ChatGPT Ads expands to 89 countries in 2026
On October 21, 2026, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT advertising had expanded into 26 additional countries, bringing the advertising platform's reach to 89 countries worldwide. The expansion followed earlier launches in markets including the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia, Mexico and Brazil.
The announcement also revealed that more than 100,000 advertisers had run campaigns on ChatGPT since advertising began earlier in 2026.
OpenAI describes the opportunity as reaching people while they explore options, compare products and make decisions. Unlike a traditional search query, a ChatGPT conversation can develop through several questions as the user gradually clarifies their needs.
For advertisers, the main difference is that relevant advertising can appear during this process of exploration rather than only after someone has searched for a specific product.
OpenAI's October expansion explicitly named Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan among the newly supported markets. It also added more Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru.
However, there is an important distinction: a country being included in ChatGPT's advertising rollout does not necessarily mean every advertiser in that country immediately receives unrestricted self-service access or international targeting.
Source: OpenAI — ChatGPT Ads expands to 26 new countries, October 21, 2026 .
Which countries can use ChatGPT Ads Manager?
OpenAI maintains a separate official list showing where businesses can register for self-service Ads Manager access. This is the relevant list for advertisers who want to create campaigns themselves rather than work through OpenAI's sales team or an advertising partner.
The Help Center specifies that the legal entity responsible for advertising and billing must be based in an eligible country. A company cannot assume it qualifies for self-service access simply because it wants to target customers in a supported region.
| Region | Examples of supported advertiser countries |
|---|---|
| Africa | Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. |
| North America | United States, Canada and Mexico. |
| Latin America | Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru and several additional markets. |
| Europe | United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and other listed countries. |
| Middle East | United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. |
| Asia-Pacific | India, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Australia and others. |
OpenAI's official Ads Manager country list may change independently of the published 89-country rollout announcement. Businesses should therefore check the live availability page rather than treating this article's examples as a permanent or exhaustive country list.
Some markets may also use OpenAI's advertising team, agencies or technology partners for onboarding instead of direct self-service access.
Official country list: OpenAI Ads Manager Availability .
How to create an OpenAI Ads Manager account
Advertisers can register through ads.openai.com. OpenAI's current self-service platform is called Ads Manager Beta, and it provides the tools needed to create, launch and manage ChatGPT advertising campaigns.
OpenAI supports two onboarding approaches: advertisers can enter their website URL during signup to prepare an initial ad, or skip that step and enter the dashboard before creating their first campaign.
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Visit the official platform. Open https://ads.openai.com/ and choose Login or Sign up. You can use an existing OpenAI account or create a new account.
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Choose your starting method. Enter a website URL if you want Ads Manager to help draft an initial advertisement, or skip the website step to create campaigns later from the dashboard.
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Enter your advertiser details. Provide the required account information, including your business identity, location and applicable account settings.
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Check your country, currency and time zone. OpenAI warns that these account settings cannot be changed after account creation. Review them carefully before confirming.
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Review your account names. Ads Manager distinguishes between an internal Account Name, the public Brand Name shown in advertisements, and the registered Legal Name used for verification and billing.
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Add your logo and billing profile. Upload the brand logo you are authorized to use, enter your billing information and add a supported payment card.
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Complete required verification. Follow any identity, business or account verification steps shown in Ads Manager. Invite team members if needed.
OpenAI warns that an advertisement created during onboarding may begin running after approval once billing and other campaign conditions are satisfied. If you are only exploring the platform, review the campaign status and pause it if you are not ready to start spending.
Official walkthrough: Ads Manager Account Setup .
How to create your first ChatGPT advertising campaign
After account setup, you can begin building your campaign inside OpenAI Ads Manager. The platform uses three connected levels: Campaign → Ad Group → Ad.
Understanding this structure makes the setup process easier because each level controls a different part of the advertising system.
| Level | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Campaign | Your overall advertising objective, budget, campaign dates and targeting. |
| Ad Group | A set of related advertisements, maximum bids and relevant context hints. |
| Ad | The creative that people may see in ChatGPT, including your brand, headline, description, image and landing page. |
Step 1: Choose your advertising objective
OpenAI supports objectives for Views, Clicks and Conversions. These serve different business goals and can use different billing arrangements.
Views is oriented toward reach and awareness. Clicks is designed to generate website visits. Conversions is designed to optimize toward supported actions on the advertiser's website, subject to eligibility and measurement setup.
