By the GIM Agency team · Information checked: September 22, 2026
To advertise on ChatGPT, you need an OpenAI Ads Manager account, completed verification and billing, a suitable landing page, and advertising assets. You then create a campaign, choose an objective and budget, organize your ads, and validate measurement before launch. Self-service access is available to eligible businesses in Greece. OpenAI: Ads Manager availability
A useful campaign starts with a business decision: which customer need will you address, what will you offer, and what should happen after someone clicks?
This guide explains how to prepare your first campaign, understand the main settings, and evaluate whether the channel contributes to customer acquisition.
What are ChatGPT Ads?
ChatGPT Ads are advertising placements displayed separately from ChatGPT’s answers. Ad matching considers conversational context alongside signals such as the ad’s content and landing page. OpenAI: Ads in ChatGPT — The Basics
The opportunity is to reach people while they are explaining a need or comparing options. An office furniture retailer, for example, may have a relevant offer for someone researching how to furnish a small workspace.
Advertising does not buy an organic recommendation from ChatGPT. OpenAI keeps advertising separate from its answers. OpenAI: advertising principles and platform expansion
Why should businesses consider the channel?
Research provides useful context for the growing role of AI in product discovery.
| Finding | Scope and timeframe | Business implication |
|---|---|---|
| 693.4% growth in traffic from generative AI tools | U.S. retail websites, November–December 2025, year over year | More shoppers followed links from AI tools to retailers |
| More than 1 trillion visits covered by Adobe’s analysis | Underlying U.S. ecommerce research | The findings draw on a substantial observational dataset |
| 31 European markets included in ChatGPT Ads expansion | August 2026 announcement; self-service access from August 31 | Advertiser access has expanded geographically |
Sources: Adobe’s 2025 holiday shopping report, OpenAI’s European expansion announcement.
Adobe’s findings concern overall AI referral traffic, not paid ChatGPT Ads performance. They describe the U.S. market and should not be treated as a forecast for a campaign in Greece.
For an individual business, the practical question remains whether a controlled test can attract suitable customers at an acceptable cost.
Prepare before opening the campaign builder
Write down five decisions:
- Offer: Which specific product or service will you promote?
- Customer: Who needs it, and in what situation?
- Destination: Which page best addresses that need?
- Action: What should the visitor do?
- Evaluation: What evidence will justify continuing or changing the campaign?
An offer that is easy to explain is also easier to evaluate. “Promote our company” leaves too many questions open. A campaign focused on a defined service or product category gives you a clearer starting point.
Step 1: Complete your advertiser account
Start at OpenAI Ads Manager, enter your business information, complete verification, and configure billing.
Review the account country, currency, and time zone carefully. Current documentation states that these cannot be changed after account creation. Completing verification steps does not necessarily mean account review is finished. OpenAI: Account Setup
When working with an agency, our recommendation is to retain business ownership of the account and grant the team appropriate access.
Step 2: Choose a campaign objective
| Objective | Primary purpose | Billing |
|---|---|---|
| Views | Ad exposure | Per 1,000 impressions, CPM |
| Clicks | Visits to your destination | Per valid click, CPC |
| Conversions | Optimization toward a selected conversion event | Clicks or impressions, depending on the option |
Source: OpenAI’s campaign objective documentation.
Conversion campaigns require working measurement and a supported standard event. Conversion optimization does not mean payment per conversion. Billing remains tied to clicks or impressions. OpenAI: Conversion-optimized Campaigns
Our recommendation is to define the desired business action first, then verify that it is recorded correctly before selecting an objective.
Image 1: Official campaign creation illustration. Source: OpenAI Help Center. Interface details and available options may change.
Step 3: Set your budget and target market
As checked on September 22, 2026, OpenAI lists a €15 minimum daily budget for EUR-billed accounts. This is a platform minimum, not a recommended total investment or agency fee. Check any additional constraints displayed in your account. OpenAI: Minimum Campaign Spend
Daily budgets represent an average. With an unchanged setting, daily spend can reach twice that amount, subject to an applicable seven-day limit of seven times the daily budget. Budget changes affect the calculation. OpenAI: Daily Budgets
Plan the test around:
- An affordable total investment.
- A clearly defined offer.
- A commercially meaningful result.
- An evaluation point that reflects your sales cycle.
Also check international targeting eligibility. Some new self-service accounts initially have access only to their home market. OpenAI: country targeting
Step 4: Build ad groups around customer needs
Use separate ad groups for needs that require different messaging or destinations. Context hints provide additional information about when an offer may be useful. They are not exact-match keywords and do not guarantee placement in particular conversations. OpenAI: Create Ad Groups
For an office furniture retailer, an illustrative structure could be:
| Customer need | Proposed ad group | Landing page |
|---|---|---|
| Furnishing a small workspace | Desks for small rooms | Compact desks with dimensions and available options |
| Equipping a new team | Office furniture packages | Business quotation page with delivery information |
| Comparing work chairs | Adjustable office chairs | Relevant models, specifications, and warranty details |
This is a planning example, not a live campaign or performance forecast.
