On January 16th, 2026, OpenAI announced it would start testing ads in ChatGPT in the United States.
This move will help boost efforts to generate revenue to fund the high costs of developing and running the technology, thereby signaling the end of fully subsidized generative AI since its launch in 2022. It will also help the company address the need for broad, affordable access to ChatGPT features.
The pilot program will start by targeting logged-in adult users using the Free and ChatGPT Go (entry-level paid) tiers.
Strategic shift in placement
Unlike the common disruptive pop-up ads in legacy media, OpenAI’s approach is more contextual and strategic. The ads in ChatGPT will appear at the bottom of generated responses and will only be triggered if the user’s inquiry aligns with a relevant sponsored product or service.
For instance, a user who asks for winter clothing will only see an ad for a specific merchant below the AI’s recommendations.
The ads will also be visually distinct from the AI responses and openly labeled to avoid confusion.
Strict Privacy Guardrails
To address potential privacy and bias issues, OpenAI has established strict guardrails on answer independence and privacy to ensure ads do not influence the responses ChatGPT provides to users. As such, the answers are always optimized based on what is most important and helpful to the user.
The company strictly keeps conversations with ChatGPT private from marketers and advertisers and asserts that it will never sell personal data.
Additionally, ads are strictly off-limits when it comes to sensitive topics such as health, politics, or mental health. Accounts identified as having underage users (below 18 years) are excluded from the ad-testing pilot.
OpenAI also allows users to turn off ad personalization at any time or clear any data history used for ads. There’s also the option of using a paid plan that is ad-free.
These principles ensure that the AI advice and answers remain relevant and objective, even with a sponsored link at the bottom.
A New Frontier for E-Commerce Tech
The OpenAI shift to ad testing is more than just a change in user experience. For merchants and online retailers, it represents a transition toward Agentic Commerce. This is more of a conversation commerce model, where brands are able to intercept consumers at the point of intent in the chat interface.
ChatGPT’s move into the advertising space creates a new high-intent acquisition funnel. This means online sellers will no longer fight for ‘Page 1’ of Google. Instead of focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Pay-per-Click (PPC), merchants will now shift their focus to Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
Therefore, instead of the common flashy storefront designs, e-commerce stores will now have to highly optimize their product feeds to ensure they are naturally the suggested solution at the end of a consultative AI session.
By offering a feasible alternative to the Google and Meta duopoly, OpenAI is set to collapse the multi-step marketing funnel into a single conversational moment. This will expand the e-commerce tech landscape, potentially boosting conversion rates. This is because products will be served to users during the deep research phase of the buyer journey.
