OpenAI has confirmed it will begin testing ads inside ChatGPT in the US, starting with Free + the new “Go” plan. Paid tiers (Plus/Pro/Business/Enterprise/Edu) stay ad-free – for now.
There is no formal whitelist publically available, however, enterprise brand partners are being prioritised. At intender, we are currently taking applications for brands who want to get their intent-strategy ready for deployment on ChatGPT Ads.
What will ChatGPT Ads look like?
- Clearly labelled placements
- In-context suggestions in relation to your problem or requrest
- Expected to appear below responses (not blended into answers)
- Likely contextual to the conversation topic
- Likely a CPC (Cost-per-conversation) coupled with a relevance/usefulness score.
What this means for brands
This isn’t “social ads in a chatbot.” Make no mistake. This is intent-marketing at its finest. Layed with context, content and advisory elements.
It’s a new layer of high-intent discovery happening inside the moments where people ask:
- “What should I buy?”
- “Which option is best for me?”
- “Compare these brands.”
- “Why is product A better for me versus product B?”
If you win in ChatGPT, you win at the decision point.
And here lies both the risk and opportunity for brands.
The big shift: “Trust is the product”
OpenAI’s position is simple:
- Ads won’t influence ChatGPT answers
- Conversations won’t be sold to advertisers
- Sensitive topics are largely excluded
- Users will be able to opt out of ad personalisation
What to do now (before the inventory opens)
Most brands will wait for an “ads dashboard.”
The winners will do this first:
Define your AI Ads strategy. Perhaps even your own LLM of product knowledge.
Build AI-readable proof (product pages, comparisons, FAQs, reviews)
Tighten category language + use-cases (how people ask, not how brands slogan)
Own the recommendation layer: “best for X”, “vs Y”, “top options for…”
Track LLM visibility and share-of-model like a new SERP.
Key point: get AI ad strategy ready now.
ChatGPT ads won’t replace Google.
But they will reshape where influence happens.
Ai ads will leverage more context signals than search dreamed off.
CMOs should treat this like early Search (again):
Intent-led, high-trust, and disproportionately valuable for brands that prepare.
