OpenAI said on October 5 that it will begin testing a visual ad format in ChatGPT later this month with an initial group of US advertisers, per BleepingComputer. The ad appears while ChatGPT generates an image. It carries a headline, a photograph, and a "Learn more" button, per PPC Land. OpenAI says the ads will be clearly labeled and kept separate from the image being created.
ChatGPT now reaches 1.2 billion people a week, up from 900 million in February, and most of them pay nothing. Ads run on the Free and Go tiers. Plus, Pro, and Enterprise subscribers do not see them. The coverage describes no opt-out for free users, so a paid plan is the documented way to avoid ads. OpenAI says ads do not influence ChatGPT's answers.
The ad business moved fast. The pilot opened on February 9 at a $60 CPM, and prices were reported as low as $25 by April. A self-serve Ads Manager followed on May 5. OpenAI reached a $1 billion annualized ad run rate on August 31. It began testing Sponsored Agents with HubSpot and Shopify on September 16, which we covered at the time. The platform sells in 63 countries. The visual test is US only.
Advertisers get a measurement stack with this release. OpenAI added data connections through Hightouch, Tealium, and LiveRamp, plus ten attribution partners including AppsFlyer, Adjust, and Triple Whale. DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science are piloting brand-suitability checks, which OpenAI says run without access to private conversations. Early results are advertiser-reported. WeightWatchers put its ChatGPT cost per acquisition 15.3% below its paid-search benchmark.
Bottom Line
Image generation on the free tier now carries paid placement beside the output. If you buy search ads, test a small ChatGPT budget against your paid-search cost per acquisition before visual inventory prices settle. If you use the free tier for client work, expect a labeled ad next to your images.