OpenAI is introducing a new visual advertising format in ChatGPT that will place sponsored images alongside image-generation results, expanding its advertising business beyond the formats introduced earlier this year.
The company said it will begin testing the format later in October in the United States with an initial group of advertisers. The ads will appear during image generation and will be clearly labelled and displayed separately from the image a user asks ChatGPT to create.
OpenAI said the advertisements will not influence ChatGPT's responses. The format is designed to allow brands to use imagery to demonstrate products, show how they can be used or highlight experiences associated with their services.
The move expands OpenAI's efforts to build advertising into ChatGPT as another revenue stream alongside subscriptions. The company said ChatGPT now reaches 1.2 billion people each week, giving advertisers access to users while they research ideas, evaluate options and make decisions.
Alongside the visual format, OpenAI is expanding the measurement infrastructure around ChatGPT Ads. Integrations with Hightouch, Tealium and LiveRamp will allow advertisers to send conversion data from their existing systems to ChatGPT Ads.
The company is also widening its measurement partner ecosystem. TechCrunch reported that this includes click attribution providers such as AppsFlyer, Adjust, Branch, Singular, Kochava and Airbridge, as well as measurement companies including Fospha, Measured and INCRMNTAL.
OpenAI is separately working with partners on brand suitability, an area intended to give advertisers greater visibility into the environments in which their campaigns appear. DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science are involved in pilots aimed at helping brands assess suitability within ChatGPT's advertising environment.
The visual ads build on OpenAI's advertising push that began earlier in 2026. ChatGPT started testing ads in the US for logged-in adults on its Free and Go plans in February before subsequently expanding its advertising business into additional markets.
OpenAI has maintained that advertising is separate from the answers generated by ChatGPT. It has also said conversations remain private from advertisers and that advertisers receive aggregated performance information rather than access to users' chats or personal details.
The latest format moves ChatGPT further into visual advertising, placing sponsored content closer to a workflow where users are already creating and exploring images. The US test will give OpenAI and participating advertisers an early indication of how visual advertising performs within an AI image-generation experience.
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