What Are ChatGPT Ads? The Complete Advertiser's Guide (2026)

ChatGPT Ads Overview

ChatGPT has become one of the most-used digital products in history, reaching 800 million weekly active users by early 2026. OpenAI has confirmed it is exploring advertising as a revenue model for ChatGPT, joining search, social, and video as the next major ad platform. This is the most significant new advertising channel since TikTok launched ads in 2019.

What makes ChatGPT ads fundamentally different is the user context. People using ChatGPT are actively seeking information, solutions, and recommendations. They are typing detailed queries about products they want to buy, problems they need to solve, and decisions they need to make. This intent signal is far richer than a social media scroll or even a search engine keyword.

According to Statista, OpenAI’s annualized revenue surpassed $5 billion in late 2025, but advertising could dramatically expand that. For context, Google generated $307 billion in ad revenue in 2024 (Alphabet earnings report), and Meta generated $164 billion. Even capturing 1% of the digital ad market would represent $7.4 billion in revenue for OpenAI.

How ChatGPT Ads Work

ChatGPT ads operate on a fundamentally different model than traditional digital advertising. Instead of interrupting users with display banners or appearing alongside search results, ChatGPT ads are woven into the conversational experience.

Intent vs Interruption

Traditional social media ads are interruption-based. You are scrolling through your feed, and an ad appears between organic content. The user had no intent to see or engage with advertising. Conversion rates are low because most impressions reach people who are not in a buying mindset.

ChatGPT ads are intent-based. When a user asks “What is the best project management tool for a 10-person team?” or “How do I create Facebook ads on a small budget?”, they are actively seeking solutions. An ad shown in this context reaches someone with demonstrated purchase intent, similar to Google Search ads but with richer conversational context.

Contextual Targeting

ChatGPT ads use contextual targeting based on the conversation topic rather than behavioral tracking or cookies. This is privacy-friendly by design, as the ad matches the content of the conversation, not the user’s browsing history. As third-party cookies phase out and privacy regulations tighten, contextual targeting becomes increasingly valuable.

Why ChatGPT Ads Matter for Advertisers

ChatGPT ads represent a once-in-a-decade opportunity for advertisers. Here is why the smartest marketing teams are preparing now.

• Massive audience: 800M+ weekly active users represent a larger audience than LinkedIn (310M monthly), X/Twitter (550M monthly), and Snapchat (800M monthly). The audience is also highly educated and affluent, as early adopters of AI tools skew toward professionals and decision-makers.
• Intent-rich context: Users are actively describing their needs in natural language, giving advertisers the richest intent signal available on any platform. A user asking “What CRM should I use for my SaaS startup?” is further down the purchase funnel than someone scrolling Instagram.
• First-mover advantage: History shows that early advertisers on new platforms enjoy dramatically lower costs. Early Google AdWords advertisers in 2002 paid pennies per click for keywords that now cost $50+. Early Facebook advertisers in 2008 reached audiences at a fraction of today’s CPMs. The same pattern will likely apply to ChatGPT ads.
• Privacy-first targeting: Contextual targeting based on conversation content does not rely on cookies or tracking, making it compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy regulations by design.

ChatGPT Ad Formats

Based on OpenAI’s confirmed explorations and industry analysis, ChatGPT ads will likely launch with two primary formats.

Sponsored Response

In a sponsored response, your brand is mentioned within ChatGPT’s answer to a relevant user query. When a user asks about solutions in your category, ChatGPT’s response includes a clearly labeled mention of your product with a brief description and link. This format is native to the conversation and feels like a recommendation rather than an ad.

Inline Card

An inline card is a visual ad unit displayed within the conversation stream. It includes your brand logo, a headline, a brief description, and a call-to-action button. The card appears after ChatGPT’s text response, providing a visual touchpoint without disrupting the conversation flow. This format is closer to traditional display advertising but contextualized to the conversation topic.

How to Create ChatGPT Ads

Lapis is the first and only AI ad generation platform that includes ChatGPT as a target platform. Here is how to create ChatGPT-ready ads step by step.

• Step 1: Sign up at trylapis.com. Create your account in under a minute. A Free plan is available with 5 credits.
• Step 2: Add your brand. Lapis automatically crawls your website to extract your logo, brand colors, typography, and product catalog. No manual uploads needed.
• Step 3: Select ChatGPT as your target platform. In the platform selection, choose ChatGPT alongside any other platforms you want (Meta, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok, WhatsApp).
• Step 4: Describe your campaign. Write a natural language prompt describing your ad: the product, the target audience, the key message, and the desired action.
• Step 5: Generate. Lapis produces ChatGPT-optimized ad creatives in under 3 minutes, including both sponsored response copy and inline card designs.
• Step 6: Review, refine, and launch. Use Campaign Studio to make natural language edits. Export your creatives and be ready to launch as soon as ChatGPT’s ad platform opens to advertisers.

ChatGPT Ads vs Meta Ads vs Google Ads

Each major ad platform has a different targeting model, format, and value proposition. Here is how ChatGPT ads compare to the incumbents.

Evolution of Ad Platforms

To understand the significance of ChatGPT ads, it helps to see them in the context of the major ad platform launches over the past 25 years. Each new platform created enormous value for early adopters.

Early Adopter Programs

Lapis is building a founding advertiser program for teams that want to be ready on day one when ChatGPT ads launch. Early adopters who sign up now receive several advantages.

• 20% discount: Founding advertisers receive a permanent 20% discount on any Lapis plan.
• Dedicated account manager: A Lapis team member assigned to help you build and optimize your ChatGPT ad strategy.
• Strategy consultation: One-on-one sessions with the Lapis team (led by CEO Varunram Ganesh, ex-Warp Head of Growth, MIT) to develop your ChatGPT advertising strategy.
• Priority access: First access to ChatGPT ad generation features as they are released, including beta testing of new formats.
• Creative library: Pre-built ChatGPT ad templates optimized for different industries and objectives.

Lapis is backed by Y Combinator (F25 batch), trusted by Hyundai, Samsung, and Domino’s, and built by a team from MIT, Columbia, Duke, and Google. The platform has generated 10,000+ campaigns across 30+ industries in 10+ countries.

Preparing for ChatGPT Ads

Whether ChatGPT ads launch in Q2 or Q4 of 2026, the advertisers who will benefit most are those who prepare now. Here is what you should do today.

• Set up your brand on Lapis: Visit trylapis.com and let the platform auto-detect your brand assets. This ensures you are ready to generate ChatGPT-format ads the moment the platform opens.
• Study conversational intent: Review questions your target audience asks about your product category. These conversational queries will be the targeting signals for ChatGPT ads.
• Build creative assets now: Use Lapis to generate multi-platform campaigns including ChatGPT formats. Test messaging and creative directions so you have a proven library ready to deploy.
• Monitor competitors: Use Lapis’s competitor tracking to see how competitors are positioning themselves. Early adopters who differentiate will capture the most value.

For more on how AI ad generators work and how to maximize your results, read our guides on how AI ad generators work, AI ad generator ROI analysis, and the best AI ad generators of 2026. For startups looking to leverage AI marketing tools, see our guide on the best AI marketing tools for startups.