TLDR
OpenAI announced a visual ad format for ChatGPT on 5 October 2026, with ads shown during image generation, clearly labelled and separate from the output, entering US testing later this month. Twenty measurement and verification partners now cover attribution, incrementality and brand suitability. Australian marketers gain the measurement tools but not the image-ad pilot.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The new format
When a ChatGPT user requests a generated image, an ad appears during the creation window. OpenAI says the ads are clearly labelled and kept separate from the image being created.[1] The format enters US testing later in October 2026, with no date confirmed for other markets.
OpenAI has been consistent on one point since text ads launched for US Free and Go users in February 2026: advertising does not influence the answers ChatGPT provides.[1] The company repeated that position on 5 October 2026 as the format grows more commercially significant.
The measurement build-out
Weak measurement has been the standing complaint about ChatGPT ads. OpenAI's answer on 5 October 2026 was 20 partners across five categories: conversion data via Hightouch, Tealium and LiveRamp; attribution through AppsFlyer, Triple Whale, Adjust, DV Rockerbox, Northbeam, Branch, Singular, Kochava, Airbridge and Tenjin; full-funnel measurement with Fospha, Measured and INCRMNTAL; incrementality experiments with Haus, Measured and WorkMagic; and brand-suitability pilots with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science (IAS).[1]
Lidiane Jones, chief executive of IAS, said: "As advertising expands into AI-native environments, marketers need confidence that brand safety protections are durable, consistent, and built to operate at scale." OpenAI says neither verification partner can see users' conversations.[1] Brand-suitability tools normally need content context, and chatbot content is personal in a way a webpage is not, so the privacy carve-out matters.
OpenAI also published early case figures, supplied by the company and not independently verified. WeightWatchers cut cost per acquisition by 15.3%.[1] Sixty-seven per cent of incremental purchases attributed to Dose through WorkMagic came from new customers.[1] OpenAI did not disclose the campaign period, spend levels or methodology behind either figure.
The scale argument
ChatGPT now reaches 1.2 billion people each week, which is the number OpenAI leads with.[1] Shamsul Chowdhury, EVP of Paid Social at Zeno Group, put daily query volume in plainer terms: "There are about 2.5 billion prompts globally happening each day on ChatGPT, whereas there's about 15 billion searches on Google."[2] ChatGPT runs at roughly one-sixth Google's daily query volume, a gap that shapes every conversation about reach and cost efficiency.
The Australian position
OpenAI extended ads to Australia, New Zealand and Canada for Free and Go users on 16 April 2026, giving Australian marketers about six months of live exposure before the 5 October announcement.[3] Paid plans remain ad-free. The measurement expansion applies globally, so Australian buyers can now connect attribution and incrementality tools on the same basis as US buyers.
The image-ad pilot is US-only. Similarweb panel data reported by Search Engine Journal on 29 September 2026 put Australia's ChatGPT ad click-through rate (CTR) at 0.67%, eighth of nine live markets.[4] Brazil, which leads the table, records a CTR nearly three times higher. This publication covered the full ranking when the data was released: Brazilians click ChatGPT ads almost three times as often as Australians.[5]
If Australian users engage less with text ads, a visual format designed to capture attention during image generation could shift that number. Australian marketers will not find out until OpenAI widens the pilot beyond the US, and no timeline has been confirmed.
SOURCES & CITATIONS
- New ChatGPT ads format and measurement, OpenAI
- OpenAI moves to make ChatGPT ads more measurable and more visual, Digiday
- ChatGPT release notes, OpenAI Help Centre
- ChatGPT ad CTR by market (Similarweb data), Search Engine Journal
- Brazilians click ChatGPT ads almost three times as often as Australians, Prompt the Market
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What does the new ChatGPT image ad format look like?
Which measurement partners did OpenAI announce?
Can Australian advertisers access the new image-ad format?
How does ChatGPT's ad reach compare to Google?
James Dore is Strategy Director at Bushnote, a leader in SEO and AEO in Australia. He writes on search, AI and the technology decisions shaping government and industry.
