The advent of advertising on ChatGPT has shifted from being a substantiated speculation to a confirmed news story about which, in the past week, several highly relevant details have continued to emerge. Initially, it was revealed that advertisements would begin to appear in the United States in February under a CPM model; it was subsequently disclosed that the platform will set a 4% fee per generated sale, and now, it has become public knowledge that the CPM will be set at a premium price of no less than $60.
ChatGPT will begin displaying advertisements to users of the Free and Go plans over the age of 18 in the United States within their conversations with the chatbot, provided the artificial intelligence determines their relevance according to the context (excluding sensitive topics such as health, mental health, or politics). This represents an exceptionally valuable opportunity for brands, as their advertisements will be placed in a space where the audience is highly receptive. Aware of this, OpenAI has chosen to offer its advertising business at a premium level.
Advertisers opting to place their ads within ChatGPT must agree to a CPM of $60, a rate that triples the average charged by Meta (Facebook/Instagram), which typically ranges from $15–20, according to an exclusive report by The Information. This serves as a way to screen the brands that will access its advertising business, aiming for the platform’s advertisers to be “top-tier.”
Likewise, OpenAI has justified this pricing based on the “user’s intent.” This is not advertising based on browsing history, but rather on what the user is currently asking. However, charging $60 per thousand impressions (and not per clicks, as would be the case with a CPC model) remains striking, as advertisers will only have access to metrics such as visits and clicks, while conversion tracking, purchase data, or user information will remain inaccessible.
As can be observed, OpenAI’s advertising proposal represents a break from the paradigm of traditional retargeting. Unlike Meta or Google’s ecosystems, where success depends on the user’s historical tracking via pixels and cookies, ChatGPT is committed to pure contextual segmentation. This means that advertisers will receive significantly more limited metrics: impressions and direct clicks are prioritized, but the ability to monitor user behavior after interaction is restricted.
Why, then, should someone pay a $60 CPM with fewer data points available? The key lies in search intent. Whereas other social networks display advertisements based on past activity, Sam Altman’s artificial intelligence does so by relying on the user’s current needs. If a user is looking up a recipe, the advertisement for a specific ingredient appears at the moment of peak receptivity.
For OpenAI, this relative opacity in metrics is a statement of intent regarding privacy. By not allowing granular tracking, the platform protects itself against accusations of data surveillance, positioning its inventory as a premium and secure space. The challenge for agencies will be to justify multi-million dollar investments without the attribution tools to which the market has become accustomed for the past twenty years.
It remains to be seen how the first phase of adoption for ChatGPT’s advertising model will progress, and whether major brands will take on this investment en masse, or if the initial response will be more reserved than anticipated. What is certain is that this pricing strategy demonstrates OpenAI’s trust in the unique advertising value of ChatGPT, despite limited analytical capabilities.
Photo: Generated with Nano Banana Pro (Gemini)
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