How to Advertise on ChatGPT: A Step-by-Step Guide for Local Businesses (2026)

Businesses can now advertise on ChatGPT using OpenAI’s self-serve Ads Manager, available to approved advertisers with campaigns starting at $25 per day in the account we tested. This offers a great opportunity to reach individuals who are actively seeking services.

This guide outlines how to advertise on ChatGPT step by step for a Philadelphia-based appliance repair company, discussing ChatGPT Ads costs, challenges encountered, and lessons for future campaigns.

ChatGPT ads are sponsored placements that may appear below an eligible response, clearly labeled and separated from the answer. They are not paid rankings, and advertisers cannot shape what ChatGPT says. The success of ChatGPT advertising relies on factors such as user intent, your landing page, ad copy, and bid amount. For instance, if someone searches, “My fridge is leaking water on the kitchen floor. Who do I call in Ardmore?” an appliance repair company should prioritize showing their ad for that query.

Advertisements are displayed to users on ChatGPT’s Free and Go plans, but not on the Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, or Edu plans. OpenAI also excludes users under 18, temporary chats, and sensitive topics such as health, mental health, and politics from these ads. Testing for this feature began in the United States in February 2026 and has continued to expand since then.

Moving early on ChatGPT ads may lead to lower auction costs when competition is minimal, as the number of brands running ChatGPT ads increased by 315% from May to June 2026. Companies that adopted Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or Local Services Ads early experienced a similar advantage.

Yes, if you fall into an approved category. OpenAI currently accepts advertisers in consumer verticals, including lifestyle and household goods, local services, travel and experiences, and digital products or education.

A few categories are reviewed case-by-case and, for now, US-only:

•   Financial services: auto loans, credit cards, mortgages, insurance, investment services
•   Healthcare: dental, medical devices, health insurance, diagnostic testing
•   Legal: educational content only, not legal services themselves

Prohibited categories include adult content, alcohol and tobacco, counterfeit goods, gambling, recreational drugs, political content, fraudulent offers, individual job listings, and housing sales or rentals. Ads and landing pages must match, and ads cannot imitate ChatGPT’s appearance, functionality, or voice.

Campaigns start at just $25 per day, totaling approximately $750 per month. It’s worth mentioning that there’s no longer an account minimum requirement; the previous $200,000 enterprise pilot minimum established in February 2026 has been eliminated.

For our client, we chose $35 per day (about $1,000 per month) and a $3.50 max CPC. The platform rated that bid as likely competitive through its live delivery indicator.

One note on payment methods: your card has to match your business’s country of registration. A US business needs a US-issued card and billing address.

As of late July 2026, the Ads Manager account we tested treated the daily budget as a seven-day average, rather than a hard daily ceiling

So, the maximum spend on any single day is 2× your daily budget

And the maximum spend over seven days is 7× your daily budget

For instance, a campaign with a $25 daily budget may spend up to $50 on a busy day, then pull back later while staying within the seven-day limit. Adjust spend alerts accordingly.

Before opening Ads Manager, use ChatGPT to draft the campaign plan. This can save time and produce a client-ready brief. Here is a prompt example that may help you:

“I run an appliance repair company on the Main Line outside Philadelphia. I want to run ChatGPT ads. Give me: 10 cities to target, 25 context-hint phrases describing conversations where my service is relevant, a recommended monthly budget and bid, three headline options under 40 characters, and three descriptions under 90 characters.”

The response to this prompt is a working campaign brief that includes a target list, prompt phrases, budget, positioning, ad copy angles, and next steps. We turned it into a short PDF, sent it to the client for approval, and had sign-off before we built anything.

Once you have the campaign brief, sign in to OpenAI’s Ads Manager beta with an account tied to your business email, then enter:

•   Business details: name, website, logo, industry
•   Account details: country, currency, time zone

Country, currency, and time zone cannot be changed after account creation, so confirm them carefully.

Agencies should create each advertiser account under the client’s email, with the client owning billing and data, then request admin access. OpenAI does not yet offer a Google Ads-style MCC, though a single person can access multiple advertiser accounts.

The setup can time out, so have your business details, logo, and EIN ready before you start.

Once you have the campaign brief, sign in to OpenAI’s Ads Manager beta with an account tied to your business email, then enter:

•   Business details: name, website, logo, industry
•   Account details: country, currency, time zone

Country, currency, and time zone cannot be changed after account creation, so confirm them carefully.

Agencies should create each advertiser account under the client’s email, with the client owning billing and data, then request admin access. OpenAI does not yet offer a Google Ads-style MCC, though a single person can access multiple advertiser accounts.

The setup can time out, so have your business details, logo, and EIN ready before you start.

• Verification through Persona requires your EIN, website, industry, and physical address.
• Campaigns may show “not serving” while verification is pending; you can continue building during review.
• Upload the account logo as well, because campaigns cannot run without it.

