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In this article
OpenAI launched ads in ChatGPT on 9 February 2026, and New Zealand is already in the expansion queue. If you use the free tier of ChatGPT for your business, the experience is about to change. Here's what's actually happening, who sees ads, how to avoid them, and whether advertising in ChatGPT makes sense for NZ businesses.
What changed and when
OpenAI spent most of 2024 and 2025 insisting it had no plans to run ads. Then, in January 2026, it announced a test. By 9 February, ads were live in the US.
The company had been burning through billions in infrastructure costs while offering a free product used by hundreds of millions of people. Something had to give. Ads were the logical move.
The rollout went like this:
- 9 February 2026: Ads go live in the US for Free and Go tier users
- 26 March 2026: OpenAI announces expansion to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
- 7 May 2026: Further expansion to UK, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea
So if you're on the Free tier in NZ, ads are either already appearing or arriving very soon.
Who sees ads (and who doesn't)
OpenAI was deliberate about which tiers get ads:
| Plan | Ads shown? | Price (USD/month) |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Yes | $0 |
| Go | Yes | Lower-cost subscription |
| Plus | No | $20 (~NZD $33) |
| Pro | No | $200 (~NZD $330) |
| Business | No | Per-seat pricing |
| Enterprise | No | Custom |
| Education | No | Custom |
The logic is clear: pay for the product, skip the ads. Use the free version, see sponsored content.
What the ads actually look like
Ads don't appear inside ChatGPT's written responses. They show up at the bottom of answers, visually separated and clearly labelled as "Sponsored." OpenAI has been firm that advertisers cannot influence what ChatGPT says.
The targeting works by matching the topic of your conversation and your past chat history to relevant advertisers. If you ask ChatGPT about project management software, you might see an ad for Asana or Monday.com. If you're researching recipes, expect meal kit ads.
Major ad agency groups including WPP, Omnicom, and Dentsu were among the first testing partners. These are the agencies that manage advertising for hundreds of global brands, so expect ads from established companies rather than sketchy offers.
Things OpenAI says it won't do:
- Show ads on sensitive topics (health, mental health, politics)
- Show ads to users identified as under 18
- Share your actual chat content with advertisers (only aggregate metrics like views and clicks)
The opt-out calculus for NZ users
You have two options to avoid ads:
- Upgrade to Plus at USD $20/month (roughly NZD $33/month at current rates). You get no ads plus significantly expanded usage limits, GPT-4o access, and image generation.
- Stay on Free and opt out in the settings, but OpenAI says opting out comes with fewer daily free messages as a trade-off.
For most NZ small businesses already relying on ChatGPT for real work, USD $20/month is a reasonable call. The ads themselves may be minor (early reports suggest low dismissal rates and users generally tolerating them), but if your staff use ChatGPT frequently, distractions add up.
Tip
If your team has more than two or three people using ChatGPT regularly, a Business plan removes ads entirely and adds admin controls and data privacy assurances that the free tier doesn't include.
What this means if you want to advertise on ChatGPT
This is the more interesting angle for NZ business owners. OpenAI is building a new advertising channel where users are actively in research mode, comparing options, and making decisions. Early data from analytics firm Criteo (February 2026) showed that users referred from ChatGPT convert at roughly 1.5 times the rate of other referral traffic sources. That's a strong signal.
The CPM (cost per thousand impressions) has been reported around USD $60, which sits well above typical display advertising but below premium search placements. You're paying for intent, not eyeballs.
To express interest in advertising, OpenAI has an advertiser sign-up page at openai.com/advertisers. The NZ expansion means NZ-targeted inventory should become available, though the program is still in early access and likely requires meaningful ad budgets to get started. This isn't a self-serve platform like Google Ads yet.
For NZ advertisers who want to research what competitors are doing in AI search, Semrush has an advertising intelligence toolkit worth looking at with plans starting around USD $120/month (roughly NZD $198). Early users often spot emerging ad trends before they hit mainstream channels, which can pay off in first-mover advantage.
The bigger picture: free AI was always going to cost something
ChatGPT has around 800 million users and infrastructure costs that run into the billions annually. The free tier could only exist as long as OpenAI was comfortable burning investor capital. As the company moves toward profitability, monetisation was inevitable.
The interesting competitive dynamic: Anthropic ran Super Bowl ads in early 2026 directly mocking OpenAI's ad launch, positioning Claude as the "ad-free" AI. Claude Pro is USD $20/month and currently has no advertising. That's a real differentiator for users who care about a clean experience.
For NZ businesses, the practical question is simple: are you using ChatGPT for important business tasks or just casual queries? If it's the former, the Plus plan is worth it. If you're only using it occasionally, the ads will probably be a minor inconvenience rather than a dealbreaker.
What to do right now
If you use the Free tier for business work: weigh up whether NZD $33/month for Plus is worth removing ads and getting better usage limits. For most businesses with regular AI usage, it likely is.
If you've been considering advertising your NZ business on AI platforms: sign up for updates at openai.com/advertisers. Early movers in new ad channels typically get better inventory and lower effective CPMs before competition drives prices up.
If you prefer to stay ad-free without paying: Claude (claude.ai) remains ad-free on its free tier as of May 2026, and Anthropic has publicly positioned this as a long-term differentiator.
The free lunch is ending. The question is whether you want to pay in money or attention.
Sources: OpenAI blog "Testing ads in ChatGPT" (openai.com/index/testing-ads-in-chatgpt/, updated May 7 2026); TechCrunch "ChatGPT rolls out ads" (February 9 2026); CNBC "ChatGPT's ad pilot has the industry excited" (March 20 2026); Criteo conversion data via Affiliate Summit (February 2026).