ChatGPT Ads Manager: Quick Start
- By Praveen Jha · Updated 2026-10-23 · 8 min read · Paid ads & marketing
Set up your account, understand billing and launch your first campaign inside ChatGPT - without costly mistakes.
FOR FIRST-TIME ADVERTISERS
Sign up at: ads.openai.com
Time needed: 10-15 minutes to set up. Review can take from under a day to several days. Cost to start: No platform-wide minimum spend. Start small and scale.
Beta product: Features, pricing and requirements change. Always check the live product and OpenAI's Help Center before making decisions.
What you will do
Create and verify an advertiser account - correctly the first time
- Understand the $100 card hold, budgets and postpay billing
- Build a campaign, ad group and ad using context hints, not keywords
- Check creative specs, prohibited categories and support routes
By Praveen Jha | praveenjha.com - September 2026 edition.
1. What ChatGPT Ads is
OpenAI's self-serve ad platform lets you create and manage campaigns that appear inside ChatGPT conversations. It works like Google Ads or Meta Ads Manager, but it is built around conversation context instead of search keywords.
How ads appear
- A clearly labeled sponsored unit appears below a ChatGPT response.
Ads are never blended into the answer and can never influence it.
- Advertisers never see users' chats, history, memories or personal details. You receive aggregated numbers only.
Who sees ads
Only people on the Free and Go plans.
Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu users never see ads.
- Accounts identified as under 18 never see ads.
Where self-serve is open
The US, Canada, UK, most of the EEA, India, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Brazil, with more markets being added.
Key difference to remember: There is no keyword targeting. Relevance comes from the conversation context and from the context hints you write for each ad group (see page 5).
Before you start - have these ready
An OpenAI account on your work email - you can create one during sign-up
- Business details: legal name, website, logo and industry
- A credit card for billing
- A product or service in an allowed category (see page 8)
- Some patience: setup takes 10-15 minutes, but review can take from under a day to several days
2. Create the account - in 6 steps
- Sign up at ads.openai.com. Only one person per business should create the account. They can invite teammates later.
- Enter business and account details: business name, website, logo, industry, plus country, currency and time zone.
These three lock permanently: country, billing currency and time zone cannot be changed after you create the account. The only fix is a brand-new account. Double-check before submitting.
- Complete identity verification through OpenAI's partner, Persona. Your application then goes into a review queue. You cannot speed it up, and duplicate applications will not help.
- Finish your account info. Once approved, go to Settings → Account Info and confirm your account name and logo. This is exactly what users see on your ads. Ads will not run until this is done.
- Set up billing. Both parts are required: a billing profile (business name, invoice email, billing address) and a payment method (card and billing address). Use a card from the same country as your account, or it may be declined.
- Invite your team (optional): Settings → Users → Invite.
3. The $100 hold and campaign structure
The $100 authorization is not a charge
When you add a card, your bank may show a temporary $100 authorization while OpenAI checks the card.
It is not a charge, deposit or fee. It is a routine card check, like a hotel hold.
OpenAI releases it automatically once verification finishes.
Depending on your bank, it can show on your statement for up to 7 days.
It is separate from your actual ad charges.
How a campaign is structured
| Level | What it controls | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Objective, budget, dates, countries and platforms | Fall Sale - U.S. |
| Ad group | A theme, described with context hints that tell OpenAI when your ads may be relevant | Beginner running shoes |
| Ad | Title, description, image and landing page | Cushioned 5K Trainers - 20% Off |
A campaign can hold several ad groups, and each ad group can hold several ads. That structure is how you test different messages.
Plan the structure before you build: One campaign for one objective, one ad group per product theme, and several ads per ad group to test angles.
4. Objective, budget and context hints
Choose an objective - it decides how you are charged
| Objective | You pay for | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Views (CPM) | Every 1,000 impressions | Visibility and awareness |
| Clicks (CPC) | Each valid click | Traffic to your site |
| oCPC | Each valid click, with bidding optimized toward a conversion you define | A tracked outcome like a sign-up or purchase |
New to the platform? A Clicks (CPC) campaign is an easy first test. OpenAI suggests a maximum CPC bid of around $3-$5.
Set your budget
- Daily budget: an average, not a hard cap. A single day can run up to 2x your budget, but never more than 7x across any 7 days. Recommended for first-timers.
- Campaign-total budget: a hard ceiling for the whole campaign. Once you switch to this, you cannot switch back.
- Minimum daily budgets depend on currency, for example $25 USD, 15 GBP, $25 CAD, $25 AUD, 725 INR, 2,500 JPY. Check the current minimum in Ads Manager.
