OpenAI has opened paid placements inside ChatGPT, a product 900 million people open every month. For mobile growth teams, it is a brand new acquisition channel with very little competition, but most people are still fuzzy on how it actually works. This guide walks through the formats, the audience, the auction, the pricing, and the measurement, using what OpenAI has published so far.
Where ChatGPT Ads appear
ChatGPT Ads are paid placements that appear below a relevant ChatGPT conversation, shown while a person is exploring options, comparing choices, or making a decision. That context is the whole pitch. A user asking ChatGPT to compare budgeting apps or recommend a language tutor is much closer to a decision than someone scrolling a social feed. The intent looks more like search than social, but the surface is conversational.
Because the ad sits below the answer rather than interrupting it, the placement reads as a suggestion that fits the moment, not a banner fighting for attention.
Who sees ChatGPT Ads
This is the detail most teams miss. OpenAI does not show ads to everyone:
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Ads are shown to logged-in users on the free tier.
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Ads are not shown to Plus, Pro, or Business subscribers.
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Ads are not shown to anyone OpenAI knows or predicts is under 18.
So the reachable audience skews toward free-tier, adult users in active research mode. For a consumer app with broad appeal, that is a large, high-intent pool. For a product that only sells to paying power users, it is worth weighing who you actually reach before you budget heavily.
What a ChatGPT Ad looks like
The ad unit is deliberately simple. Each ad includes:
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Advertiser name
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Favicon, the advertiser or app logo
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Title, the headline
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Copy, a short description
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Image asset, the creative
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Landing page, where the click goes
If you have run Google or Meta ads, the anatomy is familiar. The creative work is in writing a headline and description that fit a recommendation, not repurposing a video script.
How ChatGPT decides which ad to show
ChatGPT Ads are matched primarily on relevance to the context and intent of the conversation. The system weighs inputs like the landing page, ad title, ad copy, and advertiser-provided context hints.
At the ad group level, advertisers provide context hints: the conversations, topics, or keywords where their product might be relevant. These guide matching, but they are not exact-match keywords and they do not guarantee delivery in a specific conversation. This is a real departure from Google, where you bid on precise queries. On ChatGPT, you describe the moment and let relevance do the matching.
Winning ads are chosen through a relevance-weighted, second-price auction, which aims to balance advertiser value and user experience.
What ChatGPT Ads cost
ChatGPT Ads support two buying models tied to your objective:
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Reach objective, bought on a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) basis. The default max bid is around $60 CPM.
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Clicks objective, bought on a CPC (cost per click) basis. OpenAI recommends a starting max bid of roughly $3 to $5 per click.
Which one fits depends on your goal, your funnel, and how you measure downstream value. We break the trade-offs down in ChatGPT Ads pricing explained.
How ChatGPT Ads are measured
Ads Manager reporting currently covers impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate, average CPC, average CPM, and conversions. Two things matter for anyone running performance campaigns:
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You can set up conversion measurement in Ads Manager.
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Tracking parameters persist on the click, so a tracking link in your landing page URL carries through and shows up in your analytics tools.
That second point is the hook for mobile apps. A click on the web does not install your app on its own, so you need an MMP to tie the ChatGPT Ads click to the install and to the revenue that follows. We cover that flow in how to measure and attribute ChatGPT Ads.
Why mobile growth teams should care now
Early advertisers like Best Buy, Lowe's, and VistaPrint are already testing the channel. The brands that move first are taking placements at research intent before competition pushes prices up. If your users are in ChatGPT every day asking the kind of question your app answers, a test budget now buys learning that is hard to get later. To see where it fits against your current mix, compare ChatGPT Ads vs Meta vs Google.
Frequently asked questions
Who can see ChatGPT Ads?
Logged-in free-tier users who are 18 or older. Plus, Pro, and Business subscribers do not see ads.
Are ChatGPT Ads keyword-based like Google?
No. You provide context hints describing relevant conversations and topics, and ads are matched on relevance rather than exact-match keywords.
How are ChatGPT Ads priced?
Through a relevance-weighted second-price auction, on a CPM basis for Reach campaigns or a CPC basis for Clicks campaigns.
Can I attribute app installs from ChatGPT Ads?
Yes. Tracking parameters persist on the click, so an MMP like Linkrunner can tie the click to the install and the revenue that follows. See how to attribute installs from ChatGPT Ads or the ChatGPT Ads attribution page.
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