Last updated: November 3, 2026
Advertising on ChatGPT means paying OpenAI to show your ad to people using ChatGPT. Advertising with ChatGPT means using ChatGPT as the place you give instructions, while your ads run somewhere else, such as streaming TV, Google or Facebook. They are separate products from separate companies, and you can use either one, or both.
The two side by side
| On ChatGPT | With ChatGPT | |
|---|---|---|
| Where your ad appears | Inside ChatGPT | On the channels your tool buys. With Adwave: streaming TV, Meta, Google Search, YouTube, Reddit and the web |
| Who you buy from | OpenAI, through its Ads Manager or a technology partner | The company behind the connected tool, such as Adwave, or the ad platform whose account you connect |
| Who sees the ads | People on ChatGPT’s Free and Go plans | People using the channels you buy |
| ChatGPT plan you need | Your own plan doesn’t decide this | Launching through a custom server needs Business or Enterprise |
Advertising on ChatGPT
OpenAI sells ad placements in ChatGPT. Here is what PPC Land reported, with the dates of its coverage:
- On May 5, 2026, OpenAI opened a beta self-serve Ads Manager to US businesses and added cost-per-click bidding.
- On October 21, 2026, ChatGPT ads were sold in 89 countries, and OpenAI said ads appear only on the Free and Go plans. The same report mentions a minimum spend table from August with a daily floor of 25 US dollars.
- On September 17, 2026, PPC Land described prompt-driven campaign management inside ChatGPT for ChatGPT Ads, including a plugin that previews changes and asks for confirmation.
Those details change quickly, so check OpenAI’s Ads Manager for the current rules before you plan a budget.
This route fits a business that wants to reach people while they are using ChatGPT. Adwave doesn’t sell this inventory.
Advertising with ChatGPT
Here, ChatGPT works through a connected tool. There are two kinds:
- Tools that manage accounts you already have. You connect your Google or Meta account and ask ChatGPT to report on it or change it. Adspirer is one example, and it’s listed in OpenAI’s plugin directory (page checked November 2, 2026).
- Tools that buy the media for you. You have no ad accounts to connect. Adwave works this way. It makes the ads from your website and buys media from a prepaid wallet, starting at $30 a day.
There’s one catch. OpenAI gives custom MCP servers full write access only on Business and Enterprise workspaces, and its help article (checked November 2, 2026) says Pro users get read and fetch permissions. Adwave connects as a custom server and, as of the date above, isn’t listed in ChatGPT’s plugin directory. So launching from ChatGPT with Adwave needs a Business or Enterprise workspace. Codex is the other route.
Our step-by-step ChatGPT guide covers the setup, and the setup page has the server URL, https://waverunner.adwave.com/api/mcp.
How to choose
- Choose on ChatGPT if your customers are likely to be using ChatGPT and you want to test that placement.
- Choose with ChatGPT and a buying tool if you have no ad accounts and want to reach people on TV, search and social.
- Choose with ChatGPT and an account tool if you already run Google or Meta ads and want help managing them from chat.
Limits
- OpenAI’s terms: plans, markets, minimums and access for ChatGPT Ads come from reporting on OpenAI’s announcements, dated above, and they may have changed.
- Adwave’s reach: Adwave runs campaigns in the US and Canada only. TikTok is opt-in early access. Pinterest is coming soon. Adwave does not sell ad space inside ChatGPT.
- Results: we don’t have data comparing results between ads in ChatGPT and ads on other channels, so we make no claim about which performs better.
All of our assistant guides are on the AI assistants page.
