OpenAI launches ChatGPT Ads in India, 50+ brands set to go live
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OpenAI is bringing ads to ChatGPT in India, expanding its advertising business to one of the chatbot’s largest and most active markets.
The ads will roll out to logged-in adults using ChatGPT’s Free and Go tiers. Users on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education subscriptions will continue to get an ad-free experience.
More than 50 brands intend to start advertising on ChatGPT in India this week. OpenAI has named WPP and Omnicom as its first agency partners in the country.
The two agencies will support advertisers across strategy, creative, measurement, brand safety and campaign execution. The partnership is non-exclusive, and OpenAI said it will continue to work with other agencies.
Businesses will also be able to buy ads directly from September 4, when OpenAI plans to open self-serve access to ChatGPT Ads Manager in India. Daily budgets will start at ₹725.
“India is one of the most dynamic markets in the world for how people use ChatGPT to learn, build, and discover. Our weekly active users have doubled year-on-year, with many of them going beyond simple searches and changing how they make decisions. They ask questions, explore options, and weigh tradeoffs through conversation. With ChatGPT Ads, businesses of every size can introduce themselves at relevant, high-context moments when decisions are beginning to take shape,” said Dave Dugan, Vice President and Head of Global Ads Solutions, OpenAI.
“Our goal is to make those interactions useful, help marketers design for intelligent experiences, and preserve what makes ChatGPT valuable: independent answers, conversations that stay private from advertisers, and meaningful user control.”
Ads rollout expands beyond India
The India launch comes as OpenAI continues to expand ChatGPT Ads into new markets. The company launched the programme in Europe last week, following earlier rollouts in markets including the US, UK, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and South Korea. The expansion gives OpenAI access to more advertisers and, potentially, a larger pool of advertising revenue as ChatGPT’s user base grows.
That is becoming increasingly important for OpenAI as it builds a business around the enormous cost of developing and operating AI models. Advertising gives the company another revenue stream alongside its paid ChatGPT subscriptions and enterprise business, while allowing it to keep offering free and lower-cost tiers.
The move also comes as OpenAI prepares for a potential public listing. A broader and more diversified revenue base could become increasingly important as investors assess the company’s ability to turn its rapidly growing user base and heavy AI infrastructure spending into a sustainable business.
OpenAI, however, has not said that the India ad rollout is specifically linked to its plans to go public.
Ads will remain separate from ChatGPT’s answers
Ads may appear below a ChatGPT response when there is a relevant sponsored product or service. They will be clearly labelled as sponsored and visually separated from ChatGPT’s answer. OpenAI said ads will not influence the answers ChatGPT provides. Advertisers will not get access to users’ chats, chat history, memories or personal details, and the company said it does not sell user data to advertisers.
Advertisers will instead receive aggregate campaign-performance information, such as impressions and clicks. Users will also have control over the advertising experience. They can dismiss ads, provide feedback, find out why an ad was shown, manage personalisation and clear the data used for advertising.
The company said ads will not appear on accounts belonging to people who identify themselves, or are predicted, to be under 18. Ads will also not be eligible to appear alongside sensitive or regulated topics, including mental health and politics.
OpenAI said its approach to advertising is built around answer independence, conversation privacy, user choice and control, alignment with its mission and the long-term value of the ChatGPT experience.
Ads pitched as a way for Indian businesses to be discovered
The company is positioning ChatGPT Ads around moments when users are actively considering a product or service. That could mean someone comparing options, exploring a particular need or working towards a decision. OpenAI said this creates an opportunity for established companies as well as small businesses and emerging Indian brands to reach potential customers in those moments.
OpenAI said it will continue to learn from feedback from both users and advertisers as the programme rolls out in India. It expects to introduce more advertising formats, campaign objectives and buying options over time. The company said the advertising business will support its continued investment in free and affordable access to AI tools, while keeping a clear separation between advertising and ChatGPT’s answers.