ChatGPT ads have arrived in the UK. It was inevitable really.
With so much search volume now going through AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and a whole range of other services, ads were sure to appear sooner rather than later.
Google’s own AI – Gemini – is already pretty much plugged into ads, but this ChatGPT Ads Beta programme is the first time in the UK that there’s been an option to run ads in AI search.
When I saw the option to register for the Beta test in the UK, I signed up instantly, not expecting to get on it so quickly. So, I was surprised to be one of the chosen few to be given a login.
What are ChatGPT Ads?
In short, they’re paid advertising spots wrapped inside ChatGPT conversations. Instead of shouting into the void of a standard search engine, brands can now drop into the exact moment a user is chatting with an AI.
But here’s the kicker: it completely flips traditional search on its head.
With standard Google Ads, people type in blunt keywords usually 3 to 5 words long. With ChatGPT, they have full-blown, deeply specific conversations. They aren’t just looking for a service; they’re looking for a solution to a highly specific problem.
Think about the difference:
- Traditional Google Search “Best marketing agency Leeds”
- ChatGPT Prompt “What marketing agency in Leeds is best for a growing B2B business with a sales team that struggles with inbound leads?”
See the shift? It’s no longer about winning a bidding war on a single keyword. It’s about understanding the exact context, intent, and frustration behind what your audience is asking and being the helpful answer that pops up right when they need you.
How do ChatGPT Ads work?
The ads are currently only served to adult users on the Free and Go tiers. Paid subscribers on Plus, Pro, Team, or Enterprise plans don’t see ads on ChatGPT currently
The ads are kept visually separate from the standard AI-generated text and are explicitly marked as “Sponsored Content”. Crucially, OpenAI says that the paid placements don’t influence or alter the actual answers generated by the model. But I’m pretty sceptical about that claim, time will tell.
How does the targeting work in Open AI advertising?
Most ad models and PPC programmes work on a combination of keyword selection and demographics, so very much like standard SEO practices.
As you’d expect from an AI model, ChatGPT ads work on a prompt.
Here’s how Open AI describe how the targeting works
“Describe the conversations, topics, or keywords where your products or services may be relevant; these hints guide matching but aren’t exact-match targeting rules.”
That’s your lot!
- There’s no indication of how you should structure your prompt
- There’s no expected volume
- There’s no indication of CPC
- There’s no CPM
- There’s no reach
- No average impressions
The geographic targeting is very broad too, you can target an entire country and that’s it. So for The Marketing Optimist we can target UK wide only, at this point.
How can I register for the ChatGPT Ads beta program
OpenAI has been rolling out its ChatGPT ads beta pilot in stages. The program initially launched in the US in 2026 but has now been rolled out to other regions, with other areas of the world sure to be added soon.
The countries currently included in the ChatGPT ads testing program are:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- South Korea
- Japan
- Brazil
- Mexico
You can register to take part in Open AI advertising Beta test by visiting https://ads.openai.com/
You’ll need an account to register, It currently doesn’t need to be a paid account – I registered with a free one.
How do I set up a ChatGPT Ads account?
As it’s early days, the functionality of the Chat GTP ads is currently pretty rough around the edges. From a digital marketing agency perspective one of the first interesting things is that you can only register your own business for ads campaigns, meaning that agencies will have to be provided with logins by clients and each one managed separately.
As frustrating as this is, I can see why it’s not an option in the Beta version, and I’m sure it’ll be added later.
If you are a business wanting your marketing agency to control the account for you, I’d recommend creating the account and giving access pretty much immediately to your agency so that they can ensure it’s set-up properly.
PPC Ads campaigns and social media ads are often not set up correctly which can cause massive problems further down the line.
Can I track conversion from ChatGPT ads?
Yes you can track conversions from ads on ChatGPT. Obviously you can track conversions from all your referring links in Google Analytics, but with added code you can add a pixel and conversion tracking data on your website so conversions show up in the ads console on ChatGPT.
There is also an option to track conversion from product feeds for e-commerce business in much the same way as Google Adwords or Meta ads.
What results can I get from ChatGPT Ads?
As this is the Beta test for ads on ChatGPT the stats you get are very basic for the time being.
We spent £100 on a very small test to send people to our Social Media Marketing page. The prompt we used was short and to the point and maybe could have done with more refinement. Having said that ChatGPT give you no indication as to the effectiveness of what you enter.
Our prompt was “Conversations around finding and hiring social media marketing agencies in the UK for B2B services and products”
We used a Max bid of £2.60 per bid, which ChatGPT tells us “Your bid is likely competitive for this ad group.” based on what we don’t know.
The results for our small test according to the system are:
- 6042 impressions
- 43 clicks
- 0.71% CTR
- £2.33 Ave Cost per Click
- £16.55 Ave cost per thousand impressions
- Did it drive any enquiries? No but it didn’t have much time to do that based on the small budget.
- Did it drive visits to the website? Not that we can see so far.
Is it worth signing up for the ChatGPT Ads programme?
The programme is still very much in Beta testing, so there’s lots missing from the back end and the targeting, which is crucial for running ads. It’s still far too vague and feels like vibe advertising.
There’s going to be an advantage to being one of the first to run ads on ChatGPT in the UK, mainly because the inventory for ads won’t be swamped yet.
A downside, is that at the moment, it’s really easy to spend loads of money on something you can’t quite tell is working.
There could also be backlash from users, who have so far seen ChatGPT as a clean ad free experience and aren’t too keen on seeing ads.
This aversion to ads may well be a plot to drive people to upgrade to a paid subscription to avoid the ads, but that will still be a minority.
In my opinion, I think it’s worth signing up to have a look around and test some budget to see if it works for your business. I’m pretty confident that OpenAI won’t be abandoning ads on ChatGPT and that the other providers are going to be following suit pretty soon. So you may as well get in early.
Can we help you with ChatGPT ads, Google PPC or social media ads?
If you need help turning your ad spend, no matter where it is, into sales then fill in the form below and lets have a chat.
