ChatGPT Ads expands self-service to India, Europe, Middle East

OpenAI is quietly turning a corner in its global advertising strategy.

The company has opened self-service access to ChatGPT Ads across India, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, allowing businesses in these regions to buy ads directly through the Ads Manager interface.

This move marks a significant departure from the earlier managed-sales model and signals that OpenAI is betting on small and medium-sized businesses outside the United States to drive its next wave of ad revenue.

According to the company, ChatGPT Ads has already crossed a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate in less than 200 days since launch. The advertiser base is now tens of thousands strong, and non-U.S.

clients account for a growing slice of that revenue.

The new self-service rollout, which begins today, puts the same ad-buying tools that were previously reserved for larger, managed accounts into the hands of any business with a credit card and a desire to reach ChatGPT’s one billion weekly active users.

For advertisers in India, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, the opportunity is different from what they might find on Google or Meta.

People come to ChatGPT with explicit goals—choosing software, planning a renovation, learning a language.

The ads system uses the context of the current conversation to show relevant ads, and in some countries, it can also draw on a user’s broader ChatGPT history if settings permit.

This means an ad for a language-learning app could appear right when someone asks how to conjugate a verb, rather than being shown to a broad audience based on demographics alone.

One way to read this is that OpenAI is building a new kind of discovery engine, one where intent is spelled out in natural language rather than inferred from search keywords.

The company states that advertising does not influence ChatGPT’s answers, and ads are clearly labeled. Advertisers do not get access to private conversations, and users can control personalization.

These guardrails are meant to protect the trust that makes people comfortable sharing their needs with the AI.

Our analysis suggests that the real impact of this expansion will be felt most acutely by small and medium-sized businesses. Ads Manager, which launched in May, already gave SMBs in the U.S.

a way to run campaigns. Now the same self-service interface is available across four large regions.

OpenAI notes that SMBs now represent a material share of the business, and that cost-per-click and outcome-optimized bidding account for the majority of campaigns.

For a local retailer in Mumbai or a boutique consultancy in Berlin, the barrier to entry is now simply a few clicks and a budget.

How should ordinary businesses approach this? First, start with a clear goal.

ChatGPT users are typically in a decision-making mode, so ads that offer useful, non-disruptive information—like a product comparison or a how-to guide—tend to perform better than hard-sell banners.

Second, take advantage of geographic targeting and product feeds, both of which are now available. Third, consider using the Pixel and Conversions API to track which ads actually lead to sales.

OpenAI cites an ecommerce advertiser that achieved a 3x return on ad spend over 28 days, and a technology partner that saw more than 80% of ad-driven traffic come from new customers.

Those numbers are early but promising.

Looking ahead, OpenAI plans to introduce more ad formats, buying options, and measurement capabilities, as well as explore more native ways for businesses to interact with consumers inside ChatGPT.

The company has already expanded to more than 50 technology and measurement partners. For marketers in the newly opened regions, the window to experiment while competition is still low may be short.

Businesses interested in getting started can sign up at ads.openai.com.

Source: Based on OpenAI’s official blog post