Step 2: Choose your campaign budget
You can choose a daily budget or a campaign-total budget. OpenAI recommends that new advertisers consider the daily budget option so they can review performance and refine the campaign as data becomes available.
However, daily budgets operate as an average over a seven-day budget period, not a strict same-day spending ceiling. We explain the difference below.
Step 3: Select where your ads can appear
Choose the countries and supported locations that match the customers you want to reach. You can also configure available platform targeting options.
OpenAI supports platforms such as desktop web, Android and iOS experiences, depending on the campaign configuration.
Step 4: Create your ad groups
Organize your ad groups around different products, services or customer needs. For example, an online educational business might create separate ad groups for beginner AI tutorials and advanced automation training.
Each group can use context hints to help OpenAI's matching system understand situations in which the advertised offering may be useful.
Step 5: Add advertisements
Create the advertisement itself using a clear headline, concise description, relevant image, public brand identity and working destination URL.
Step 6: Submit the campaign for review
Once the required settings are complete, submit the campaign for review. Advertisements must pass the applicable policies and account checks before they can begin delivering.
Ads Manager also supports bulk campaign uploads for eligible workflows, although most first-time advertisers will find guided setup easier to follow.
Scheduling caution: OpenAI says first campaigns may not expose start and end date fields before publication. If you need a specific future launch date, do not publish simply to unlock those fields. Your ads could begin delivering after review before you finish adjusting the schedule.
Official campaign guide: Launch your first campaign and Creating campaigns for ChatGPT Ads .
ChatGPT Ads pricing explained: CPC, CPM and conversions
The question most new advertisers ask is: How much does it cost to advertise on ChatGPT?
The answer depends on the type of campaign, the advertiser's bid, available inventory, competition, relevance and other auction conditions. There is no single fixed price charged for every ChatGPT advertisement.
OpenAI currently supports CPC and CPM buying, together with conversion-optimized options for eligible advertisers.
| Model | Meaning and billing |
|---|---|
| CPM | Cost per thousand impressions. Suitable for Views campaigns. Advertisers are charged for delivered impressions. |
| CPC | Cost per click. Suitable for Clicks campaigns. Advertisers are charged for valid clicks. |
| oCPC | Conversion-optimized CPC. The system optimizes toward selected conversion events while charging for eligible clicks. |
| oCPM | Conversion-optimized CPM. Eligible campaigns optimize toward conversion events but are billed for impressions. |
Does ChatGPT advertising cost $3–$5 per click?
OpenAI recommends beginning with a maximum CPC bid of $3–$5 USD for applicable click-based campaigns. This is a suggested maximum bid range, not a fixed cost for every click.
The actual amount paid can differ because OpenAI selects eligible advertisements through a relevance-weighted, second-price auction. The auction considers bids together with expected relevance and outcomes.
A high bid therefore does not guarantee placement in a particular conversation, and the suggested $3–$5 maximum should not be interpreted as the minimum cost of every ChatGPT ad click.
A maximum CPC bid is the amount you are willing to bid for a valid click. It is not necessarily what you will pay each time. Campaign performance and actual average CPC must be measured after the advertisements begin running.
Pricing explanation: Ads in ChatGPT: The Basics and Billing & Payment .
What is the minimum budget for ChatGPT Ads in 2026?
OpenAI publishes minimum daily campaign budgets for supported billing currencies. These minimums vary by currency and should not be confused with actual click prices or the total cost of acquiring a customer.
For instance, the currently listed minimum daily budget for an advertiser billed in US dollars is $25. For advertisers using Nigerian naira, the listed minimum is ₦3,250.
| Billing currency | Minimum daily budget |
|---|---|
| USD | $25 |
| NGN | ₦3,250 |
| EUR | €15 |
| GBP | £15 |
| AED | 65 AED |
| INR | ₹725 |
| ZAR | 83 ZAR |
These are the listed minimums for campaigns using daily budgets. They do not establish the minimum total spend for every campaign type, and your account settings may impose additional constraints.
OpenAI's full minimum-spend table covers additional currencies. The current value displayed in Ads Manager should be checked before publishing a campaign.
Daily budget does not mean a strict daily cap
This is an especially important part of OpenAI's current pricing rules.
