ChatGPT has carried ads since February, but they have been easy to miss: a labelled sponsored block under a reply. On 5 October 2026 OpenAI announced the next step, a format built around pictures that will first appear in the one place a free user is already looking at an empty frame, the wait while ChatGPT draws an image.
The announcement itself is written for advertisers. The parts that matter to someone who simply uses the app sit on a separate OpenAI help page: which plans show ads at all, which settings change what an ad can draw on, and the free ad-free option that comes with a catch. This piece puts the two together, with UK prices read on the day and a plain statement of what OpenAI has not yet said.
What OpenAI announced on 5 October
In a post titled “Building advertising for the way people use AI”, OpenAI said it is introducing a visual ad format in ChatGPT. Instead of a name, a logo and a link, an ad can use images to show a product, how it is used or the experience a service offers. The company says it will test the format first during image generation, that the ads will be clearly labelled and kept separate from the image being created, and that advertising does not influence the answers ChatGPT gives.
Timing and scope are narrow for now. Testing begins later this month, in the US, with what OpenAI calls an initial group of advertisers. No date was given, and 9to5Google (Ben Schoon) noted that a broad rollout has not been confirmed. The Verge (Emma Roth) and Engadget (Igor Bonifacic) both report OpenAI saying it plans to try further formats later.
Most of the post is about the business side. OpenAI puts ChatGPT’s reach at 1.2 billion people a week and lists new ways for advertisers to measure results, including conversion-data integrations and a long roster of attribution partners. BleepingComputer (Mayank Parmar) and TechCrunch (Sarah Perez) set those out in detail. TechCrunch also makes an observation OpenAI does not: more intrusive ads may nudge casual users towards a paid plan to escape them.
Which ChatGPT plans show ads
OpenAI’s “Ads in ChatGPT” help page, read on 5 October 2026, gives the rule. Ads may appear for people on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts do not have ads. Accounts that OpenAI identifies as belonging to under-18s are not shown ads either. The page dates the start of ad testing in the US to 9 February 2026, and TechCrunch reports the ads reached India in August.
| Plan | Ads? | UK price, read 5 Oct 2026 | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free, standard | May show ads | £0 | The default where ads are running |
| Free, Ads-Free option | No ads | £0 | Lower message limits; some tools, such as image generation and deep research, may be unavailable |
| Go | May show ads | £7 a month | The pricing page says the plan “may include ads”; Ads-Free is not offered on Go |
| Plus | No ads | £20 a month | OpenAI’s help page gives the US price as $20 a month |
| Pro | No ads | From £89 a month | Three usage tiers |
| Business, Enterprise, Edu | No ads | Not read | Covered by the same no-ads statement |
The pound figures come from chatgpt.com/pricing as served to a UK connection on 5 October 2026. That page shows local prices, so the US Go and Pro prices were not read for this article and are not given; the $20 figure for Plus is from OpenAI’s own Plus help page. For what the paid tiers add beyond the absence of ads, see our ChatGPT review and our look at whether ChatGPT Plus is worth it, both of which predate this announcement.
The point most likely to surprise people is Go. It is a paid plan, and it is not ad-free. Anyone paying for Go mainly to be rid of ads is on the wrong tier: by OpenAI’s own description, the first plan without them is Plus.
How to turn off ad personalisation in ChatGPT
The help page describes an Ad Controls screen under Settings. OpenAI says it is available only to Free and Go users in regions where ads are running or about to, so many readers will not see it yet. Where it exists, it offers four things:
Personalise ads: a switch. With it off, OpenAI says you still see ads based on the chat you are in, but other chats, your ad history and ad topics are not used to choose them.
Past chats and memory: a separate switch that decides whether earlier conversations and saved memories can inform ad selection.
History and topics: a view of the ads you have seen or interacted with and the topics used to match ads to you.
Delete ads data: clears that history and those topics without touching your chats. OpenAI says deleted ads data can take up to 30 days to be removed from its systems.
Each ad also has a three-dot menu with options to hide it, report it, see why it was shown, or share it with ChatGPT so you can ask about it. By default, the help page says, ChatGPT cannot see the ads shown to you. One distinction is easy to miss: turning personalisation off changes how ads are chosen. It does not remove them.
Can you avoid ChatGPT ads without paying?
Yes, with a trade-off. OpenAI offers Free-plan users an Ads-Free option, reached through Settings, then Ads controls, then the option to change plan and reduce message limits. It removes ads at no charge. In return, the help page says, usage limits are lower and some tools may be unavailable, and the two examples it gives are image generation and deep research.
Set that beside the new format. The visual ads will first appear during image generation, and the free way to remove ads is described as costing access to image generation. Read together, OpenAI’s two pages suggest a Free user cannot keep making images and also switch the new ads off; the routes are to accept them, give up the tool, or pay for Plus. That is our reading of the documents, not something OpenAI states, and the help page hedges with “may” on which tools are removed.
