2026 is going to be an interesting year for paid media: OpenAI announced its advertiser program. Claude leveraged the Super Bowl to announce that they intend not to run ads in the near future.
So, here is a quick summary about AI Search / LLM platforms and the ability to display ads.
| Platform | Has ads? | Who can see ads? | How to run ads | Known available metrics |
| ChatGPT | Yes – ads in test phase | Free and Go subscribers above 18 in the US. Free users can opt-out in exchange for stricter daily conversation limits. | By creating a specific ad account. Advertisers can choose a Reach objective to buy on a CPM basis or a Clicks objective to buy on a CPC basis. | CPM (Cost Per Mille) CPC (Cost per Click) |
| Google’s AI Overviews (AIO) | Yes | Users in the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, | By buying Google ad inventory – through Pmax and AImax. You cannot buy ads specifically for AIO, nor can you opt out of them as a Google advertiser. | No segmented reporting available for AIO. |
| Google’s AI Mode | Yes – ads in test phase | US users | By buying Google ad inventory. New ad formats available as “Google Marketing Live,” including Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers. | No segmented reporting available for AI Mode. |
| Google’s Gemini | No | |||
| Perplexity | Not really… | US users | Buy directly from the sales team, but Perplexity is currently not accepting new advertisers. | CPM (Cost Per Mille) |
| Copilot | Yes | Every Copilot user above 13, in some regions above 18, who can see Microsoft ads across its services. | By buying Microsoft ad inventory. You cannot buy ads specifically for Copilot, nor can you opt out of them. | All common ad performance metrics |
| Claude | No |
Our full guide is here.
ChatGPT Ads and Specifications
Here’s an overview of how these ads show, as well as specifications for these ads.
Ads appear below relevant ChatGPT conversations. Each ad includes:
- Advertiser name
- Favicon (advertiser logo)
- Title (headline)
- Copy (description)
- Landing page
- Image asset (creative)
ChatGPT Pricing
As seen here: “ChatGPT Ads supports cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and cost per click (CPC) buying options, allowing advertisers to optimize campaigns based on their goals. Advertisers can choose a Reach objective to buy on a CPM basis or a Clicks objective to buy on a CPC basis.
Advertisers can set custom max bids for their CPC campaigns. We recommend a starting max bid of $3-5 USD per click.
For CPM campaigns, the default max bid is $60 CPM.
We use a relevance-weighted, second-price auction to find the best ad for eligible conversations. Our system aims to maximize both advertiser and user value.”
Setting up an OpenAI ad account
Create Your OpenAI Ads Account
- Go to the OpenAI Ads Platform: Visit ads.openai.com in your browser.
- Sign Up with Your Work Email: Click “Sign up” or “Create account” and register using your work email address. Using a work email is important.
- Fill In Your Business Details
- Once prompted, complete the business information form. This typically includes:
- Business name
- Website URL
- Industry/business category
- Click “Submit” or “Continue” to complete account creation.
- Once prompted, complete the business information form. This typically includes:
Set Up Your Billing Profile
- Go to ads.openai.com and sign in with the work email you registered with.
- Navigate to Billing Settings
- Once logged in, go to Settings → Billing
- Set Up Your Billing Profile
- Enter the client’s payment and billing details
- Payment method (credit/debit card)
- Billing address
- Any invoicing preferences
- Enter the client’s payment and billing details
- Save your billing profile to activate the account for running ads.
Invite your agency as an Admin
- Go to Users Settings
- In the platform, navigate to Settings → Users
- Invite a New User: “Invite user” or “+ Add user”.
- Enter the agency’s Email Address
- Assign the Admin Role: Select “Admin” as the role to grant full access to manage the account, billing, and users.
Get started today.
If you are looking to launch ChatGPT Ads for your B2B brand, reach out and say hello.