The familiar structure is Campaign > Ad Group > Ad. At the campaign level, choose the name, objective, location, and budget:

•   Clicks (CPC): traffic and conversions. This is what a local service business wants.
•   Reach (CPM): impressions and branding.
•   Conversions: added in late July 2026, optimized toward a tracked event. Requires conversion tracking to be live first.

For our client, we chose Clicks (CPC) with a $35 per day budget. Campaign-level budgets are shared across all ad groups; services that require separate budgets require separate campaigns. At the ad-group level, set the bid, destination URL, and context hints.

Context hints work like flexible matching signals, are free-form audience or placement signals that help guide when an ad may appear. OpenAI says they can be descriptions or keywords; in our local-service test, complete problem scenarios were more useful than short phrases. 

Weak hints:

appliance repair, fridge repair, washer repair

Strong hints:

Someone whose refrigerator stopped cooling overnight and needs a same-day technician

A homeowner is comparing the cost of repairing a 9-year-old dryer versus replacing it

Someone asking which appliance repair companies serve Bryn Mawr, Ardmore, or Wayne

A person describing a washing machine that won’t drain and asking if it’s a DIY fix

These complete scenarios include intent, urgency, or geography. Create 20-30 per ad group; ChatGPT can help generate language that mirrors how people describe their needs.

At the ad level, add the name, destination URL with UTM parameters, headline, description, and image.

Watch truncation: the platform allows 50 headlines and 100 description characters, but previews may display fewer. Front-load keywords and check the live preview.

Example: #1 House Appliance Repair – Call for repairs to heaters, washers, dryers, and more.

The ad also displays your advertiser name and favicon, which is another reason the logo upload isn’t optional.

Create at least two or three ads for A/B testing. You can also build separate ad groups for distinct services or customer scenarios, each with its own hints and creativity.

ChatGPT Ads billing is post-paid. Our new account displayed a billing threshold of approximately $25, with any remaining balance charged at the end of the month. For any remaining balance at the end of the month. Conversion tracking determines whether the channel is producing business. 

In Tools > Conversions, set up the Measurement Pixel or Conversions API. Add UTM parameters separately to identify ChatGPT sessions and conversions in your analytics platform.

1. Pixel – a website snippet that can be sent directly to your developer.
2. Conversions API: server-side, more durable.
3. UTM parameters – supplemental tracking used to identify ChatGPT traffic and conversions in your analytics platform.

Create events for calls, forms, bookings, and quote requests. Reporting covers conversions, attributed sales value, ROAS, and view-through and click-through attribution, although results can be delayed by a few hours. View-through conversions use a one-day window and are supplemental; CPA, bidding, billing, and conversion optimization remain click-through-based.

Once verification clears and your logo is uploaded, you’re finally live. A few habits will keep you on top of this ad management:

1. Check daily for the first two weeks to identify any issues.
2. Clear all campaign warnings; non-compliant ads will stop delivering.
3. Change one element at a time- bids, hints, then ad creative, preferably every week or two.
4. Allow 30-60 days for a proper assessment of the local service budget.
5. Invite your team under Settings → Users for visibility for both the marketing manager and owner.

The main difference is the intent behind the query. Google Ads often begins with a brief query, while ChatGPT may include the entire problem, prior attempts, budget, and location. This additional context could enhance relevance, although the platform is still too new for sweeping conclusions.

For local businesses, keep Google running and test ChatGPT with 750-1,000 per month. Track leads and compare cost per lead after about 60 days.

• Treat context hints as if they were keywords. Short keyword phrases tend to underperform. In our experience, complete scenarios provide stronger context.
• Launching your campaign without conversion tracking means you’ll lack the means to justify or eliminate your spending.
•  Be careful when setting your country, currency, or time zone, as these settings are permanent.
• Don’t assume that your daily budget is a strict cap. It is averaged over seven days, allowing for spending up to twice the amount on any given day.
• Instead of directing clicks to your homepage, send them to the service page that corresponds with the ad. Ensure there’s a phone number and a form prominently displayed above the fold.

Yes, for approved categories. You need a business email, an OpenAI account, a verified business, a logo, and a payment method.

Campaigns start at $25 per day, according to what we observed in Ads Manager till August 2026.

No. Ads Manager is separate from ChatGPT subscriptions. A business email and verification are what matter.

Not through an MCC. Create a client-owned account for each business and invite agency staff as admins.

Choose available geography at the campaign level- currently country, region, or DMA according to OpenAI’s public documentation, then reinforce local relevance by naming served towns.

No. Ads are separate from the chat model and appear as labeled sponsored placements below answers.

Check business verification, the account logo, and policy warnings. Any of these can stop delivery.

No. Ads buy a labeled placement; GEO earns mentions through useful content, reviews, citations, and structured data. Strong brands can pursue both.

Competition and costs will likely rise as adoption grows. Learning the platform now gives your business time to develop effective context hints, tracking, and creative before the auction becomes crowded. Momentum Digital manages Google, Bing, Meta, and ChatGPT ads for small businesses in Philadelphia and nationwide. We can build the account, write context hints, set up conversion tracking, and evaluate performance.