ChatGPT Ads Manager: quick-start guide

Everything a first-time advertiser needs to create an account, understand billing and launch a first campaign in OpenAI's Ads Manager.

Sign up at: ads.openai.com · Guide prepared: September 2026, from OpenAI's Help Center and developer docs.

This is a beta product. Features, pricing and requirements change. Always check the live product and OpenAI's Help Center before making decisions.

1. What is ChatGPT Ads Manager?

OpenAI's self-serve ad platform. You create and manage campaigns that appear inside ChatGPT conversations. Similar to Google Ads or Meta Ads Manager, but built around conversation context instead of search keywords.

How ads appear: a clearly labeled sponsored unit below a ChatGPT response. Never blended into the answer and never able to influence it.
Who sees ads: only people on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu users never see ads, and nor do accounts identified as under 18.
Where you can advertise from: self-serve is open in the US, Canada, UK, most of the EEA, India, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Brazil, with more markets being added.
Cost to start: no platform-wide minimum spend. Start small and scale.
Privacy: advertisers never see users' chats, history, memories or personal details. You get aggregated numbers only.

2. What you need before you start

An OpenAI account on your work email (you can create one during sign-up)
Business details: legal name, website, logo, industry
A credit card for billing
A product or service in an allowed category (see section 12)
Some patience: setup takes 10–15 minutes, but review can take from under a day to several days

3. Creating your account

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 can't 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 can't speed it up, and duplicate applications won't 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 won't run until it's done.
Set up billing. Two parts, both required:
- Billing profile: business name, invoice email, billing address
- 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.

4. About the "$100 hold"

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's 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's separate from your actual ad charges.

5. How campaigns are organized

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 several ads. That's how you test messages.

6. Building your first campaign

Choose an objective. It decides how you're 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 max CPC bid of around $3–$5.

Set your budget.

Daily budget: an average, not a hard cap. A single day can run up to 2× your budget, but never more than 7× across any 7 days. Recommended for first-timers.
Campaign-total budget: a hard ceiling for the whole campaign. Once you switch to this, you can't switch back.
Minimum daily budgets depend on currency, e.g. $25 USD, £15 GBP, $25 CAD, $25 AUD, ₹725 INR, ¥2,500 JPY. Check the current minimum in Ads Manager.

Set 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.

7. Ad groups and "context hints"

ChatGPT Ads doesn't use keyword targeting. Each ad group has context hints: short phrases describing what you offer, who it helps and when it's useful. Specific beats broad:

Too broad	Specific and situational	Why it's better
"running shoes"	"cushioned everyday running shoes for beginners training for their first 5K"	Says who it's 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.

8. Creating your ads

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 256×256px (512×512px+ looks sharper)	1200×1200px, PNG or JPG

Titles: say what the product does or why it's 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.

9. Review and going live

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's 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).

10. How billing works

Postpay: you're charged after your ads deliver.

Payment threshold: the unpaid spend allowed before your card is charged. New advertisers usually start low (e.g. $25), and it can rise over time.
When you're charged: when spend hits the threshold. Then the cycle restarts.
End of month: any balance is charged at month-end even if you haven't hit the threshold.
Failed payment: ads can stop until you update your card. You'll get an email.

Your payment threshold isn't your budget. The budget limits spend. The threshold only decides when you're charged.

11. Cheat sheet

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 length	16–24 recommended, 50 max
Copy length	32–48 recommended, 100 max
Image	Square, 256×256px min, up to 1200×1200px, 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

12. What you can't advertise (yet)

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.

13. Where to 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.