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Published July 4, 2026

How to Advertise on ChatGPT: Step-by-Step Setup Guide (2026)

Henry Purchase

Henry Purchase

Co-Founder

How to Advertise on ChatGPT

Anyone can advertise on ChatGPT. Since May 5, 2026, OpenAI's self-serve Ads Manager at ads.openai.com is open to US businesses of all sizes with no minimum spend, and access has expanded to the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, and South Korea.

The setup takes most operators an afternoon. This guide covers the full sequence: account creation, pixel installation, conversion events, campaign build, and launch. Follow the steps in order. The most common launch mistakes come from skipping the tracking steps and going straight to creative.

TL;DR: The Setup Sequence

  • Step one. Create your advertiser account at ads.openai.com.
  • Step two. Create a data source (your pixel) under Tools, then Conversions.
  • Step three. Install the pixel code in the header of every page on your site.
  • Step four. Verify with the ChatGPT Pixel Helper Chrome extension.
  • Step five. Create a conversion event and add its code to your thank-you page only.
  • Step six. Build your campaign: objective, budget, audience hints, creative.
  • Step seven. Launch, then leave it alone for 72 hours.

Step One: Create Your Ads Manager Account

Go to ads.openai.com and sign up. You will need a business email, basic company details, and a payment method. Account approval is typically fast for standard categories. Regulated industries (finance, health, insurance) go through additional eligibility checks, and some categories (pharmaceuticals, political advertising) are not eligible during the current test.

Worth knowing before you start: ads show only to users on the Free and Go tiers. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts never see ads, and OpenAI does not show ads to users it predicts are under 18. Your addressable audience is large but not the full ChatGPT user base.

Step Two: Create Your Pixel (Data Source)

In the Ads Manager, head to Tools, then Conversions, then Create, then Data Source. Name it after your company, select Web, and click Create.

The platform generates your setup code. This is the base pixel: a snippet that sits in the header of every page on your site so the platform can track what happens after someone clicks your ad.

Step Three: Install the Pixel on Every Page

Copy the setup code from the Ads Manager. Where it goes depends on your website builder:

WordPress. Install the WPCode plugin. Add New, Create Your Own, HTML Snippet, paste the code, select Site Wide Header, save.

Squarespace. Settings, then search for Code Injection. Paste the code into the header field. This applies it across every page.

Anything else. Copy the setup code, paste it into ChatGPT or Claude, and ask how to install it for your specific builder. The pattern is always the same: header, every page.

Step Four: Verify the Pixel

Install the free ChatGPT Pixel Helper Chrome extension. Open your site, click the extension, reload the page. It tells you whether the pixel has been found and shows the pixel ID. Confirm that ID matches the one in your Ads Manager.

Do not skip this step. A misfiring pixel is the single most common reason first campaigns fail to optimise, and it is invisible until you check.

Step Five: Create Your Conversion Event

Back in the Ads Manager, click Conversion Events, then Create. Select a base event that matches the action you care about: Lead Created for contact forms, Registration Completed for signups, Order Created for ecommerce purchases.

Select the data source you created in step two so the platform associates the event with your pixel. The platform generates a conversion event code.

This code goes on one page only: the page that loads after the conversion completes. For a contact form, that is the thank-you page. For ecommerce, the order confirmation page.

On WordPress, use WPCode with Smart Conditional Logic set to show the snippet only when the page URL contains "thank-you" (or whatever your confirmation URL is). On Squarespace, add the code to the header of that specific page through its individual page settings, not the sitewide injection.

Then verify again with the Pixel Helper: trigger a test conversion, reload, and confirm the event shows as fired. For the complete walkthrough including code templates, see the full pixel setup guide.

Watch

How To Set Up The ChatGPT Ads Pixel (Tracking Guide 2026)

Henry walks through steps two to five on screen, including the WordPress and Squarespace installs and the Pixel Helper verification. Watch this alongside the written steps if you prefer to follow along visually.

Step Six: Build Your First Campaign

With tracking verified, create the campaign. The decisions in order:

Objective. CPC (cost-per-click) or CPM (cost-per-mille). CPC is the right default for direct response: you pay only when someone clicks, and recommended starting bids are $3 to $5. CPM suits awareness campaigns.

Budget. Start small. No more than two per cent of your monthly target per day, or under $100 per day for a first campaign. Our minimum budget guide covers what different budget levels actually deliver.

Audience hints. Describe who your ads should reach. Write broadly rather than narrowly: the platform's conversion engine optimises towards likely converters, and a broad description gives it room to work. A hint delivering fewer than 100 impressions in 48 hours is too narrow.

Creative. A headline around 30 characters, body copy of roughly two sentences with at least one specific number, and a CTA that names the action. ChatGPT's tone is calm, so flat and direct copy outperforms hype. Full format details in the creative guide.

Step Seven: Launch and Leave It Alone

Launch, then resist the urge to touch anything for 72 hours. The auction needs time to find the conversations where your ad performs. Early data is noise.

After 72 hours, check which audience hints are delivering. Kill anything under 100 impressions and move budget to what is serving. After a week, read CTR against the benchmarks: below 0.35 per cent, pause; between 0.35 and 0.68 per cent, iterate creative; above one per cent, scale.

Or Have a Specialist Run the Whole Thing

Everything above is doable in-house. It is also exactly what Focal does for clients every week. Focal is a done-for-you ChatGPT Ads agency covering account setup, pixel verification, creative production, campaign build, launch QA, and ongoing optimisation, with first campaigns live in seven days from kickoff.

If you would rather approve strategy and skip the operational work, book a free 30-minute discovery call. We will tell you on the call whether ChatGPT Ads fits your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I advertise on ChatGPT?

Create an account at ads.openai.com, install the tracking pixel on your site, set up a conversion event, then build and launch a campaign with an objective, budget, audience hints, and creative. The full setup takes most operators an afternoon.

How much does it cost to advertise on ChatGPT?

There is no minimum spend. Recommended CPC starting bids are $3 to $5 per click, and CPMs sit around $25. A practical testing budget is $3,000 to $5,000 per month for most SMBs. See the full pricing breakdown.

Who sees ads on ChatGPT?

Logged-in adult users on the Free and Go tiers. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu subscribers never see ads. Ads also do not appear near sensitive topics such as personal health or politics.

Do I need a developer to set up ChatGPT Ads?

No. The pixel installs through a plugin (WordPress) or a settings field (Squarespace), and the conversion event follows the same pattern on a single page. The ChatGPT Pixel Helper extension confirms everything is firing without touching a line of code.

Related Resources

Watch Henry Purchase's ChatGPT Ads walkthroughs on YouTube for weekly platform updates.