ChatGPT is moving from an information interface to a distribution surface.
As of February 9, 2026, OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT in the United States for logged-in users on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts do not see ads.
For B2B teams, the headline is not “new channel.” The headline is “new placement model.” Ads appear inside a conversational workflow where the user is already asking questions, comparing options, and narrowing decisions.
OpenAI’s current implementation is intentionally constrained.
Ads can appear below the end of a response. They are labeled as sponsored and visually separated from the model’s response. OpenAI states that ads do not influence ChatGPT’s answers, and that ad systems run separately from the chat model.
During the February 2026 test window, OpenAI also lists specific contexts where ads do not appear, including Temporary Chats, when a user is logged out, after image generation, and in the ChatGPT Atlas browser.
Who sees ads is also limited. During the test, ads may appear for logged-in Free and Go users in the US. Ads do not appear in accounts where OpenAI is told, or predicts, the user is under 18.
OpenAI’s baseline matching starts with what is being discussed in the current chat thread and matches those topics to relevant ads submitted by advertisers.
OpenAI also describes an optional personalization layer. If a user chooses personalized ads, OpenAI may use additional signals, including past chats and ad interactions, to improve relevance over time.
For advertisers, the key takeaway is that conversational context is the primary targeting primitive, not a classic interest graph or social feed behavior.
Most B2B paid media is built around either search intent capture or social feed interruption.
Conversational ads sit somewhere else. They follow an answer, inside a thread where a user is already in research mode. That changes what “good” looks like in three ways.
In practice, this pulls ad performance closer to positioning, category clarity, and data quality than to creative volume.
ChatGPT ads are not just about the ad unit. They are about whether your offering can be confidently matched to a conversational topic and then validated by the buyer in the next prompt.
That increases the cost of messy data.
If your category positioning is inconsistent across your site, your product pages, and your third-party listings, you create ambiguity. In a conversational placement model, ambiguity reduces match confidence, which reduces reach and increases wasted impressions.
For B2B, this typically shows up as:
This is why the “GIGO” concept becomes operational, not theoretical. AI experiences amplify data quality problems because the buyer can pressure test claims instantly.
Even if access is limited in the short term, preparation is not optional if this format scales.
Pick the few categories you want to win, then make sure your public-facing language reinforces those categories consistently.
If you do not know what categories ChatGPT will associate you with, you do not control where you show up.
Prioritize pages that define what you do:
Your goal is not more copy. Your goal is fewer contradictions.
Conversational discovery rewards teams that publish machine-readable, unambiguous information. That includes clear metadata, consistent terminology, and content that maps cleanly to buyer questions.
This is where GEO work starts to overlap with paid readiness.
A conversational surface can influence evaluation without producing a click in the same way search does. You will still care about clicks, but you will also need to watch downstream indicators:
OpenAI is taking a phased approach and expanding gradually as it learns from real-world use and feedback.
For B2B, that usually means the earliest winners will not be the teams with the biggest budgets. The earliest winners will be the teams with the clearest positioning, cleanest data foundation, and fastest ability to translate conversational intent into a credible next step.
If you want help preparing your GTM strategy and data foundation for conversational discovery and emerging ad surfaces like ChatGPT, connect with the FullFunnel team to start the conversation.