OpenAI will expand its ChatGPT advertising programme to 31 European markets from August 24, extending an initiative that began as a pilot in the United States six months ago. The rollout will cover all 27 European Union member states, along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
The expansion represents OpenAI’s largest addition to the ChatGPT Ads programme so far. Key markets joining the initiative include Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria.
Ads Limited to Free and Go Users
Advertisements will initially be displayed only to users on ChatGPT’s Free and Go plans. Subscribers to Plus, Pro and Enterprise plans will continue to use the service without advertisements, according to OpenAI. Business and education accounts are also excluded from the programme, according to reports.
OpenAI says advertising revenue will help support free and lower-cost access to its artificial intelligence services. The company is positioning ChatGPT Ads as a way for businesses to reach consumers while they research products, compare options and make purchasing decisions.
Unlike conventional search advertising, ChatGPT users can describe their objectives, preferences and constraints in natural language. OpenAI says this could allow advertisers to engage users at different stages of the customer journey, from initial discovery to final purchase consideration.
No Personalised Ads at Launch
Personalised advertising will not be available initially in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. Ads will instead be selected using the context of the current conversation and general signals such as language and approximate location.
Users’ previous conversations, stored memories and interaction history will not be used for ad targeting at launch. This approach distinguishes the European rollout from more personalised advertising models that rely on a user’s broader online behaviour.
OpenAI has not ruled out introducing personalised advertising in the region at a later stage. Any future changes are likely to face close scrutiny because of European privacy and data-protection requirements.
How the System Will Work
OpenAI says advertisements will be clearly labelled and kept separate from ChatGPT’s responses. Advertising content will not influence the answers generated by the chatbot.
The company has also said that advertisers will not receive users’ conversations and that it does not sell customer data. Advertisers will initially access the platform through OpenAI’s Ads Solutions team, agency partners and technology partners. Self-service campaign management through Ads Manager is expected to follow later this summer.
The company has been developing tools including geo-targeting, conversion optimisation and measurement integrations. OpenAI said tens of thousands of marketers had advertised on ChatGPT during the first six months of its pilot.
Regulatory Questions
The European rollout comes as regulators examine ChatGPT’s role under the Digital Services Act. The European Commission is considering whether ChatGPT’s search function should be classified as a “very large online search engine”, a designation that could bring additional obligations.
Such obligations may include risk assessments, independent audits and greater transparency around advertising practices. Regulators are also expected to examine how advertisements are presented within conversational systems and whether users can easily distinguish commercial content from AI-generated answers.
The EU’s scrutiny could become particularly significant as generative AI services increasingly combine search, recommendations and advertising. While OpenAI says its ads will remain separate from ChatGPT’s answers, regulators and consumer groups may continue to question whether users can make fully informed decisions when commercial messages appear alongside AI assistance.
For European users, the August 24 launch will therefore mark not only a major change to ChatGPT’s free experience but also an important test of how advertising can be integrated into conversational AI while maintaining privacy, transparency and user trust.
