How to Advertise Your Business on ChatGPT

What to do

1. 1
   Go to ads.openai.com and select Login or Sign up.

   Sign in with the OpenAI account you already use for ChatGPT, or create one. If you can, use the account tied to your work email: the advertiser account belongs to the business, not to a personal profile.

2. 2
   Choose how to start.

   Ads Manager offers two paths. Enter your website URL and it drafts a first ad and campaign from your site for you to review; or skip that step and go straight to Ads Manager, then build the campaign when you are ready. Both paths create the same advertiser account. If you want to look at every setting before anything can run, skipping is the calmer choice.

3. 3
   Enter your advertiser name and the required account details.

   The one name you type at signup becomes your Account Name, Brand Name and Legal Name at first. Review the country or region, the billing currency and the time zone before you submit: OpenAI states these three settings cannot be changed after the account is created. Creating the account means accepting OpenAI's advertising terms and privacy policy shown during signup.

4. 4
   Check the three names in Settings → General.

   Account Name is what you see inside Ads Manager. Brand Name is the public name shown next to your ad in ChatGPT. Legal Name is your registered business name, used for billing and business verification. Changing Brand Name later triggers a brand review and pauses ad serving until it is approved; changing Legal Name restarts business review. Get them right now.

5. 5
   Add your logo.

   Settings → General. Your logo and Brand Name appear with the ad, so use the version customers recognise.

6. 6
   Set up billing.

   Open Billing. Create a billing profile (business name, billing address, invoice delivery email) and add a credit card. When you add the card, a temporary authorization hold may appear to verify it; it is not an advertising charge and is released after verification, though your bank may show it for a week or more. Nothing can deliver until billing is complete.

7. 7
   Complete account verification.

   OpenAI's quickstart lists account verification among the setup steps. If verification is required for your account, you will see a banner in Ads Manager; ads do not serve until it is done.

8. 8
   Invite teammates, if anyone else needs access.

   Settings → Users → Invite, then choose a role: Admin (full access), Member (create and manage campaigns) or Viewer (view only). Invite people into the existing account rather than letting each person create a new one.

Illustration

Schematic drawing, not a screenshot of Ads Manager. Names and layout follow OpenAI's documentation; the real screens may look different.

Good to know

• Use your registered business name as the Legal Name from the start. A later change restarts business review.
• Your billing address and card should match the business entity and country used at signup. A card from a different country may not be accepted.
• Already have an account in the business? Ask its Admin to invite you. OpenAI limits how many ad accounts one login can create, and a second account does not skip verification.

What to do

1. 1
   In Ads Manager select Create, then Create campaign.

   The guided flow asks for each setting in turn. (A bulk upload from a spreadsheet template also exists for large launches; a small business will not need it.)

2. 2
   Name the campaign.

   Clear and consistent, so reports stay readable: “Plumbing · Emergency repairs · Nov 2026” tells you more in a month than “Campaign 1”.

3. 3
   Choose the objective.

   The objective decides how your ads are priced and what delivery optimises for, and it cannot be changed after the campaign is created. Views (CPM): you pay per 1,000 impressions served; best for visibility. Clicks (CPC): you pay per valid click; best for sending people to your website. Conversions: delivery optimises toward a conversion event such as a purchase, sign-up or lead submission, and you choose to be billed per valid click (oCPC) or per 1,000 impressions (oCPM), never per conversion. Conversions requires conversion tracking (OpenAI's JavaScript pixel or Conversions API) and a supported standard event, so most first campaigns start with Clicks.

4. 4
   Set the budget.

   A daily budget or a campaign-total budget. Step 3 explains both and the limits behind them.

5. 5
   Set the start and end dates.

   OpenAI warns that on your very first campaign the date fields may not appear until after the campaign is created; they are there when you edit it, and on every later campaign. If you need a specific start date, do not publish the campaign just to reach those settings: the ads could start running first. Create it, open it for editing, set the schedule, then activate.

6. 6
   Choose the countries, and finer locations if you want them.

   To advertise only in the United States, explicitly include the United States. Excluding other countries alone does not limit delivery to the US. For most campaigns you can also target states or regions, cities, markets and postal codes where available; search for a location during setup to see what is offered. Note that some new self-serve accounts can at first advertise only in their home country.

7. 7
   Optional: platforms and custom audiences.

   Platforms let you choose where the campaign delivers: Android app, Android web, Desktop web, iOS app, iOS web. Custom audiences are lists you upload; including one needs at least 25,000 matched users, so they rarely apply to a local business.

