OpenAI has expanded ChatGPT ads to 26 additional countries, extending its international advertising operations as the company develops new ad formats, measurement tools and buying options. The expansion follows earlier rollouts across Europe, Southeast Asia and Latin America and comes eight months after advertising was introduced on ChatGPT.
According to OpenAI, more than 100,000 advertisers have run campaigns on ChatGPT since advertising launched earlier this year. The company also reported that ChatGPT now reaches more than 1.2 billion weekly users, providing advertisers with access to consumers researching products, comparing services and making purchasing decisions through AI-powered conversations. However, the cumulative advertiser figure does not represent the number of businesses currently running campaigns.
The latest rollout includes 14 additional Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru, following previous launches in Mexico and Brazil. Advertising is also expanding across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, with Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan among the newly supported markets. Advertisers can purchase inventory through technology partners or access campaigns directly through OpenAI’s self-service Ads Manager.
The geographic expansion follows a period of revenue growth for OpenAI’s advertising business. The company reported reaching a $1 billion annualized advertising revenue run rate in August, indicating the revenue it would generate over 12 months if its performance at that point were sustained. The figure does not represent actual annual revenue. Advertising has become an additional monetization channel as OpenAI seeks to diversify its business beyond paid subscriptions and enterprise services.
Despite the increase in advertiser participation, questions remain about retention and campaign performance. AdExchanger reported that ChatGPT had approximately 60,000 active advertisers in early October, citing research by New Street Research analyst Dan Salmon. The difference between active advertisers and the more than 100,000 businesses that have tried the platform suggests that some advertisers have not maintained continuous spending. OpenAI has not publicly disclosed advertiser retention rates or average campaign expenditure.
The company is also developing additional advertising formats and measurement capabilities as marketers evaluate the effectiveness of conversational advertising. Earlier in October, OpenAI introduced a more visual ad format featuring larger images, initially testing the experience among U.S. users engaging with ChatGPT’s image-generation capabilities. The company has also begun experimenting with business-sponsored AI agents and tools intended to help advertisers create and manage campaigns.
An OpenAI spokesperson told AdExchanger that the company is building measurement capabilities alongside its geographic expansion, while continuing to explore additional advertising formats. The company plans to introduce more campaign objectives, buying methods and performance measurement options, although it has not provided detailed timelines for these developments. Advertisers have previously raised concerns about limited attribution and measurement capabilities compared with established digital advertising platforms.
ChatGPT advertising is designed to appear alongside relevant conversations when users are exploring products or services. Unlike conventional search advertising, which generally responds to individual queries, conversational advertising can reflect the context of an ongoing exchange in which users refine their preferences and compare alternatives. This creates opportunities for advertisers to reach consumers during product consideration, although the effectiveness of these placements remains dependent on targeting relevance and measurable outcomes.
OpenAI maintains that advertisements are clearly labeled and separated from ChatGPT’s responses, with commercial placements having no influence over the answers generated by the chatbot. The company also states that conversations remain private from advertisers and that user data is not sold to advertising partners. Ads are available only to users on ChatGPT’s Free and Go plans, while Plus, Pro and Enterprise subscriptions remain ad-free.
The expansion extends ChatGPT’s advertising availability into additional international markets, but its next stage of development will depend on whether OpenAI can translate advertiser experimentation into sustained spending. As the company introduces new formats and measurement capabilities, advertisers will be assessing how conversational placements compare with established search, social media and programmatic advertising channels.
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