ChatGPT Ads Now Reach More Than 60 Countries, With Self-Serve Buying

What OpenAI announced

On September 23, 2026, OpenAI expanded ads in ChatGPT to Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan. That brings ChatGPT ads to more than 60 countries. OpenAI says the ads business passed a $1 billion annual revenue run rate in under 200 days, with tens of thousands of advertisers.

How the ads work

• Who sees them: only people on ChatGPT’s Free and Go plans. Paid Plus, Pro and business plans stay ad-free.
• Where they appear: OpenAI says ads are “always clearly labeled and separate from ChatGPT’s answers” and that advertising “does not influence the answers ChatGPT provides.”
• How to buy: a self-serve Ads Manager, launched in beta in May, lets eligible businesses sign up and buy ads directly, with cost-per-click bidding. Larger advertisers can also go through agencies or OpenAI’s sales team.
• Measurement: advertisers can use a tracking pixel or conversions API to see actions such as purchases, leads and sign-ups. OpenAI says advertisers get aggregated results and never see individual conversations.

What it means for small businesses

AI assistants now have two ways to put you in front of a customer: being mentioned in the answer, which you can’t buy, and appearing in an ad next to it, which you can. OpenAI hasn’t published details such as minimum spend or exactly how ads are matched to conversations, so treat any early spend as a test, not a proven channel. Being mentioned in the answer still depends on the basics: clear, accurate information about your business across the web.