The daily budget represents the average daily spending target over a seven-day period. Under OpenAI's current rules, billed advertising spend can reach twice the selected daily budget on an individual day.
Across the applicable seven-day period, spending is limited to seven times the selected daily budget, subject to the platform's budget adjustment and proration rules.
The budget week runs from Sunday through Saturday in the advertiser account's time zone.
If you need a stricter limit on total campaign spending, OpenAI recommends using a campaign-total budget. A daily budget is a pacing target with permitted daily variation, not a hard same-day spending ceiling.
Also note that some fixed-bid campaigns require the daily budget to be at least as high as the highest applicable effective bid. A large existing bid can prevent an advertiser from reducing the daily budget until that bid is lowered.
Official minimums and budget rules: Creating campaigns for ChatGPT Ads and Daily budgets .
How billing and payment work in OpenAI Ads Manager
OpenAI's self-service advertising platform currently uses a postpay billing model for card-billed advertiser accounts. This means advertising spend accumulates as campaigns deliver, and the saved payment method is charged afterward according to the account's billing rules.
To complete billing setup, advertisers generally provide a business name, billing address, invoice delivery email and supported credit card.
OpenAI may place a temporary authorization hold on a payment card during verification. Such a hold is not necessarily a completed advertising charge.
What is a payment threshold?
OpenAI assigns card-billed self-service accounts a payment threshold. Once the account accumulates the relevant amount of unpaid advertising spend, the saved payment method can be charged automatically.
Advertisers may also be charged for an outstanding balance at the end of a billing month.
Successful payment history may lead to higher assigned payment thresholds over time.
Crucially, a payment threshold is not the same as a campaign budget. The payment threshold controls when a bill is collected. The campaign budget controls permitted advertising spending.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Campaign budget | Controls the campaign's permitted spending according to the selected budget type. |
| Maximum bid | Controls how much an advertiser is willing to bid for the relevant billable event. |
| Payment threshold | Determines when accumulated advertising charges are collected from the advertiser's payment method. |
For advertisers paying by card, billing failure can interrupt delivery even when a campaign otherwise remains active. Therefore, monitor invoices, payment status and campaign delivery separately.
Official billing rules: OpenAI — Billing & Payment .
How ChatGPT Ads targeting works: context hints versus keywords
One of the most distinctive features of ChatGPT advertising is how contextual relevance contributes to ad selection.
Traditional advertising platforms often rely heavily on specific search keywords. ChatGPT Ads instead considers several relevance signals, including conversational intent, the advertisement's content, landing-page information and advertiser-provided context hints.
Advertisers add context hints at the ad-group level to describe when their product or service may be useful.
Example: Advertising an AI automation course
An educational business advertising a practical automation course could create a context hint such as:
"Small-business owners learning to automate repetitive administrative tasks with AI tools."
This communicates the problem, audience and use case more clearly than repeating generic phrases such as "AI," "technology" or "best course."
OpenAI specifically advises advertisers to describe what they offer, who it helps, and when the offering is relevant.
However, context hints are not exact-match keyword triggers. They guide the matching system; they do not guarantee that an ad will appear in every conversation containing a particular phrase.
Country targeting restrictions
OpenAI also warns that some newly created self-service advertiser accounts can initially target only their home country.
For these accounts, international targeting becomes available after the required identity verification and qualifying advertising spending in the home market.
Selecting additional countries during campaign setup does not bypass that initial restriction.
Advertisers with newly created accounts should not assume they can immediately target all 89 ChatGPT Ads markets. Check the targeting eligibility shown in Ads Manager. New-account geographic restrictions may require verification and qualifying home-country advertising spend before international campaigns become available.
Targeting guidance: Create Ad Groups for ChatGPT Ads , Write Context Hints , and Creating Campaigns .
How to create effective ChatGPT Ads: headlines, images and landing pages
A ChatGPT advertisement needs to explain what is being offered clearly enough for a user to evaluate it while exploring a relevant topic.
OpenAI recommends emphasizing specific benefits, practical usefulness and accurate information rather than relying entirely on attention-grabbing promotional claims.
