AI & Advertising · New this week
ChatGPT ads are growing. Should a local business buy them?
OpenAI is testing a new picture ad format in ChatGPT this month. Before you spend a dollar there, know what you would be buying and what has to be true on your side for it to pay off.
By Jimmy Thomas, founder ·
1. What’s new
On October 5, OpenAI announced a visual ad format that appears while ChatGPT is generating an image. Testing starts later this month in the US with an initial group of advertisers, and it is shown to users on the Free and Go plans.
OpenAI says the ads are clearly labeled, stay separate from the image being made, and that advertising does not influence the answers ChatGPT gives.
2. How ChatGPT ads work today
Ads in ChatGPT are not brand new. OpenAI started testing them in the US on February 9, 2026, for logged-in adults on the Free and Go plans, and has since expanded to more countries. The paid plans (Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu) stay ad-free, and ads are not shown to accounts identified as under 18.
- Where you sign up: ads.openai.com.
- How you pay: an auction, billed per thousand views or per click.
- What it costs: OpenAI’s help center suggests starting click bids of about three to five dollars, and lists no minimum spend.
That is in the same range as many search ads. The difference is the moment: people describe their problem to ChatGPT in full sentences, often before they have picked who to call.
3. Who they might suit
Paying to show up while someone is still deciding works best when the job is worth a lot and people research before they call:
- Considered purchases like remodels, roofing, med spa treatments, legal help or event services.
- Businesses with strong photos, since the newest format is visual.
- Teams that answer fast, because a lead from a chat is still a lead that goes cold.
They are a poor fit when you can’t take on more work, when most jobs are small and urgent, or when you have never tracked what a customer costs you on any channel.
4. Do the math first
An ad buys a lead. Whether it buys a customer depends on what happens next. Put in your own numbers.
Notice which number moves the cost most. A better ad lowers cost per lead a little. Better follow-up can turn more of the leads you already pay for into customers. That is the problem covered in why leads go cold after the form.
5. Our take
For most local businesses: not yet. Get ready instead.
- Know your cost per booked customer on the channels you already use. Without it, you can’t judge a new one.
- Gather good photos of your real work, with permission from clients.
- Make sure leads get a reply in minutes, not hours, from any channel. Missed-call text back is one easy piece.
- Be the free answer first. Work on showing up when customers ask AI costs nothing per click.
When ads in ChatGPT are more widely open and the results are clearer, a business with those pieces in place can test a small budget and know within weeks whether it works.