Advertisers Say OpenAI Is Extending Its Ad Pilot Beyond April

Lumen Technologies—a client of DEPT—began testing ads on ChatGPT in March.

With roughly 920 million weekly active users most of whom use the product for free, ChatGPT presents a clear opportunity for advertisers and OpenAI alike.

Early tests point to a OpenAI adopting a premium approach, with CPMs hovering around $60. The platform is also developing an in-house ads manager signaling ambitions to build a full-stack ad business.

OpenAI is asking for a minimum of $200,000 of ad commitment, ADWEEK previously reported.

Advertising on chatbots might not be as lucrative as advertising on Google search. Some advertisers report click-through rates as low as 0.91%—well below the roughly 6.4% benchmark typical for Google Search—underscoring the gap between OpenAI’s early efforts and more mature ad platforms, ADWEEK previously reported. Of course, it may be too early to compare OpenAI’s nascent ad product to Google’s, which has spent decades refining its search advertising machine.

The focus on ads and enterprise tools comes as OpenAI pares back other experimental bets, including shelving Sora and putting plans for an erotic chatbot on hold—suggesting a more deliberate shift toward scalable, revenue-generating products.