Explained · updated [date]
Ads in ChatGPT, explained for store owners
Who sees ads
Logged-in adults on the free plans.
- Logged-in adult users on the Free and Go plans.
- Not users on Plus, Pro, Business or other paid plans.
- Not accounts of people under 18.
- Only in the countries where ads are switched on: [live list, dated].
As of [month year]. Source: [OpenAI Help Centre article + link].
Below the answer, clearly labelled.
ChatGPT writes its answer first. When an ad fits the conversation, it appears below the answer as a separate block marked “Sponsored”, with the advertiser’s name, a title, a short description, a product image and a link to the store. The ad does not change what the answer says.
ChatGPT
We’re going to Lisbon in August. What should I pack that won’t be too hot? Something nice enough for dinner out.
August in Lisbon is warm and dry, so pack light, breathable fabrics. A linen shirt works for daytime and dresses up for dinner with chinos. Here’s one option:
<your-brand>
· Sponsored
Breathable Linen Shirt
Lightweight, relaxed-fit linen made for hot weather, machine washable. Under $120.
Advertiser name and favicon
Your store name, above the ad. You set it; it must match the business behind the ad account.
The “Sponsored” label
Added by OpenAI to every paid placement. Nobody can remove it.
Title and copy
You write them. They have to describe what is on the landing page and follow OpenAI’s ad policies.
Product image
From your catalog or uploaded with the ad. It has to show the product being sold.
Landing page
Where the click goes, on your own store. OpenAI also reads it when deciding where the ad fits.
As of [month year]. Source: [OpenAI Help Centre article + link].
Formats
Product cards from your catalog, or chat cards written per ad group.
Product cards (catalog campaigns)
Chat cards
How an ad is chosen
Relevance first, then price.
- The conversation itself: what the person asked and what the answer is about.
- Your ad: its landing page, title, copy and the context hints you add. Hints describe the moment; they are not exact-match keywords.
- Personalisation, only if the user has allowed it.
- Among the ads that fit, a relevance-weighted second-price auction decides which one shows and what it costs.
- Ad-review crawlers visit your landing page, so the page has to be about what the ad says.
As of [month year]. Source: [OpenAI Help Centre article + link].
What it costs
You set the budget and the bid. OpenAI bills your account.
- Buy by views, clicks or conversions.
- Set a maximum bid per ad group.
- OpenAI’s own starting guidance on cost per click: [figure, dated, with source].
- Smallest daily budget by currency: [our table, dated].
- In our experience, reported spend lags real spend by several hours, so read yesterday’s numbers, not this morning’s.
As of [month year]. Source: [OpenAI Help Centre article + link].
The number a store owner actually plans with
Ads plus whoever runs them, as one monthly total. If you hire help, ask for both lines together. Ours look like this:
1
2
Never a percentage of your ad spend.
Bigger catalog, more markets, or something unusual? Talk to us.
Worked example at the smallest budget: [daily floor × days + fee = monthly total].
Eligibility
Where you can advertise, and what OpenAI declines.
Countries where self-serve Ads Manager is open
[live list, dated, with source]
Categories OpenAI declines
- Alcohol
- Tobacco and vaping
- Gambling
- Adult products
- Health claims
- Full policy: [link to OpenAI’s ad policies, dated]
As of [month year]. Source: [OpenAI Help Centre article + link].
Measurement
What Ads Manager reports, and what it needs from your store.
- Ads Manager reports impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate, cost per click, cost per thousand views and conversions.
- Conversions need a pixel on your store plus the server-side Conversions API. Without them, Ads Manager can count clicks but not orders.
- UTM tags stay on the click, so your own analytics can see where the visit came from.
- Most analytics tools file orders that started in a ChatGPT conversation as “direct”, because the referrer is often missing.
As of [month year]. Source: [OpenAI Help Centre article + link].
Organic gets you considered. Ads let you own the moment.
Getting your catalog into a shape ChatGPT can read and recommend is the baseline every store should have. Ads are the other lever: paying to appear under the answer, for the moments you choose, with budget and timing under your control.
Organic recommendations
You become eligible to be recommended
Placement is earned; you can’t choose the question
Slow to move; you compete on your catalog’s merits
The baseline every catalog should have
Ads in ChatGPT
You pay to appear under answers that fit your ad
Show up at the moment of decision, not just be eligible
Budget-driven: turn it up on what converts
Timing and scale under your control
Every channel catches the shopper at a different moment.
Social interrupts a scroll. Search catches a keyword. ChatGPT catches the shopper while they describe what they want, often with the budget, the constraint and the occasion in one message.
Paid social
Meta · TikTokReaches them whileInterrupting a scroll
Paid search
Google AdsReaches them whileA two-word keyword
Ads in ChatGPT
the buying conversationReaches them whileDescribing the exact need
What can go wrong
Rules of thumb from the stores we run.
- Catalog processing time is erratic. Judge nothing before about 36 hours.
- Day-one click-through rate is the learning phase, not the verdict.
- Uploading the whole catalog is not the same as covering the questions shoppers ask.
- Context hints are not keywords. A hint that names the product instead of the moment tends to underdeliver.
- A pixel from a different ad account is refused. The pixel and the campaigns must live in the same account.
- Check stock cover before you scale a winning product.
Where you come in
See how this runs on your platform.
See it in your category
Questions store owners ask
Frontlane for ChatGPT Ads
Start with the free install.
Free tracking for ChatGPT Ads on your store. When you want the campaigns run for you, they run in your own ad account: ads paid to OpenAI directly, plus a flat Frontlane fee, never a share of your spend.