8. 8
   Add at least one ad group with context hints.

   An ad group collects ads around one service or customer need; a plumber might run one for emergency repairs and one for preventive maintenance. Context hints are short phrases that tell the system what you offer, who it helps and when it is useful, such as “same-day water heater replacement for homeowners in Charlotte”. They inform relevance; they are not keywords and do not guarantee delivery for any conversation.

Illustration

Schematic drawing, not a screenshot of Ads Manager. Names and layout follow OpenAI's documentation; the real screens may look different.

Good to know

• Start small: one campaign, one or two ad groups, several ad variations. Add a second campaign when the goal is genuinely different (another region, another service line).
• Ads Manager is in beta, and OpenAI says which options you see can depend on your account: Conversions needs tracking and a supported event, multi-country delivery may open later, and new features roll out gradually. If a setting is missing, that is usually why.
• You cannot clone a Clicks campaign into another Clicks campaign; to repeat a campaign with the same objective, create it again by hand.

What to do

1. 1
   Daily budget: an average, not a daily cap.

   OpenAI defines the daily budget as the average you want to spend per day over a 7-day period (Sunday to Saturday in your account's time zone). On a single day billed spend can reach up to twice your daily budget; over the week it will not exceed seven times. Unused amounts on quiet days may be spent later in the same week. The standard minimum daily budget in the US is $25.

2. 2
   Campaign-total budget: the hard ceiling.

   The maximum you are willing to spend across the whole campaign; Ads Manager paces it over the schedule. OpenAI calls it the stricter control for total spend. One catch: you can later turn a campaign-total budget into a daily budget, but not back.

3. 3
   Know how you are charged.

   ChatGPT Ads bills after delivery. Spend accrues as ads run, and your card is charged whenever the unpaid balance reaches your account's payment threshold, and again at the end of the month for whatever remains. New accounts start with a low threshold (OpenAI's example is $25) that rises automatically with successful payments. The threshold decides when you are charged; the budget decides how much the campaign may spend. They are not the same number.

4. 4
   Avoid an accidental launch.

   An ad created during signup can go live once it passes review and billing is set. If you are not ready, pause the campaign and confirm its status. A campaign only delivers while its status is Active, within its dates, with budget remaining.

5. 5
   Check the status right after you finish the account.

   Open the campaign list once more before you close the tab. Is anything Active that you did not intend? A pause can take up to 24 hours to apply across OpenAI's delivery systems, and the spend in that window is billable, so it is cheaper to catch it now.

Good to know

• OpenAI itself recommends that new advertisers start with a daily budget, so you can watch delivery and performance before committing to a total.
• Set an end date on your first test so it stops by itself. You can always extend it.
• Spend in the dashboard lags 7 to 8 hours behind delivery. A $0 next to real impressions and clicks does not mean nothing has been spent.

What to do

1. 1
   Select the ad group, then add an ad.

   Ads Manager may also offer “Add new ad” drafts prefilled from your website's own metadata (image, title, description). They are not AI-written copy; review and edit them before you assign them to a campaign.

2. 2
   Choose the landing page.

   One destination URL per ad. Send people to the most relevant page: the drain-cleaning page for a drain-cleaning ad, not the home page. The page must load, must be publicly reachable, and must not block OpenAI's crawlers (OAI-AdsBot and OAI-SearchBot), or the ad will be rejected. You may add UTM tracking parameters to the URL.

3. 3
   Write the title.

   OpenAI recommends 16 to 24 characters, with a maximum of 50. Say the value plainly: what you offer and why it is useful, not a slogan.

4. 4
   Write the description.

   32 to 48 characters recommended, 100 maximum. Add information the title did not carry: who it is for, what they get, when it helps. Do not repeat the title.

5. 5
   Add the image.

   PNG or JPG, square, no larger than 1200 × 1200 pixels, simple and relevant to the message. Choose Single image or Multiple images under Ad format. The multi-image format (4 to 6 square images) has been an open beta since October 26, 2026; all of its images link to the same URL and “Learn more” is its only call to action.

6. 6
   Check the ad against OpenAI's Ad policies.

   Ad text, image and landing page must match each other and must be honest. Some categories are restricted or need case-by-case approval in the US (financial services, health services, legal services), and ads for an individual job listing or a specific property for rent or sale are prohibited. OpenAI says its early focus is on consumer categories such as household and consumer goods, local services, travel and entertainment, and digital products and education.

