Are ChatGPT ads worth it for UK brands?

ChatGPT ads are worth testing for UK brands whose customers ask ChatGPT for recommendations before they buy, especially on the questions where ChatGPT names a competitor instead of you.

In our view, they're a weaker fit for B2B brands selling to people who use ChatGPT through a work account, because those plans don't show ads, and UK financial, health and legal services generally can't run them yet.

Where you spend matters as much as whether you spend: budget aimed at the gaps in ChatGPT's answers does more than budget spent where you're already recommended.

What are ChatGPT ads?

ChatGPT ads are sponsored links that appear below ChatGPT's answer when they're relevant to the conversation.

Each one is labelled as sponsored, kept visually separate from the answer, and shows the advertiser's name, a title, a short description, an image and a link.

Ads have been running in the UK since June 2026, and UK businesses can buy them through OpenAI's self-serve Ads Manager. The product is changing quickly, so we'll keep this page up to date.

Who actually sees ChatGPT ads?

Adults on ChatGPT's Free and Go plans. OpenAI's help centre confirms that Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts don't get ads, and neither do temporary chats or accounts belonging to under-18s.

That decides who you can reach. Someone choosing a sofa or planning a holiday on their phone is often on a free account. Someone researching software for their company on a ChatGPT Business or Enterprise account won't see your ad at all.

Which UK brands are ChatGPT ads worth it for?

They suit brands whose customers use ChatGPT to research a purchase and ask for suggestions along the way.

That includes retailers, travel, home and garden, education and training, and consumer services, plus smaller B2B services whose customers are business owners using ChatGPT on a personal account.

They're harder to justify, or not an option, in three cases. B2B brands selling into larger organisations reach fewer of the people making the decision, for the reason above.

Some categories aren't allowed anywhere under OpenAI's ad policies, including alcohol, tobacco, gambling and wellness claims. And financial services, health services and legal services are generally prohibited outside the US for now.

Ads also won't appear next to conversations about health, mental health or politics.

Do ChatGPT ads change what ChatGPT recommends?

No. OpenAI says ads run on separate systems from the chat model, and advertisers can't shape, rank or change ChatGPT's responses. Paying puts you below the answer, not in it.

That's the most useful thing to understand before you spend anything, because it means ads and organic visibility do different jobs.

If ChatGPT already recommends you for a question, an ad underneath mostly pays for a customer who's already reading your name.

If it recommends three competitors, an ad is the only way onto that screen while you work on being in the answer itself. Why AI recommends your competitor and not you covers that side of it.

How does ChatGPT ad targeting work?

There are no keywords. You write short descriptions of the conversations you want to appear in, which OpenAI calls context hints, and ChatGPT matches your ad to the conversation, your landing page and, where the person has personalisation switched on, signals from their wider use of ChatGPT.

OpenAI's advertiser guidance is clear that hints aren't exact matches and don't guarantee your ad shows in any particular conversation.

So the wording decides who you reach. A broad hint like "running shoes" can put you in front of someone asking how to clean their trainers. A hint written from what customers ask, like "choosing running shoes for a first marathon", is more likely to reach someone who's about to buy.

How do you know if ChatGPT ads are working?

Set up tracking before you launch. OpenAI offers a tracking pixel and a Conversions API, which reports sales and enquiries back from your own systems, and you can add tracking tags to your links so ChatGPT ad visits show up properly in GA4. Ads Manager reports impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate, average cost per click and conversions.

Judge the test on enquiries and sales, not clicks. Someone clicking from a conversation can be earlier in the customer journey than someone searching on Google, so give it four to six weeks and send them to a page with a sensible next step.

How Tilio runs ChatGPT ads

We start with the questions, not the budget. We track the questions people in your market ask AI, so we can see which ones ChatGPT answers by recommending you and which ones it answers by recommending someone else.

The test budget goes to the second group, with context hints written from those real questions rather than guessed.

You own the Ads Manager account and invite us in, conversion tracking goes in before anything launches, and each month you see paid results beside your organic visibility for the same questions.

That's how you tell whether the ads are filling gaps or paying for customers you'd have reached anyway. Our ChatGPT ads management page has the detail.

Are you free for 20 minutes in the next week or so? We'll show you where ChatGPT recommends other brands instead of you, and whether ads are worth testing there.

Frequently asked questions

How much do ChatGPT ads cost?

ChatGPT ads are sold by auction, so there's no fixed price. You can pay per thousand impressions or per click, and OpenAI suggests starting click bids at $3 to $5. Once conversion tracking is set up, you can also bid towards conversions rather than clicks.

What budget do we need to test ChatGPT ads?

There's no minimum spend in Ads Manager, so the budget depends on what you need to learn. Work backwards from results: if 2 in every 100 visitors enquire and you want 10 enquiries before you judge, you need about 500 clicks, multiplied by your cost per click.

Concentrate that into four to six weeks rather than spreading a small budget over months.

Who sees ChatGPT ads in the UK?

Adults using ChatGPT on the Free or Go plans. People on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans don't see ads, and ads don't appear in temporary chats or on accounts belonging to under-18s.

Can ChatGPT ads get us recommended in ChatGPT's answers?

No. Ads sit below the answer, and OpenAI says advertisers can't shape, rank or change what ChatGPT says. Being named in the answer depends on how clearly your brand is described across the sources ChatGPT reads, which is separate work.

Can any UK business advertise on ChatGPT?

No. Alcohol, tobacco, gambling, adult content, political content and wellness claims aren't allowed, and financial, health and legal services are generally prohibited outside the US. Ads also won't show next to conversations about health, mental health or politics.

Should we move budget from Google Ads to ChatGPT ads?

Not as a starting point. Google Ads reach people typing a search, while ChatGPT ads reach people partway through a conversation, often while they're still weighing up options.

Test ChatGPT ads alongside your existing campaigns with their own budget, then decide on cost per enquiry or sale.

Do we need our own Ads Manager account?

Yes. OpenAI asks businesses to create their own Ads Manager account and invite their agency in, rather than agencies setting accounts up for clients.

That means you keep ownership of the account and its history if you ever change agency.

How long until we know if ChatGPT ads are working?

Allow four to six weeks with conversion tracking live from day one.

The first couple of weeks show whether your ads are appearing in the right conversations, and the rest show whether those clicks turn into enquiries or sales.