Two smaller exits exist. OpenAI says Temporary Chats do not show ads, and that ads are not eligible to appear near sensitive or regulated topics, naming personal health, mental health and politics. Neither is a way to browse ad-free in general, but both tell you where ads should not turn up. The wider pattern of free tiers being reshaped is not unique to OpenAI: Google is changing which models its free Gemini plan includes on 9 October, covered in our Gemini free plan explainer.
What advertisers can and cannot see
OpenAI’s stated position is that it does not share conversations with advertisers and does not sell user data to them. According to the help page, advertisers receive aggregated figures such as total views and clicks, and never receive chats, chat history, memories, name, email, precise location or IP address. If you choose to message an advertiser through an ad, that advertiser sees only the messages you send it.
What happens inside OpenAI is a different question, and the page is fairly direct about it. Ad selection can use the context of the current conversation, general location and language, and, when personalisation is on, signals from past chats and memory. In other words, the conversation is not handed to the advertiser, but it is used to decide which advertiser you see.
The 5 October post adds one more party. OpenAI is setting up brand-suitability pilots with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science so that advertisers can check where their ads are placed. OpenAI says these firms assess its safeguards in a controlled test environment without access to private user conversations. These are OpenAI’s descriptions of its own systems; none of the outlets covering the announcement reports an independent audit of them. For the broader settings worth knowing about, including training opt-outs, see our guide to AI and your privacy.
US vs UK: where the visual ads apply
The visual format is a US test. Nothing in OpenAI’s post gives a date for any other country. For ads in general, the help page says only that they are being rolled out gradually to eligible Free and Go users in select regions, and that people who are eligible will see in-product information.
For the UK, three things can be said from what was read on 5 October. The UK pricing page already carries the line that Go may include ads. OpenAI’s Ads Manager availability page lists the United Kingdom among the countries where businesses can buy ads through self-service. And neither fact shows that ads are being served to UK users today: OpenAI’s pages do not publish a list of countries where users see ads, and this article does not claim to know. One regional detail is stated outright: personalised ads are not initially available in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. The UK is in neither, and the page does not say how it is treated.
What OpenAI has not said
Several things are open. There is no start date beyond “later this month”, and no list of advertisers. OpenAI has not said how often a visual ad will appear, how much of the screen it takes, or whether it stays visible once the image is ready; 9to5Google describes the ads as showing while a prompt is being processed. The word “initially” implies the format will move beyond image generation, without saying where.
The help page had not caught up with the announcement when it was read: it still described ads as appearing below the end of a response, and it was marked as last updated about a week earlier. Expect it to change, and check the Ad Controls screen itself rather than relying on any summary, including this one.
For anyone choosing an assistant, the practical summary is short. Ads are now part of the cost of the free and cheapest ChatGPT tiers, the first ad-free plan is Plus, and the settings above limit what an ad can draw on rather than whether you see one. Our ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini comparison covers how the three assistants differ more broadly, and our OpenAI in 2026 overview follows the company’s search for revenue that led here.
FAQ
What are the new visual ads in ChatGPT?
OpenAI said on 5 October 2026 that it will test a visual ad format in ChatGPT, shown at first while the app generates an image. The test starts later this month in the US with an initial group of advertisers. OpenAI’s help page says ads may appear on the Free and Go plans, while Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts have none. OpenAI says the ads are labelled, kept separate from the generated image and do not influence ChatGPT’s answers.
Does ChatGPT Plus have ads?
No. OpenAI’s help page on ads, read on 5 October 2026, says Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts will not have ads. Ads may appear on the Free and Go plans. The UK pricing page listed Plus at £20 a month on the same day, and OpenAI’s Plus help page gives the US price as $20 a month.
Does ChatGPT Go have ads?
It can. OpenAI’s help page says ads may appear for users on the Free and Go plans, and the ChatGPT pricing page says of Go that the plan may include ads. The free Ads-Free option is not offered on Go, so a Go subscriber who wants no ads would need to move to Plus or Pro, or back to the Free plan with Ads-Free switched on.
How do I turn off ads in ChatGPT?
OpenAI describes two routes. Free-plan users in regions with ads can open Settings, choose Ads controls and switch to an Ads-Free experience, which removes ads but lowers message limits and may remove tools such as image generation and deep research. The other route is a plan without ads: Plus or Pro. Turning off ad personalisation does not remove ads.
Do ChatGPT ads use my conversations?
OpenAI says ads are chosen using the context of the current chat and, if ad personalisation is switched on, signals from past chats and memory. It says advertisers do not receive your chats, chat history, memories or personal details, only aggregated figures such as views and clicks. Personalisation and the use of past chats and memory can each be turned off in Ad Controls.
Are the visual ads in ChatGPT coming to the UK?
OpenAI has announced the visual ad format only as a test in the US, starting later in October 2026, and has given no date for other countries. Its help page says ads in general are rolling out gradually in select regions. The UK pricing page already says the Go plan may include ads.
Do ads change the answers ChatGPT gives?
OpenAI says they do not. Its help page states that ads run on separate systems from the chat model and that advertisers cannot shape, rank or alter responses, and the 5 October announcement repeats that advertising does not influence answers. This is OpenAI’s own description; the reporting on the announcement does not include an independent test of the claim.
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