As OpenAI begins rolling out ads in ChatGPT, the company is reportedly pricing placements at a premium — betting that attention inside AI conversations can justify higher costs despite limited advertiser data.

According to reporting cited by Search Engine Land, OpenAI is pricing ChatGPT ads at approximately $60 per 1,000 impressions (CPM), roughly three times higher than standard Meta ad rates, while offering advertisers only high-level metrics such as impressions and clicks, without insight into downstream actions like purchases, sign-ups, or conversions.

OpenAI has publicly committed to not selling user data to advertisers and to keeping ChatGPT conversations private. While that stance supports user trust and brand safety, it also restricts the kind of targeting, attribution, and optimization tools that performance marketers rely on.

OpenAI has indicated it may expand measurement capabilities over time, but any changes are expected to remain within its stated privacy boundaries.

The reported pricing and data constraints mean ChatGPT ads are unlikely to appeal to performance-driven advertisers in the near term. Instead, the format may attract brands willing to experiment with early placement inside AI conversations, even without clear attribution.

For these advertisers, the potential upside is not return on ad spend but early exposure: lower competition for attention while the format is still limited, placement closer to user intent within conversational responses, and early insight into how users interact with ads inside AI-driven interfaces. This allows brands to test whether conversational context changes how ads are noticed, trusted, or ignored.

In some cases, early participation may give brands visibility into how OpenAI tests and adjusts ad formats and placement rules as the product evolves, though the company has not indicated that advertisers will have direct influence over those decisions.

Search Engine Land notes that this “first-mover” interest is primarily about learning and positioning, not immediate return — a tradeoff that may appeal to large brands experimenting with new channels, but one many advertisers are likely to avoid.

OpenAI has previously said that ads will initially be tested for logged-in adults in the U.S. on ChatGPT’s free and Go tiers, appearing only at the bottom of answers when a sponsored product or service is relevant to the conversation. Ads will be clearly labeled, separated from organic responses, and users will be able to see why an ad appeared, dismiss it, or provide feedback.

The company has said it will not show ads to users under 18 and will exclude ads from sensitive or regulated topics, including health, mental health, and politics. Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise subscriptions will remain ad-free. OpenAI has also emphasized that user data and conversations will not be sold to advertisers, and that users will retain control over personalization settings.

OpenAI has framed advertising as part of a diversified revenue model, alongside subscriptions and enterprise offerings, with the stated goal of expanding access to AI while maintaining user trust. The company has said it will refine how ads appear based on feedback, but that its long-term focus remains on building products people and businesses find valuable enough to pay for.

Q: How much are ChatGPT ads reported to cost?
A: According to reporting cited by Search Engine Land, OpenAI is pricing ChatGPT ads at approximately $60 per 1,000 impressions, significantly higher than typical social media ads.

Q: What data do advertisers receive?
A: Advertisers receive high-level reporting, such as impressions and clicks, without insight into downstream actions like purchases or conversions.

Q: Where will these ads appear?
A: Ads are expected to roll out to users on ChatGPT’s free and lower-cost Go tiers, excluding users under 18 and conversations involving sensitive topics such as mental health or politics.

Q: Who is most likely to benefit from ChatGPT ads at this price point?
A: Brands focused on awareness, experimentation, and early learning are more likely to benefit than performance-driven advertisers, given the limited attribution and premium pricing.

Q: How does this compare to traditional search or social advertising?
A: Unlike search or social ads, which optimize around targeting and conversion tracking, ChatGPT ads prioritize placement within high-attention AI conversations, trading measurement depth for context and brand safety.

OpenAI’s premium pricing for ChatGPT ads is ultimately a test of whether attention inside AI conversations can substitute for the attribution and performance data that advertisers have come to expect.

For most advertisers, the economics are difficult to ignore. On platforms like Meta, advertisers can pay a few dollars per click and receive detailed performance reporting. ChatGPT ads, by contrast, are priced at a premium while offering only high-level metrics such as impressions and clicks. For performance-driven marketers, paying significantly more for less analytical insight is a hard proposition to justify.

OpenAI appears to be betting that context, focus, and brand safety inside AI conversations create a different kind of value — one that does not rely on tracking users across the internet. That approach aligns with OpenAI’s stated privacy commitments, but it also runs counter to how much of digital advertising currently operates, particularly at the enterprise level, where granular data is often a prerequisite for spend.

This creates a clear tension. Brands that prioritize trust, experimentation, or early learning may be willing to test ChatGPT ads despite limited measurement. Many others — especially those optimized around performance efficiency — may simply opt out until stronger attribution is available or prices come down.

Whether this model succeeds or stalls, it surfaces a larger question for the advertising industry: can high-attention environments command premium prices without the surveillance-based data systems that have defined digital advertising for years? ChatGPT ads may not resolve that question immediately, but they force it into the open.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.