How ads in ChatGPT work, in brief
OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT in the United States in early 2026 and has since launched them in more countries. According to OpenAI’s help centre, as checked in October 2026:
- Placement: ads appear below ChatGPT’s responses.
- Format: each ad has the advertiser’s name and logo, a title, a short description, an image and a landing page.
- Audience: ads are not shown on Plus, Pro or Business plans, or to accounts identified as belonging to users under 18.
- Matching: the system considers the conversation, the ad’s title and copy, context hints from the advertiser — and the landing page itself.
- Billing: you pay for impressions or for valid clicks, with a maximum bid you set.
Details such as available countries and eligible categories change often. Check OpenAI’s advertiser documentation before you plan a campaign.
Why ChatGPT ad traffic is different
Someone who clicks a ChatGPT ad has just had a conversation about their problem. They have usually read an answer that explains options, and the ad appeared because it matched that conversation. They arrive informed, with questions still open — not cold, like a reader clicking a native ad, and not with a single typed phrase, like a search visitor.
| Search ad | Native ad | ChatGPT ad | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the visitor was doing | Typing a query | Reading an article | Asking questions and reading an answer |
| What they know | What they want, roughly | Often nothing about the product yet | The options and what matters when choosing |
| What the page should do | Confirm the match and make the offer | Explain the problem first — see native ads landing page | Answer the remaining questions and show why this option fits |
A page that repeats generic background the visitor has just read wastes the click. A page that skips straight to a buy button ignores the comparison they were in the middle of.
Which page to send ChatGPT ad traffic to
OpenAI recommends linking to the most specific relevant page, such as a product or collection page, rather than a generic home page. Within that rule, match the page to how people decide:
| Your situation | Send ChatGPT ad traffic to |
|---|---|
| A simple product with a clear offer | The product page — see product page checklist |
| A considered purchase people research and compare | A buying guide or comparison page that leads to the product |
| A time-limited offer | A campaign landing page for that offer |
| Software or a service with a trial | A page for that use case that ends in the sign-up |
| You want leads, not sales | A page that ends in a short form |
What a ChatGPT ads landing page needs
- A headline that repeats the ad’s title. The visitor clicked a specific promise; the first screen should confirm it in similar words.
- A plain statement of what you sell and who it is for. OpenAI uses the landing page to decide when to show the ad, so a clear page helps the ad reach the right conversations as well as the right visitors.
- Answers to the questions people ask before buying: how it compares with the usual alternatives, what it costs, what is included, how long it takes. These are the questions the conversation was about.
- Specifics, not slogans: sizes, materials, prices, terms. A visitor who has just read a detailed answer notices a vague page.
- One offer and one action, with every button leading to the same place.
- A fast, phone-friendly first screen. ChatGPT runs in mobile apps as well as browsers, so plenty of clicks will open on a phone.
Let OpenAI’s ad crawler read the page
OpenAI visits every landing page submitted with an ad, using a crawler called OAI-AdsBot, to check it against its policies. If the crawler cannot read the page, the ad cannot be reviewed. OpenAI also recommends allowing OAI-SearchBot. Check these layers, in order:
- robots.txt must not disallow OAI-AdsBot for the landing page path.
- Firewall, CDN and bot protection must not block it. OpenAI notes that Cloudflare verifies and allows OAI-AdsBot; other providers may need an allowlist rule.
- No human checks in the way: CAPTCHAs and JavaScript challenges stop crawlers even when everything else allows them.
- A plain web page as the destination. Pages behind a login, app-store links, deep links, documents and region-locked pages may not give the crawler enough to review.
Fix access on the site itself; OpenAI says not to rely on a manual bypass. After a fix, ads may need to be resubmitted for review.
Getting the page through review
OpenAI reviews the title, copy, image and landing page together, and rejects an ad if any of them breaks its ad policies. For a landing page, the points that matter most are:
- Accuracy: the page must represent the advertiser and the offer as they really are. Claims about results, prices or comparisons with other products have to be true.
- No invented proof: made-up endorsements, reviews or experts are not allowed.
- Category rules apply to the page too: a page that brings in a restricted or disallowed topic can get an otherwise acceptable ad rejected.
Restricted categories, such as financial services, have extra requirements. Read the current policy for your category before you build the page.
How to measure a ChatGPT ads landing page
- Add UTM parameters to the landing page URL. OpenAI keeps them on ad clicks, so your existing analytics can separate ChatGPT traffic.
- Keep them on the way through if the landing page links on to a product page or checkout, so sales can be traced back to the ad.
- Set up conversion measurement in Ads Manager. Its reports cover impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate, cost per click and per thousand impressions, and conversions.
- Judge by cost per order or per lead, not by clicks. Visitors from ChatGPT may arrive better informed, and the only way to know whether that pays is to compare what each sale costs.
Test one change at a time, starting with how the first screen answers the ad’s promise.