OpenAI is set to expand advertising on ChatGPT to 31 European markets next week, marking the company’s largest geographic expansion of its advertising business since it began testing ads earlier this year. The move is part of OpenAI’s broader effort to build a sustainable advertising business around ChatGPT while continuing to support free and lower-cost access to its AI services.
The European expansion will include major markets such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria. OpenAI said the rollout will begin next week, adding a large new group of users and advertisers to its growing advertising platform.
ChatGPT Ads to Target Users During Decision-Making
Unlike traditional search advertising, OpenAI is positioning ChatGPT Ads around conversations in which users are actively exploring options, comparing products and services, and making decisions.
For example, users may ask ChatGPT for recommendations while planning a trip, choosing software, comparing products or looking for services. OpenAI sees these conversations as opportunities for advertisers to reach consumers at the point when they are already considering a purchase or decision.
The company has been building advertising tools specifically for this environment. Its platform now supports features such as geo-targeting, custom audiences and conversion optimisation, while OpenAI has also introduced measurement tools including the OpenAI Pixel and Conversions API.
Ads Will Initially Target Free and Go Users
OpenAI said advertisements will be shown only to users on the Free and Go plans. Users subscribed to Plus, Pro and Enterprise will continue to have an ad-free ChatGPT experience.
The company has also stressed that advertising will remain separate from ChatGPT’s answers. Ads will be clearly labelled, and OpenAI says advertisers will not receive access to users’ private conversations or customer data. The company also says advertisements will not influence the answers generated by ChatGPT.
This separation is important for OpenAI as it attempts to introduce advertising without undermining user trust in ChatGPT’s answers.
OpenAI Has Been Expanding Its Ad Business
OpenAI began testing advertisements in ChatGPT in the United States in February 2026. The company subsequently expanded its advertising pilot into additional markets, including the UK, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and South Korea.
The company said that tens of thousands of marketers have already advertised on ChatGPT. The European rollout represents its largest expansion into new markets so far.
The move comes as OpenAI continues to face enormous costs associated with operating and expanding its AI infrastructure. Advertising provides the company with another potential revenue stream alongside subscriptions and enterprise services.
Businesses Will Initially Access Ads Through Partners
Advertisers in the newly added European markets will initially be able to access ChatGPT advertising through OpenAI’s own Ads Solutions team, agency partners and technology partners. OpenAI plans to introduce self-service access through Ads Manager later this summer, potentially making the platform more accessible to smaller businesses.
The company is effectively attempting to create a new advertising category in which AI conversations become an alternative to traditional search engines and social-media feeds.
A New Phase for AI Advertising
The expansion could represent an important shift in how AI companies monetize their rapidly growing consumer platforms. Rather than relying exclusively on subscriptions, OpenAI is attempting to turn the large volume of commercial-intent conversations taking place inside ChatGPT into an advertising opportunity.
At the same time, the company faces the challenge of maintaining a clear distinction between paid promotions and AI-generated recommendations. OpenAI says its advertising principles require ads to remain clearly separated from answers and that advertising will not determine what ChatGPT says.
With the addition of 31 European markets, OpenAI is moving from an early advertising experiment toward a much broader commercial platform. The success of the European rollout could provide an important indication of how significant advertising becomes to ChatGPT’s long-term business model.
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