A standard advertisement can include the advertiser's public brand, logo, headline, description, image and destination URL.
| Asset | Current guidance |
|---|---|
| Headline | 16–24 characters recommended; 50-character maximum. |
| Description | 32–48 characters recommended; 100-character maximum. |
| Image | Square PNG or JPG in the documented bulk-upload format, no larger than 1200 × 1200 pixels. |
| Landing page | A valid, publicly reachable URL that accurately matches the ad. |
| Advertiser identity | A truthful brand identity and assets the advertiser owns or is authorized to use. |
Make the destination useful
OpenAI recommends linking directly to the most relevant product, service or information page rather than automatically sending every advertisement to the business homepage.
The destination also needs to load correctly and must not block OpenAI's relevant crawlers, including OAI-AdsBot and OAI-SearchBot.
This matters because a technically valid advertising campaign may still encounter review or delivery problems if the landing page cannot be accessed.
Follow OpenAI's advertising policies
OpenAI's initial supported advertising categories focus on ordinary consumer offerings, including household goods, local services, travel, experiences, digital products and education.
Regulated or sensitive products may be restricted or ineligible. Certain approved financial, legal or healthcare advertisers may qualify under additional review.
Political advertising, deceptive claims, false endorsements and other prohibited content are not permitted.
Advertisers should also avoid creating the false impression that their product is officially endorsed by ChatGPT or OpenAI.
Creative requirements: Creating Ads for ChatGPT Ads and OpenAI Ad Policies .
How to track clicks, conversions and campaign results
Launching a campaign is only the beginning. Advertisers also need to understand whether the spending is producing useful business outcomes.
OpenAI Ads Manager includes reporting for impressions, clicks, spending, click-through rate, average CPC, average CPM and conversions when the required measurement is configured.
| Metric | What it tells advertisers |
|---|---|
| Impressions | How many times an advertisement was served. |
| Clicks | How many recorded clicks the advertisement generated. |
| CTR | The percentage relationship between clicks and impressions. |
| Average CPC | The average recorded cost per click. |
| Average CPM | The average recorded cost per thousand impressions. |
| Conversions | Supported customer actions recorded through configured conversion measurement. |
Add UTM tracking parameters
OpenAI allows advertisers to add standard tracking parameters to landing-page links.
For example, an advertiser might append UTM parameters to distinguish ChatGPT campaign traffic from visitors arriving through other advertising platforms.
These parameters can then be examined in the advertiser's existing analytics system.
Example landing-page tracking URL
https://example.com/course/?utm_source=chatgpt&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=ai_course
This is an illustrative URL only. Replace it with your actual destination and campaign parameters.
Set up OpenAI conversion measurement
For conversion reporting, OpenAI provides a Measurement Pixel and a Conversions API.
The Measurement Pixel records supported website events from a visitor's browser. The Conversions API can send events from the advertiser's own server.
These systems can be used to measure actions such as completed purchases, depending on event setup and eligibility.
Advertisers using browser and server measurement together should configure consistent event identifiers so the same conversion is not counted twice.
Conversion measurement should also respect applicable privacy and consent requirements.
OpenAI says impressions, clicks and CTR typically refresh approximately every 15 minutes, while spending information may be delayed by 7–8 hours. A temporary $0 spending figure does not necessarily mean your campaign has generated no advertising charges.
Measurement documentation: OpenAI Ads Conversion Tracking , Measurement Pixel , and Campaign reporting guidance .
Why is my ChatGPT ad not serving after approval?
An approved advertisement does not necessarily begin delivering immediately or continuously. OpenAI distinguishes between approval status, account readiness, billing readiness and campaign delivery eligibility.
If an advertisement is marked Not serving, OpenAI recommends checking the status information displayed inside Ads Manager.
- Account verification
- Confirm that required advertiser identity and business verification steps are complete.
- Billing
- Check that the billing profile and payment method are valid and that no payment action is outstanding.
- Campaign status
- Ensure the campaign and its ad groups are active rather than paused or archived.
- Schedule
- Verify that the campaign dates allow delivery on the current day.
- Targeting
- Confirm that your selected countries and other targeting settings are permitted for the account.
- Creative and landing page
- Check for policy rejection, inaccessible destination pages, misleading claims or other creative-review issues.
- Bids and available inventory
- Even when an ad is eligible, delivery can be limited by auction competitiveness and relevance.
OpenAI's troubleshooting guide provides additional checks for campaigns that fail to publish, stop serving or do not register expected measurement results.
Official troubleshooting: Ads Manager Troubleshooting Common Issues .
