ChatGPT's inaugural advertising experiment is delivering disappointing click-through rates and broken measurement tools that leave major brands unable to prove their campaigns work. Early data shows one brand's ads achieved just a 0.91% click rate, nearly seven times lower than Google search benchmarks in the same sector.
Three of the world's largest advertising agencies committed unusually high budgets for what OpenAI calls an "alpha experiment." WPP, Omnicom and Dentsu reportedly dedicated between $200,000 and $250,000 per brand to test ads in ChatGPT, double typical experimental ad commitments.
The pilot program runs through March 2026 for free and Go tier users only.
Despite the financial commitment, a reporting glitch in OpenAI's Ad Manager tool blocks advertisers from viewing their own campaign data. This makes return on investment calculations impossible for brands that have already allocated quarterly budgets they cannot redeploy elsewhere.
One enterprise advertiser had used just 3% of a $250,000 budget after several weeks. The limited rollout compounds measurement challenges.
Ads currently appear only for logged-in users in the United States on free and Go subscription tiers. Premium subscribers paying $20 monthly for Plus, Pro, Business or Enterprise plans never see advertisements, meaning ChatGPT's most valuable user segment remains permanently unreachable by brands.
OpenAI introduced ads gradually starting February 9 this year as part of a phased approach to learn from early usage before considering wider expansion. The company says it will never sell user conversation data to advertisers and that ads do not influence chatbot responses. Users under 18 do not see advertisements during testing.
"We're in the early testing phase of ads in ChatGPT," an OpenAI spokesperson stated earlier this month. "The goal right now is to learn and refine the experience for consumers before expanding it more broadly."
The company added that ad delivery is building momentum with volume increasing week-over-week as the environment scales.
Advertisers receive only aggregate data such as total views or click-through rates without access to individual user chat histories or identities. Brands must rely on phone calls, spreadsheets and emails to OpenAI representatives to determine whether their investments are paying off.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously described advertising as "a last resort" for the company's business model before moving forward with the current pilot program.
