Ads in ChatGPT are here.

People aren't just asking Google anymore. They're asking ChatGPT. Do I need a lawyer after a car accident? Why is my AC blowing warm air? Who do I call about water damage? For years there was no way to buy a spot in those conversations. Now there is. ChatGPT started showing ads in February 2026, and since May any US business can run them through OpenAI's own ads manager. Here's what they are, what they cost, and how to get in before your competition does.

The short answer

ChatGPT ads are real, they're live in the US, and you can run them today. OpenAI started showing ads on February 9, 2026 to logged-in adults on ChatGPT's free and Go plans. In May it opened a self-serve ads manager at ads.openai.com — the same idea as Google Ads or Facebook Ads Manager, but for ChatGPT. Hundreds of millions of people use ChatGPT every week, and almost none of your competitors are advertising there yet. The audience is already there. The bidding war hasn't started.

What ChatGPT ads look like

One card, under the answer. Someone asks ChatGPT a question, ChatGPT answers it, and below the answer sits a single ad in a lightly tinted box, clearly labeled “Sponsored.” The ad shows a headline (up to 50 characters), a short line of text (up to 100), a square image, and a link to your website.

Two things matter here. First, there's one slot — not a page full of ads fighting for attention. Second, the ad never changes the answer. OpenAI keeps the two separate, the way a sponsored result sits above the regular results on Google. So when someone asks “what should I do after a rear-end accident in California” and ChatGPT walks them through it, your firm's card can be the only business in sight. Same for “my ceiling has a brown water stain” and your restoration company.

There's also a product feed format where stores upload their whole catalog and ChatGPT builds the ads automatically — useful for retail, not for service businesses. For a firm or a local shop, the single card is the format that matters.

How the targeting works

This is the strangest part for anyone used to Google Ads: there are no keywords. You don't bid on “personal injury lawyer near me.” ChatGPT matches your ad to the conversation itself — what the person is asking right now, what they've asked before, and what ChatGPT remembers about them.

Your control is a short written description called a context hint. You tell the system, in a sentence or two, which conversations you want: “people asking about car accident injuries, insurance claims, or whether they need a lawyer in Orange County.” Or: “homeowners asking why their AC is blowing warm air in Riverside.” That's the targeting. It reads less like a bid sheet and more like telling a person who your customer is — which, if you've read our law firm marketing plan, is exactly the work you should have done already.

A few guardrails worth knowing: nobody under 18 sees ads, conversations about health, mental health, or politics never show them, and people on paid ChatGPT plans see no ads at all.

What ChatGPT ads cost

Daily budgets start around $25, and clicks have been running about $2 to $5. Now put that next to Google, where a single click on a personal injury keyword can cost $100 to $500, and even a plumber or electrician click often runs $30 to $80. On ChatGPT, the same person — often asking a longer, more honest version of the same question — costs a few dollars to reach.

Why so cheap? Because the platform is new and almost nobody is bidding. That never lasts. Facebook clicks cost pennies in 2010. Google clicks were cheap in 2005. The businesses that showed up early got years of low-cost customers while everyone else waited for proof. OpenAI also gives you a tracking pixel, like Google and Meta do, so you can count the calls and form fills your ads actually produce — and counting is the part most failed ad campaigns skip.

How to start

Two ways to do this. You can reach out and we'll set all of it up for you — this is the work we do every day. Or, if you're in that scrappy stage where you're chasing your first clients yourself, here's the do-it-yourself version. It will feel familiar if you've ever opened Google Ads or Facebook Ads Manager:

1. Create the account. You'll need your legal business name, tax ID, and a payment method at ads.openai.com.
2. Build a campaign. Pick a goal (clicks, conversions, or reach), set a daily budget, choose your dates.
3. Write your context hints. Describe the conversations you want, including your city or service area.
4. Make the ad. A headline up to 50 characters, a line of text up to 100, a square image, and the page on your site people should land on.
5. Add the tracking pixel to your website so every call and form fill gets counted.

One note on eligibility: OpenAI blocks some categories — adult content, alcohol, tobacco, financial services, gambling. Legal services and home services are allowed. Law firms, electricians, plumbers, restoration companies: the door is open.

Should you get in early?

Honest answer: yes, with a small budget and level expectations. Early tests across the industry show people click less and buy less than they do from Google search ads — which makes sense, because someone chatting through a problem isn't always ready to hire today. So don't move your Google or LSA budget. Add a small test on top: $25 to $50 a day, one campaign, your best two or three context hints.

What you're buying with that test is price and position. Price, because clicks this cheap in front of people describing your exact problem won't stay this cheap. Position, because the first firm or shop in a market to learn a new channel keeps that lead for years — you'll know which conversations produce calls while your competitors are still asking whether ChatGPT ads are real.

And remember the ad is only the paid lane. The free lane is being the business ChatGPT mentions inside the answer itself — that's what GEO and AEO are about, and it costs work instead of money. The strongest play is both: earn the mention, and own the card under it.

Either way, treat month one as a test, not a verdict. Read the numbers, keep the context hints that produced calls, cut the ones that didn't, and refine it month after month — the same loop we run on every channel that works.

FAQs