A practical first ChatGPT Ads campaign strategy
Businesses testing ChatGPT advertising for the first time should focus on learning whether relevant users actually visit the advertised destination and take useful actions.
Instead of creating many unrelated campaigns immediately, it may be easier to begin with one product or service and a clear objective.
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Choose one offering. Select a product or service with a clear use case and a relevant landing page.
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Choose one primary objective. Decide whether the initial test should emphasize reach, website traffic or measured conversions.
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Set an affordable budget. Stay within the amount your business can reasonably risk while respecting Ads Manager's currency-specific minimums.
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Organize context hints. Describe real customer needs rather than repeating disconnected keywords.
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Test distinct messages. Compare clear and meaningfully different advertising angles, not multiple copies of essentially the same ad.
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Track outcomes. Monitor spending and clicks, but prioritize qualified visits, purchases, leads or other actions that matter to your business.
This is an editorial testing framework rather than a guaranteed formula for profitable advertising. The best-performing arrangement depends on the product, market, creative, landing page and actual campaign results.
Frequently asked questions about ChatGPT Ads pricing and setup
Can I advertise on ChatGPT in 2026?
Yes, if your advertising business is eligible and your legal entity is located in a supported self-service market, or you qualify for another approved advertiser onboarding route.
How do I sign up to advertise on ChatGPT?
Visit ads.openai.com , create an advertiser account, complete the required setup, configure billing, build a campaign and submit advertisements for review.
Is ChatGPT Ads available in Nigeria?
Yes. Nigeria was included in OpenAI's October 21, 2026 advertising expansion and is currently listed as an available self-service advertiser market.
What is the minimum ChatGPT Ads budget?
OpenAI lists currency-specific minimum daily budgets. The published minimum is $25 for USD-billed campaigns and ₦3,250 for NGN-billed campaigns. Other currencies have their own listed minimums.
Does it cost $3–$5 for every ChatGPT ad click?
No. OpenAI recommends $3–$5 as a starting maximum CPC bid range for applicable campaigns. The actual amount paid depends on auction results and delivery.
Can I run ChatGPT Ads with a small business?
Eligible small businesses can use self-service Ads Manager. They must still satisfy applicable budget requirements, verification, billing and advertising policies.
Can a Nigerian advertiser target the United States?
Potentially, but some new self-service accounts must initially advertise in their home country. OpenAI says international targeting eligibility can depend on completed verification and qualifying home-country spend.
Do ChatGPT Ads use keywords?
Advertisers can provide context hints describing relevant topics, needs or situations, but OpenAI says these do not function as guaranteed exact-match keywords.
How do advertisers measure conversions?
OpenAI provides a Measurement Pixel and Conversions API for supported conversion events. Advertisers can also add UTM parameters for ordinary website analytics.
Can advertisers influence ChatGPT's answers?
No. OpenAI says paid advertisements are clearly labeled and separate from ChatGPT's generated responses. Buying an advertisement does not give a business control over the model's recommendations or answers.
For a broader explanation of who sees these advertisements, ad privacy and user controls, read our related guide: ChatGPT Ads Explained: Who Sees Them and How to Advertise .
Final takeaway: Getting started with ChatGPT Ads
ChatGPT advertising has moved beyond its initial United States test into a much broader international market. OpenAI's October 21, 2026 announcement confirmed availability across 89 countries and reported that more than 100,000 advertisers had already run campaigns.
For businesses interested in this new advertising channel, the practical starting point is OpenAI Ads Manager. The platform allows eligible advertisers to configure campaigns, budgets, ad groups, context hints and creative, then measure delivery and advertising performance.
However, businesses should pay close attention to the details before enabling spending. Advertiser eligibility varies by country, some new accounts face initial international targeting restrictions, minimum daily budgets vary by billing currency, and a daily budget is not a strict same-day spending cap.
The strongest starting strategy is to choose one clear advertising objective, use accurate and relevant creative, set a manageable budget and measure business results rather than assuming that impressions or clicks automatically translate into customers.
ChatGPT Ads represents a new opportunity to reach people while they are actively exploring problems and comparing solutions. Whether it becomes a profitable acquisition channel for a particular business will depend on the quality of the offer, relevance, spending discipline and actual campaign performance.
Start with OpenAI Ads ManagerPrimary sources: OpenAI's October 2026 expansion announcement , Advertiser country availability , Campaign setup and budget rules , and Billing & Payment .