ChatGPT Ads setup FAQ: who sees ads, budgets, feeds, tracking and what's restricted

TL;DR

• Products from a one-off CSV upload expire after two weeks, so OpenAI recommends a hosted URL or automated SFTP uploads.
• New feed campaigns can only target a whole country, even though standard campaigns go down to postal code where available.
• Supplements read "Allowed" in OpenAI's US table, but its ad policies page says approval is case by case. Check both before you plan a budget.

OpenAI ran a holiday webinar on ChatGPT Ads on Nov 4. Here are the setup questions, answered from OpenAI's help pages and ad policies, plus points from its Nov 4 webinar, marked where they appear. OpenAI's pages change often, and everything here was checked on Nov 4, 2026.

Shown in OpenAI's webinar, citing Adobe Analytics for US retail sites, Nov–Dec 2025. This compares all visits referred by AI with other visits; it isn't a ChatGPT Ads result.

Who sees ads in ChatGPT?

Ads may appear for users on the Free and Go plans. OpenAI says Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts don't get ads, and it doesn't show ads to accounts it identifies as belonging to people under 18.

Do ads change what ChatGPT recommends in its answers?

OpenAI says no. Its help page says ads run on separate systems from the chat model, and advertisers can't shape or rank ChatGPT's answers. During the beta, products from an ads feed are eligible only for ads and don't appear in ordinary ChatGPT conversations, though OpenAI says it may offer that later (feed help page). So today, running ads doesn't put you into the answers themselves. For how the ad system reads a conversation, see How ChatGPT's ad system reads a shopper.

What's the minimum budget?

The standard minimum daily campaign budget in the US is $25. It varies by market and currency. OpenAI treats the daily budget as an average, so a single day can spend more than the daily figure.

How does ad targeting work?

For each ad group you can add "context hints" describing the conversations, topics or keywords where your product fits. OpenAI says hints help guide ad matching, but "they are not exact-match keywords and do not guarantee delivery in specific conversations."

Can I target by country, city or zip code?

Standard campaigns can target a country, and also states or regions, cities, markets and postal codes where available. New feed campaigns can only be targeted at country level.

How do product feeds work? Is there a Shopify integration?

Yes. OpenAI has a ChatGPT Ads for Shopify app that connects your catalog and commerce events to Ads Manager. OpenAI says it's available to all Shopify customers in the US. Without Shopify, you can upload a CSV or TXT file, point Ads Manager at a hosted URL, or use SFTP. Uploaded items expire after two weeks, so OpenAI recommends a hosted URL or automated SFTP for anything you'll keep running.

What ad formats are there?

Single image, and multiple images (4 to 6 square images), which is in open beta. Feed campaigns show products with details such as price.

How does bidding work?

You pick an objective: Views (paid per thousand impressions), Clicks, or Conversions. For eligible new ad groups, the default bid setting is "Maximize results", and you can also set a manual maximum bid. OpenAI says Maximize results doesn't guarantee any specific cost per acquisition. In the webinar, OpenAI's team recommended that, once conversion measurement is in place, holiday purchase goals use a conversions objective built on impressions.

What do the OpenAI Pixel and Conversions API do?

They send your conversion events, such as a completed order, to Ads Manager. The Pixel runs on your site, and the Conversions API sends events from your server. You can use either or both. A conversions-objective campaign needs one of them set up first.

What is the Event Quality Score?

It's OpenAI's assessment of whether the conversion data from a pixel or data source is useful for measurement. OpenAI's team said in the webinar that it's scored from 1 to 10. The help page says it refreshes daily using 7 complete calendar days, with time allowed for late events to arrive, and that it doesn't predict campaign performance. If there isn't enough recent conversion activity, you'll see no score, which is different from a score of zero.

Which categories are restricted?

OpenAI publishes a table by category and country. A few that matter for consumer brands, as the US column reads on Nov 4:

• Dietary supplements: allowed in the US, not allowed elsewhere.
• Consumer medical devices, wearables and apps: allowed in the US, not elsewhere.
• Over-the-counter medicines and telehealth: not allowed.
• Alcohol, tobacco and gambling: not allowed, per OpenAI's ad policies.

OpenAI's ad policies page says US ads for dietary supplements and consumer medical devices are approved case by case, and health claims are restricted (checked Nov 4).

Ads also don't appear next to sensitive topics such as personal health, mental health or politics, even for allowed categories. If you sell supplements or wellness devices, check the table before you plan the budget.

How do I get help with verification or my business category?

OpenAI says that if the Help Center doesn't answer it, email ads-support@openai.com. Account verification, account approval, ad review and ad delivery are separate checks, so an approved account can still have an ad held in review.

Can an agency run ads for its clients?

Yes, through access roles. Each ad account has admin, member and viewer roles, and a person can be invited to many ad accounts. One limit: once you belong to 10 or more ad accounts, you can't create a new one yourself, though you can still be invited to more.

Does it work for service businesses or B2B?

OpenAI says that during the test, ads are mainly limited to consumer categories, including local services. This FAQ is written for consumer brands selling products, so we haven't covered services in detail.

How do I know if it's working?

Start with OpenAI's conversion measurement guide, then compare its count with the orders in your own Shopify reports. They count differently: OpenAI credits conversions within an attribution window, and Shopify credits orders by the attribution model selected in its Performance by marketing channel report (Shopify Help Center). Agree before you start which number decides.