OpenAI announced on October 21, 2026 that it is expanding ChatGPT Ads to 26 additional countries, bringing availability to 89 countries worldwide. According to the company, more than 100,000 advertisers have run campaigns on ChatGPT since ads launched just over eight months earlier. OpenAI states that more than 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT each week. The expansion includes 14 more Latin American countries—among them Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru—following earlier launches in Mexico and Brazil, as well as markets across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, including Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. OpenAI says ads will appear only on its Free and Go plans, while Plus, Pro, and Enterprise subscriptions remain ad-free. Advertisers can access the platform through technology partners or self-service through Ads Manager. The company states that conversations are kept private from advertisers, that it does not sell customer data, that ads are clearly labeled and separate from ChatGPT's answers, and that advertising does not influence the answers ChatGPT provides. OpenAI says its next phase will include additional ad formats, objectives, buying options, and measurement capabilities. The announcement is a primary-source vendor statement; the figures and claims come from OpenAI and are not independently verified here.
- ChatGPT Ads now available in 89 countries after adding 26 more on October 21, 2026
- OpenAI says over 100,000 advertisers have run campaigns since launch eight months ago
- Ads appear only on Free and Go plans; Plus, Pro, and Enterprise stay ad-free
- OpenAI states conversations are kept private from advertisers and customer data is not sold
What it means for you
If you sell products or services, ChatGPT is becoming another place where potential customers get recommendations while they're deciding what to buy — a bit like search ads, but inside a conversation. This widens where your category might get suggested, and it means a competitor could now show up in a buyer's chat even if you don't advertise. For most operators this is worth noting, not acting on today: it's a new channel, not a change to how your work gets done.
Try this
Open ChatGPT and ask it the kind of buying question your customers would ask about your category. See what it surfaces and whether competitors appear. That tells you more about your visibility than any ad buy would this week.
Who should care
Whoever owns marketing or customer acquisition at a consumer-facing or local business, especially in the newly added countries, and anyone already running Google or Meta ads who tracks where buyers research.
Skip this if
You're B2B with a long sales cycle, you don't advertise anywhere today, or your customers don't come from online discovery — this changes nothing about how your operation runs.
Sources: OpenAI — read the original