Ads in ChatGPT now rolled out in India

What's new

OpenAI has expanded its ads in ChatGPT to India, the company's second-largest market, with more than 100 million weekly users. According to the sources, ChatGPT Ads has now reached 41 markets, after 32 markets were added in five days. The sources disagree on the exact date: some cite August 27, 2026, others August 29.

The ads appear for adult, logged-in users on the free version and on the Go tier, which costs 399 rupees a month in India. Subscribers to Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education see no ads. More than 50 brands were expected to go live during launch week, and WPP and Omnicom are the first agency partners.

What's smart

Sponsored content appears at the bottom beneath ChatGPT's answers, clearly labeled and visually separated from the answer itself. You don't have to guess what is an ad.

OpenAI says the ads will not affect the answers, which will continue to be optimized for what is relevant to the user. That is OpenAI's own claim and has not been independently verified.

On privacy, OpenAI says advertisers do not get access to conversations, chat history, memory or personal information, and that the company does not sell user data. Advertisers only receive aggregate figures such as impressions and clicks. Ads are also not shown to users under 18 or to those OpenAI judges to be minors, and they are not shown alongside sensitive topics such as health, mental health and politics.

Cheaper or better?

For ordinary users, the price does not change: the free version is still free, and Go costs 399 rupees a month. The price is the same, but now ads come with it. Those who want to avoid them have to move up to one of the more expensive subscriptions.

For advertisers, the minimum daily campaign budget in India is 725 rupees. At launch, advertisers can buy through OpenAI's own ad sales team and through partners such as Dentsu, Omnicom, Publicis, WPP, Adobe, Criteo, Kargo, Pacvue and StackAdapt. Self-service through ChatGPT Ads Manager is planned for September 4, 2026, according to Outlook Business, while OpenAI documentation says only that it is "coming soon," according to PPC Land.

How the offering compares with competitors' ad products is not stated in the sources.

Who it's good for

For companies that want to reach Indian users, it is a new channel close to the moment when people ask questions and look for solutions. According to Outlook Business, the ad pilot reportedly generated $100 million in annual revenue within six weeks of the US launch. Dave Dugan, OpenAI's vice president of global ad sales solutions, says, according to Outlook Business, that weekly active users in India have doubled year over year.

The rollout is part of OpenAI's effort to build more revenue streams ahead of a planned IPO process. PPC Land also points out that India's data protection rules will not be enforced until May 2027, which in its assessment creates uncertainty around personalized ads.

For Danish readers: PPC Land writes that a European rollout was completed on August 24, 2026, but the sources do not make clear how exactly this applies to Denmark and the EU.