OpenAI is adding a visual ad format to ChatGPT that can appear while the app generates an image. The company plans to start a limited U.S. test later this month with an initial group of advertisers. Its October 5 announcement says the ads will be clearly labeled and kept separate from the image ChatGPT is creating.
This is a new placement for ChatGPT’s ad test. Existing ads can appear below text answers; the new format moves sponsored visuals into the image-generation flow. OpenAI says advertising will not influence ChatGPT’s answers, but it has not specified the ad’s exact placement or how often a user might see it.
The ads will appear in the image-making flow
OpenAI describes the format as a way for brands to use images to show product inspiration, how a product is used, or the experience it offers. The first test will run during image generation. That means people may see a sponsored visual while ChatGPT is working on an image request, rather than only after a text answer.
OpenAI says the ad will stay outside the image being generated and will carry a clear label. It also says ads will not shape ChatGPT’s answers. The announcement does not explain how the format will look, how often it could appear, or whether users will get a setting to hide it.
OpenAI has not said which plans will see the format
OpenAI says the test begins later in October in the U.S. with an initial group of advertisers. It has not given an exact start date or said which ChatGPT plans will see the visual ads. The earlier answer-ad test began with Free and Go users in the U.S. Those ChatGPT ads appeared below text answers, but OpenAI has not said whether those are the only plans included in this image-generation test.
There is no broader rollout date yet, either. For now, the change is a limited test. Users outside the U.S. should not expect the new format based on this announcement alone.
OpenAI is also expanding its ad platform
The visual format is one part of OpenAI’s wider advertising update. The company is adding connections with Hightouch, Tealium, and LiveRamp so advertisers can share conversion data, and it is working with independent firms such as DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science on ad-placement checks. Those changes help advertisers measure campaigns and assess brand suitability; they do not add new controls for ChatGPT users.
OpenAI says the independent reviews will assess its ad safeguards in a controlled setting without exposing private conversations. It has not reported results from those reviews yet, so the checks are still in development.
OpenAI says its ad rules will keep promotions out of sensitive or unsuitable conversations and preserve the separation between ads and answers. The image-generation test will show whether sponsored visuals can fit into a task where people are already asking ChatGPT to make something. For now, OpenAI has confirmed only a limited U.S. test with an initial group of advertisers, not a full rollout.
