ChatGPT Will Start Showing Ads Next to the Images You Generate – ALM Corp

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OpenAI announced today that it will test display ads in ChatGPT, which will appear next to images generated by the chatbot. TechCrunch reported on October 5, 2026, that the company is also expanding its ad measurement capabilities and brand suitability assessments.
The ads will launch later this month in the United States only and will initially target a set of pilot advertisers. OpenAI said the ads would be labeled and would not impact the responses from ChatGPT.
The new visual ads are part of a different kind of OpenAI advertising product that can appear after a user’s image generation results. These advertisements will appear next to the images that users request. They will include products and services from the advertisers in the trial program.
OpenAI is combining the new format with updates on the measurement side. The company is expanding its measurement tools and partnerships and is also developing ways to assess brand suitability.
TechCrunch said the goal was to win over online advertisers looking to reach potential customers with more visual imagery. TechCrunch also said the move followed the launch of Meta’s Muse, an agentic AI app that is free to everyone and is a growing competitor to chatbots like ChatGPT.
The rollout is limited. The ads are set to kick off later this October, only be available in the U.S. for now, and only a test group of advertisers will take part at first. OpenAI hasn’t revealed when the format will roll out to other countries.
OpenAI says the ads will be clearly labeled and not impact ChatGPT’s responses. This echoes what the company said when it first began testing ads in February, when it stated that the ads do not impact the information that the chatbot tells users and that the conversation remains private from advertisers.
TechCrunch reports that, once the ads roll out globally, advertisers will eventually be able to reach ChatGPT’s 1.2 billion weekly users with more visual imagery to tell their stories.
A significant chunk of the announcement focuses on measurement. OpenAI stated that its partner list now includes click attribution solutions AppsFlyer, Triple Whale, Adjust, DV Rockerbox, Northbeam, Branch, Singular, Kochava, Airbridge and Tenjin. It also listed full funnel, advanced measurement partners Fospha, Measured and INCRMNTAL.
On brand suitability, the company said it is constructing evaluation pilots, with the help of DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science. The pilots are meant to help advertisers better understand the ChatGPT ads environment, and OpenAI described the work as pilot projects, not finished products.
The image ads are the latest addition in a program that began this year. OpenAI announced on February 9 that it began testing ads in the U.S. for ChatGPT’s Free and Go subscriptions. OpenAI launched the Go subscription globally in mid-January, which costs $8 per month in the U.S. OpenAI announced its intention to test advertisements in ChatGPT users a month earlier. Pro, Business, Enterprise, Education subscriptions, and Pro, as well as the Plus plan, are not available.
Tech Crunch’s article about the launch of ads outlined several restrictions that OpenAI has imposed on its own advertisements. First of all, users who are under 18 years old cannot see ads. Secondly, ads are not shown next to health, political, or sensitive topics such as mental health. In addition, advertisers cannot have access to data about individual users, only aggregated information about the performance of their ads, such as how many times they are viewed and clicked.
Moreover, users receive control over how they interact with ads. For example, in the new advertising system, users can hide, provide feedback on, review, and control ads, as well as customize each session. Users can also view and delete interaction data with ads.
At the same time, during the test, ads were shown to users based on the topic of conversation, previous messages, and interaction with similar advertising. One example shows how the ad might look if a user were to ask for advice on recipes. It would be comparable to a recommendation for a specific subscription and food delivery service.
Finally, it is noted that the introduction of advertising was associated with some complications for OpenAI. Tech Crunch notes that OpenAI faced consumer backlash last year when it tried to recommend similar apps in ChatGPT, which users compared to spam. Moreover, consumers were generally opposed to the idea of advertising in AI responses.
Ads tapped into more markets over the summer. In August, OpenAI expanded the program to cover Europe. On August 27, it said ads would begin to appear on the Free and Go tiers in India, where TechCrunch reported OpenAI has more than 100 million weekly active ChatGPT users.
OpenAI said it would begin with 50 brands in India, having partnered with advertising agencies WPP and Omnicom. It also planned to launch an ad manager the following month so that marketers could develop campaigns, with a daily minimum budget of ₹725 ($7.60).
OpenAI has focused on building its user base in India. It launched a ChatGPT Go plan priced below $5 in August 2025 and ran a limited promotion that made the tier free for a full year. It also heavily advertised during cricket tournaments, including both the Women’s Premier League and Indian Premier League, and hired Uber’s India head to lead its expansion there.
Dave Dugan, OpenAI’s head of global ads solutions, said businesses can introduce themselves “at relevant, high-context moments when decisions are beginning to take shape.”
OpenAI updated its terms of service earlier in August to signal that it will display ads to users. The India report also linked the ad program to the company’s finances. The company is preparing for a potential IPO expected this year or next. According to The Wall Street Journal, as cited by TechCrunch, OpenAI posted revenue of $6.7 billion in the second quarter ended June 2026, up from $5.7 billion the quarter prior. The Information reported last November that OpenAI was targeting 220 million paying subscribers by 2030, with 35 million users paying for Plus and Pro at the present.
TechCrunch notes the new ads could disrupt the user experience, and that may be the point for now because ads could encourage more casual users to pay to avoid them. This is the publication’s spin on the events, and OpenAI has not put it that way.
They have not said how big the ads will be, how many per request, or if they will be connected to the image their subject was.
OpenAI has promised ads will be labeled and not influence answers.
The company’s own statements give some background on the debate. OpenAI said in February the ads would help make its more powerful ChatGPT features more accessible, while retaining the trust of its users.
TechCrunch further reports critics believe ads could bias ChatGPT’s responses, which OpenAI has denied.
Their ad plan also drew criticism from a competitor. Rival firm Anthropic ran Super Bowl commercials mocking the very existence of ads in AI chatbots and CEO Sam Altman has publicly reacted against them.
There are a few other key details that weren’t mentioned in the announcement. TechCrunch left out the advertisers that participated in the first test groups, the subscription levels that will be eligible for image ads, and a timeline for launching the format in regions outside the U.S., including a look at the cost for the new ads. There is also no information on whether advertisers can request specific image placements.
The Free and Go tiers are the only subscription levels that have seen ads so far, while rakers were initially barred from the program when it launched last year. The October report does not state whether that rule applies to the image ads, though nothing in it suggests a change.
Q 1: What are OpenAI’s new visual ads?
They are display ads that appear alongside images users ask ChatGPT to generate. They show up after the image results appear.
Q 2: When will the image ads appear?
OpenAI said the ads will begin appearing later this month, which is October 2026. They start in the U.S. only for now.
Q 3: Who will advertise first?
The ads will feature products and services from an initial test group of advertisers. The report does not name them.
Q 4: Will the ads change ChatGPT’s answers?
OpenAI says they will not. The company also says the ads will be clearly labeled.
Q 5: Which measurement partners is OpenAI working with?
The list includes AppsFlyer, Triple Whale, Adjust, DV Rockerbox, Northbeam, Branch, Singular, Kochava, Airbridge and Tenjin for click attribution. Fospha, Measured and INCRMNTAL cover full funnel measurement.
Q 6: What is OpenAI doing about brand suitability?
It is developing evaluation pilots with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science. The pilots are meant to help advertisers understand the ChatGPT ads environment.
Q 7: Where else does ChatGPT show ads?
Ads began testing in the U.S. in February and expanded to Europe in August. On August 27, OpenAI said they would also reach the Free and Go tiers in India.
Q 8: Do paid ChatGPT subscribers see ads?
When the program launched, OpenAI said Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education subscribers would not see ads. The October report does not mention a change.



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