Dates, location and platform
- Give a campaign at least a couple of weeks before judging it.
- Target by country, and in the US by state, metro area (DMA) or ZIP code.
- Limit to iOS app, Android app or Web if you want.
Context hints - specific beats broad
| Too broad | Specific and situational | Why it is better |
|---|---|---|
| running shoes | cushioned everyday running shoes for beginners training for their first 5K | Says who it is for and the situation |
| accounting software | simple invoicing and expense tracking for freelancers and solo consultants | Ties the product to a specific need |
Keep each ad group to one product theme or need.
- Context hints are guidance, not exact-match targeting.
- Add several ads per ad group to test angles.
5. Build the ad - creative specs
Each ad has a title, description, image, landing page, and your advertiser name and logo.
| Element | Recommended | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Title | 16-24 characters | 50 characters |
| Description | 32-48 characters | 100 characters |
| Image | Square, at least 256x256px - 512x512px or larger looks sharper | 1200x1200px, PNG or JPG |
Copy rules that work at this size
- Titles: Say what the product does or why it is useful. Skip vague slogans.
- Copy: Add new information instead of repeating the title.
- Landing page: Link to a specific page, not your homepage. UTM parameters are fine.
- Image: Simple and directly relevant. Busy visuals perform worse at this size.
Review and first results
- Every campaign, ad group and ad is reviewed - automated, sometimes human - before it can run.
- If something shows "Not serving", hover the status for the reason. It is often a fixable policy issue.
- Give a new campaign at least 24 hours. Reporting can lag delivery by up to about 7 hours.
- You can track impressions, clicks, spend, CTR, average CPC, average CPM and conversions, with conversion tracking set up.
6. Billing and quick reference
Postpay - you are charged after your ads deliver
- Payment threshold: The unpaid spend allowed before your card is charged. New advertisers usually start low, for example $25, and it can rise over time.
- When you are charged: When spend hits the threshold. Then the cycle restarts.
- End of month: Any balance is charged at month-end even if you have not hit the threshold.
- Failed payment: Ads can stop until you update your card. You will get an email.
Do not confuse the two numbers: Your payment threshold is not your budget. The budget limits spend. The threshold only decides when you are charged.
Quick reference
| Item | What to know |
|---|---|
| Sign up | ads.openai.com |
| Stage | Public self-serve beta (launched 5 May 2026) |
| Minimum spend | None platform-wide. Daily minimums by currency, e.g. $25 USD/day |
| Starting CPC bid | $3-$5 per click |
| Typical CPM | Around $60 per 1,000 impressions is commonly cited |
| Title / copy | 16-24 recommended, 50 max / 32-48 recommended, 100 max |
| Image | Square, 256x256px min, up to 1200x1200px, PNG or JPG |
| The $100 | A card check, not a fee. Released automatically, up to 7 days to clear |
| Who never sees ads | Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, Edu users and under-18s |
| Support | ads-support@openai.com |
7. What you cannot advertise, support and checklist
During the beta, OpenAI focuses on consumer categories: household goods, local services, travel and entertainment, digital products and education. Some regulated categories - certain financial, healthcare and legal services - are allowed case by case for licensed advertisers.
Not allowed
Adult content: dating apps, sexual content or services, explicit imagery
- Alcohol and tobacco: including vaping and nicotine
- Gambling: betting, casinos, lotteries, cash-prize games
- Recreational drugs: cannabis, THC, psychedelics
- Political content: candidates, elections, ballot measures, contested issues
- Certain financial products: debt settlement, credit repair, alternative investments like bullion
- Individual job or housing listings - linking to a listings platform in general is fine
- Counterfeit goods
The list changes. Check openai.com/policies/ad-policies before running anything in a regulated category.
Get help
Email: ads-support@openai.com - include your ad account ID, campaign name and screenshots
- Help Center: help.openai.com
- In product: Check the Status tooltip in Ads Manager first. It usually names the exact issue.
Launch checklist
Country, currency and time zone double-checked before submitting
- Identity verification completed and account approved
- Settings → Account Info: name and logo confirmed
- Billing profile and same-country payment card added
- Objective chosen - Clicks (CPC) for a first test, bid around $3-$5
- Daily budget set and minimum for your currency checked
- Each ad group: one theme, specific context hints, several ads
- Every ad: title 16-24 chars, description 32-48 chars, square image, specific landing page
- Campaign left to run at least 24 hours before judging; 2 weeks before conclusions
Praveen Jha | praveenjha.com. Check OpenAI's live product, Help Center and ad policies before running a campaign.