in Google Ads.

Does it pay off more than Google Ads?

Nobody knows yet, and we know of no one who can claim it with data from Europe. Google Ads captures an explicit search and has years of data to optimise with; ChatGPT picks the ad from the context of a conversation and opened in Europe in late August 2026. The sensible move is a small test with the same tracking you use in Google Ads, and to decide on your cost per customer, not on CTR.

Sources

Sources for the data on this page

Official OpenAI documentation and press, checked on 26 September 2026.

  1. OpenAI: ChatGPT Ads expands across Europe Announcement of 18 Aug 2026 (31 European countries) and update of 31 Aug 2026: self-serve in Ads Manager. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  2. OpenAI: Ads Manager availability by country The 27 EU countries plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  3. OpenAI: Ads in ChatGPT (user help) Who sees ads, excluded topics, temporary chats, controls, data the advertiser does not receive, the quote "Ads do not influence ChatGPT's answers" and no personalisation in the EEA and Switzerland at launch. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  4. OpenAI: Ads in ChatGPT, the basics Ad format, context hints, second-price auction weighted by relevance, recommended starting bid of $3-5 per click and metrics. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  5. OpenAI: create campaigns for ChatGPT Ads CPM, CPC and conversion optimisation; minimum budget of €15 a day ($25 in the US); targeting by location and platform; custom audiences of at least 25,000 users. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  6. OpenAI: daily budgets A day can spend up to twice the daily budget and a week up to 7 times. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  7. OpenAI: set up an Ads Manager account Agencies cannot create accounts on the client's behalf; the client invites them. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  8. OpenAI: troubleshooting common onboarding and policy issues Business and domain verification (up to 7 working days) and excluded or restricted categories outside the US. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  9. OpenAI: ad policies Prohibited and restricted categories. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  10. OpenAI: EU privacy policy Personalised ads only with consent; non-personalised ads use the chat context, approximate location, time and device, on the basis of legitimate interest. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  11. OpenAI: campaigns from product catalogues Upload formats, expiry after 2 weeks, country-only targeting and products that do not appear in organic conversations. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  12. OpenAI: measure results Pixel, Conversions API, UTMs and attribution windows (7, 14 or 30 days after click; 0 or 1 day after view). Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  13. OpenAI: ChatGPT Ads frequently asked questions OpenAI "does not yet have performance benchmarks". Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  14. OpenAI: shopping with ChatGPT search Shopping results "are not ads" and how they are ranked. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  15. OpenAI: Testing ads in ChatGPT Start of the US test on 9 Feb 2026 and ad-free plans. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  16. Digiday: ChatGPT ads are getting cheaper Published 17 Apr 2026: CPM from $60 to $25-45 in the US test, before self-serve. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  17. Euronews: ChatGPT to start showing ads across Europe next week Published 21 Aug 2026: first ads in Europe from 24 August. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  18. Google Ads: ads and AI Overviews Ads inside AI Overviews only in English and in Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and the US; above or below, in all markets with AI Overviews. Checked on 26 Sep 2026.
  19. Search Engine Roundtable: ads in AI Mode in the EU Published 14 Oct 2025, with Google's reply: "We have not disclosed any plans to bring ads in AI Mode to the EU". Checked on 26 Sep 2026.

Next step

Does Advertising on ChatGPT Make Sense for Your Business?

We check whether your sector can advertise, how you track conversions today and what a customer costs you in Google Ads, and we tell you whether it is worth a test. If it is not, we will tell you.

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