ChatGPT Ads expands to 89 countries with over 100K advertisers

ChatGPT is getting a lot more commercial, very quickly.

OpenAI just announced that ChatGPT Ads is rolling out to 26 additional countries, pushing its global ad footprint to 89 markets worldwide.

Even more striking is the momentum: just eight months after launching ads, over 100,000 advertisers have already run campaigns on the platform.

OpenAI also shared that over 1.2 billion people now use ChatGPT every single week to brainstorm, compare options, and make purchasing decisions.

The global expansion

The latest batch of markets focuses heavily on emerging economies. Building on earlier launches in Brazil and Mexico, OpenAI is adding 14 Latin American nations, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru.

Other newly added countries span Africa, Europe, and Asia, featuring Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Businesses can buy inventory via partner networks or directly through OpenAI’s self-service Ads Manager.

OpenAI is also drawing a sharp line between free loaders and paying subscribers. Ads will only be served to users on Free and Go tiers.

If you pay for Plus, Pro, or Enterprise, your workflow stays completely ad-free. OpenAI also insists it does not sell user data, share private conversations with marketers, or allow sponsors to manipulate model outputs.

Looking ahead, the company says it is building new ad formats, better measurement tools, and more native ways for brands to converse with prospects.

Why it matters

If you run paid acquisition or growth for a brand, this is an ad channel you cannot ignore. Traditional search ads capture intent after a user types a rigid keyword, but ChatGPT catches people while they are actively deliberating and weighing trade-offs in real time.

For casual users, the reality is clear: supporting 1.2 billion weekly users requires astronomical compute power, and text ads are the toll to keep free tiers alive. Paying for Plus is no longer just about faster speeds, it is about keeping your workspace clean.

We think expanding ads to 89 countries shows OpenAI is under immense pressure to turn unprecedented consumer attention into sustainable cash flow.

However, the real risk lies in user trust. Chatbots feel personal, almost like an advisor. Even with strict labels, the moment an ad appears next to a sensitive health or career query, users might start wondering whether the AI's advice was bought.