7. 7
   Save and submit for review.

   Every ad is reviewed before it can serve. Create several variations per offering, each from a different angle: OpenAI's guidance is that a diverse set of ads lets the system find more conversations where your ad is relevant.

Illustration

Schematic drawing, not a screenshot of Ads Manager. Names and layout follow OpenAI's documentation; the real screens may look different.

Good to know

• Match the promise to the page. If the ad says drain cleaning, the landing page is about drain cleaning, and the price language is the same in both.
• Write three to five title and description variations per service before you launch. Testing is cheaper than guessing.
• No ad guarantees impressions or sales, and this guide does not either. Promise in the ad only what you deliver on the job.

What to do

1. 1
   Review the settings once more.

   Objective, budget type and amount, start and end dates, locations, ad group, ads. Objective and budget type are the ones you cannot simply edit later; if either is wrong, this is the moment to create the campaign again.

2. 2
   Confirm that billing is complete and the payment method is saved.

   Billing profile plus card, and no verification banner waiting in Ads Manager. Without them nothing serves, even when every campaign setting is right.

3. 3
   Set the campaign, its ad groups and its ads to Active.

   OpenAI's launch checklist: make sure campaigns are turned to status Active. A paused ad group inside an active campaign still delivers nothing.

4. 4
   Watch the review status.

   Each ad shows Serving or Not serving. Hover over Not serving to read the reason: still in review, a policy issue, billing, verification. A rejected ad can be edited and resubmitted, or you can request another review if you believe it was rejected in error.

5. 5
   When will the ad start showing?

   After it passes review, and when account readiness, billing, campaign status, budget and schedule all allow delivery. OpenAI asks advertisers to allow at least 24 hours after launch before treating zero impressions as a problem.

6. 6
   How to pause.

   Pause the campaign, or just one ad group or ad. The change can take time to apply across delivery systems: OpenAI says ads may continue to appear for up to 24 hours, and the spend in that period is billable.

7. 7
   How to change a campaign.

   Budget amounts, dates, locations, ads and bids can be edited in place, singly or in bulk. The objective, the billing option and conversion event of a Conversions campaign, and a daily budget (once chosen) cannot be changed in place: clone the campaign or create a new one.

Illustration

Schematic drawing, not a screenshot of Ads Manager. Names and layout follow OpenAI's documentation; the real screens may look different.

Good to know

• Impressions, clicks and CTR refresh roughly every 15 minutes; spend lags 7 to 8 hours; cost figures settle later still.
• If delivery stops after you renamed something: a Brand Name change pauses serving until brand review approves it; a Legal Name change restarts business review.
• Daily budgets have a weekly allowance. If a campaign uses it early in the week, it may stop delivering until Sunday even while marked Active.

What to do

1. 1
   Where to look.

   The campaign, ad group and ad table; trend charts over time; and CSV downloads for a date range. Impressions, clicks and CTR refresh about every 15 minutes; spend can lag 7 to 8 hours.

2. 2
   Read the numbers in plain language.

   Few impressions: the ad is not being matched. Check status, budget, dates, locations and context hints. Impressions but few clicks (a low CTR): the title and description are not convincing or not relevant to the conversations they appear in. Clicks but no calls or forms: the landing page or the offer is the problem, not the ad.

3. 3
   Count what the dashboard cannot.

   Ads Manager counts clicks. Your business counts calls, form submissions and bookings. Use a UTM-tagged landing page, a dedicated phone number, or simply ask every new customer how they found you. If you want conversions counted inside Ads Manager, install OpenAI's JavaScript pixel or Conversions API and choose a standard event; that also unlocks the Conversions objective.

4. 4
   Judge on volume, not on day two.

   OpenAI states that ChatGPT Ads has no performance benchmarks yet across advertisers or industries, and that results depend on objective, creative, landing page, relevance and setup. Give a test enough days and enough clicks before you change everything at once.

Illustration

Schematic drawing, not a screenshot of Ads Manager. Names and layout follow OpenAI's documentation; the real screens may look different.

Good to know

• Compare like with like: the same ad account, the same date range, the same time zone, paused ads included when you look at past weeks.
• Cost per inquiry and cost per customer are yours to calculate; Ads Manager stops at clicks unless you install conversion tracking.

The checklist

Good to know

• OpenAI's own troubleshooting list for ads that are not delivering: review status, account verification, campaign budget, campaign end date, billing status. Check those five before anything else.