ChatGPT ads explained: who sees them, how they work and how to avoid them

ChatGPT ads have gone from a US test to a global feature in under eight months. OpenAI says they help pay for free and low-cost access, and that they are kept separate from the answers you get. This guide explains who sees ads, where they appear, what data they use and how to turn them off or avoid them, using OpenAI’s own help centre and announcements as of September 2026.

ChatGPT ads at a glance

Who sees ads

OpenAI says ads may appear for people on the Free and Go plans, and that Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts will not have ads. It doesn’t show ads to accounts identified as belonging to users under 18, using account-level age information and age prediction where available. Ads shown to logged-out users are appropriate for all audiences, and mature-content ads are limited to eligible logged-in users. Temporary Chats don’t show ads.

OpenAI started testing in the US on February 9, 2026, and on September 23 said ads were rolling out across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan, following launches in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and India. It says ChatGPT Ads are now in more than 60 countries and reached a $1 billion annualised revenue run rate in under 200 days.

Where ads appear and what they look like

Ads can appear below the end of a response, clearly labelled as sponsored and visually separated from ChatGPT’s answer. You may see one or more ad units when there is a relevant match to your chat, and a unit can feature items from one or several advertisers. OpenAI says ads are not eligible to appear near sensitive or regulated topics such as personal health, mental health or politics, and it doesn’t currently allow political advertising. Some advertisers in regulated categories such as health and financial services can advertise if they meet its criteria, but not next to sensitive conversations.

How ads are chosen

OpenAI says its system selects ads on expected relevance and outcomes, using the context and intent of your current conversation, the ad’s landing page, title and copy, advertiser targeting choices, and, if personalisation is on, select signals from your broader ChatGPT use. When several ads qualify, it considers relevance and advertiser bids. The signals it can use are:

• Always: what you’re discussing in the current chat, plus basic context such as general location and language.
• With personalised ads on: how you interact with ads, and past chats and memory if those settings are on.

It says hiding, reporting, viewing or clicking an ad doesn’t get added to your ChatGPT memory, though if you share an ad with ChatGPT through Ask ChatGPT and discuss it, that conversation can be referenced later if reference chat history is on.

Privacy: what advertisers see

OpenAI says it doesn’t share your conversations with advertisers and never sells your data. Advertisers get only aggregated, non-identifying information about performance, such as total views or clicks, and never receive your chats, history, memories, name, email, precise location, IP address or sensitive information. Personalised ads aren’t initially available in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.

How to control ads

Ad controls are in Settings, then Ad Controls, for Free and Go users in regions where ads are available. You can:

1. Turn off ad personalisation at any time.
2. Dismiss ads and share feedback.
3. See why you’re being shown a particular ad.
4. Clear the data used for ads, which OpenAI retains for up to 30 days before removing it.

Turning personalisation off doesn’t remove ads: you still see ads based on your current chat, but OpenAI won’t use other chats, ads history or topics. If you don’t see the controls on mobile, update the app.

How to avoid ads

• Upgrade to Plus or Pro, the ad-free paid plans. Our guide to ChatGPT Go vs Plus compares them, and ChatGPT Pro explained covers the top tiers.
• Choose the free no-ads option, which comes with additional limits: fewer messages a day and no access to tools like image generation.
• Use a Temporary Chat, which doesn’t show ads.

Availability may vary by region and over time. For which models each plan gets, see ChatGPT models explained, and for the assistant overall, the ChatGPT profile.