Each row creates a clear connection between the customer’s problem, the message, and the next step.
Step 5: Make the ad’s value specific
OpenAI recommends clear, useful copy and relevant landing pages. OpenAI: Create Ads
For the furniture example:
Headline: Desks for Small Rooms
Description: Compare dimensions and available designs.
Destination: The corresponding product category.
The landing page should make the decision easier. Show the relevant products, practical specifications, availability, and a clear way to buy or enquire.
At GIM, we assess the ad and destination as one customer journey. If the ad promises easy comparison, the page should deliver that experience immediately.
Image 2: Illustrative ad unit from OpenAI’s official documentation. This is not a GIM client campaign.
Step 6: Validate measurement before launch
OpenAI provides a Measurement Pixel and Conversions API for recording actions. Your implementation should reflect your website and measurement needs. OpenAI: Measurement Pixel, Conversions API
Test the full journey before spending:
- Does the intended action register?
- Can the same action be counted twice?
- Are test submissions distinguishable from real enquiries?
- Can your team follow an enquiry through to its commercial outcome?
UTM parameters can help identify advertising traffic in your analytics. OpenAI: tracking and measurement
For lead generation, we recommend following:
Click → enquiry → qualified lead → meeting → customer.
This helps reveal whether the campaign generates business opportunities and where follow-up needs improvement.
Step 7: Launch and evaluate business outcomes
The campaign structure is Campaign → Ad group → Ad. Check approval and activation status, then confirm that delivery data appears after launch. Spend reporting may update later than clicks. OpenAI: Launch Campaigns
Evaluate the campaign through several questions:
| Question | What to examine |
|---|---|
| Is the campaign delivering? | Impressions, approval status, active settings |
| Is the message attracting interest? | Clicks, CTR, message relevance |
| Does the page turn interest into action? | Conversion rate, form or checkout functionality |
| Are enquiries commercially useful? | Lead quality, meetings, sales |
| Is acquisition sustainable? | Acquisition cost, margin, servicing costs |
Avoid making major decisions from a handful of clicks. Allow enough data and time for your customer’s buying process.
What GIM checks before the first euro is spent
GIM brings strategy, creative, landing page performance, and measurement into the same plan. This reflects our BCR² approach: understand the business, establish a strategy, and improve it using evidence. Explore GIM’s ChatGPT Ads service
For a first campaign, the questions are practical:
- Why should the customer choose this offer?
- Does the landing page support the promise?
- Can we measure outcomes that have commercial value?
- Can the business respond effectively to new demand?
- What evidence will justify increasing the investment?
Our performance marketing experience is documented in existing projects. In the Must Men Fashion case study, GIM reports 97% total revenue growth and total ROAS above 20, over a one-year assessment. These are historical results from that specific engagement involving Google and Facebook Ads. They are not ChatGPT Ads results or a forecast for another business. Read the case study
That experience informs how we evaluate a new channel: through its contribution to the wider business.
Frequently asked questions
Can a business in Greece advertise on ChatGPT?
Yes. Greece is listed as available for self-service access. Business eligibility, verification, and required reviews still apply. OpenAI: availability
Do I need an agency?
Self-service access allows eligible businesses to manage campaigns themselves. An agency can help when strategy, creative, CRO, and measurement need coordination, or when the business lacks capacity for ongoing management.
Can I reuse my Google Ads campaign?
Existing knowledge about customer needs and offers is valuable. We recommend adapting the campaign structure and messaging to this environment, then evaluating the results independently.
Will advertising improve my organic visibility in ChatGPT?
Advertising does not influence ChatGPT’s answers. Organic visibility requires a separate assessment of content, credibility, and accessibility. OpenAI: separation between ads and answers
Plan your first campaign with GIM
Discuss your offer, website readiness, and the objectives of an initial test with our team.
Contact GIM about your first ChatGPT Ads campaign
The complete ChatGPT Ads guide series
- How Much Do ChatGPT Ads Cost? Planning Your First Campaign Budget
- ChatGPT Ads vs Google Ads: Where Should Your Business Invest?
- ChatGPT Ads for Ecommerce: When Is a Pilot Campaign Worth Testing?
- ChatGPT Ads vs GEO: Paid Advertising and Organic AI Visibility
- How to Measure Whether ChatGPT Ads Generate Customers
