OpenAI has expanded the ChatGPT Ads Manager with a set of performance-focused tools that close several gaps between its platform and established advertising systems. Search Engine Land reported the updates on July 24, 2026, citing an OpenAI product email to Ads Manager beta participants that detailed eight new capabilities across bidding, measurement, budget management, and campaign operations.
Conversion-Optimized Bidding Now Available
Advertisers can now build conversion-optimized cost-per-click campaigns by selecting the Conversions objective, which pushes delivery toward clicks more likely to produce a conversion event while billing continues on a valid-click basis. The oCPC model represents a shift from click volume toward outcome optimization, a standard capability on Google Ads and Meta that ChatGPT Ads has not supported until now.
Website conversion measurement has also been enhanced through automatic advanced matching, which uses hashed customer data to improve conversion attribution. The feature can be enabled under Tools > Conversions > Data Source.
Budget Model Moving to Seven-Day Average
OpenAI is moving daily budgets off fixed caps and onto a seven-day average, so spend can swing day to day within daily and weekly limits without changing an advertiser's total. The change, described as taking effect "next week" in OpenAI's product note, brings ChatGPT Ads in line with the average daily budget model that Google Ads has offered for years. The Ads API now also supports asynchronous bulk creation and updates for campaigns, ad groups, and ads. Product feed campaigns are additionally receiving updated product cards featuring pricing and star ratings.
Mobile Attribution Arrives via AppsFlyer and Adjust
OpenAI has connected ChatGPT Ads to the two largest mobile measurement partners, giving app advertisers install and in-app event attribution for the first time since the pilot began in February 2026. Until this update, an app marketer buying placements inside ChatGPT had no supported route to prove that a click produced a download. Both AppsFlyer and Adjust have now published setup documentation on their own help centres, and the AppsFlyer article carries a last-updated stamp of July 9, 2026, which places the technical launch at least two weeks ahead of the trade press report.
According to OpenAI, the mobile measurement work was one of eight items in a single weekly product note.
Geographic Exclusions Added to Targeting Controls
The update also introduces geographic exclusion targeting, allowing advertisers to remove specific locations from campaign delivery. The company added geo exclusion alongside automatic advanced matching, AppsFlyer and Adjust integrations, a Bulk API for asynchronous campaign edits, and a product card format carrying price and star ratings, all in the same release cycle.
Platform Context: A Rapid Build in Public
OpenAI began testing ads inside ChatGPT on February 9, 2026. On May 5, 2026, it opened self-serve buying through Ads Manager, adding cost-per-click bidding to its existing CPM model and rolling out both a measurement pixel and a Conversions API.
In its March 26 update, OpenAI stated its ads pilot was "focused on supporting broader access to ChatGPT while preserving consumer trust, usefulness, and user control," noting that early results were "encouraging" with no impact on consumer trust metrics and low ad dismissal rates.
Ads currently appear only for logged-in adult users on ChatGPT's Free and Go tiers. Users on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans see no ads, according to OpenAI's help centre. Advertisers in financial services, health, dating, and politics are currently excluded by OpenAI policy.
As of early July 2026, ChatGPT ads appeared in 51.0% of US replies, the result of a swing that saw penetration peak at 26.5% in late May, collapse to 0.05% in mid-June, and then climb back past 51% within weeks.
What This Means for Performance Marketers
For advertisers already active on the platform, the oCPC objective and automatic advanced matching are the most operationally significant additions. Conversion-based bidding allows campaign optimization against business outcomes rather than raw clicks, while hashed-data matching can improve attribution accuracy on website conversion events. The AppsFlyer and Adjust integrations resolve a practical barrier for mobile app advertisers who previously lacked a supported measurement path. Geo exclusions and the Bulk API lower the operational burden for teams managing larger campaign sets across multiple markets. These additions do not alter the platform's underlying contextual targeting model, policy exclusions, or audience eligibility rules.
OpenAI's "Testing ads in ChatGPT" page states that "ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you," a commitment the company has repeated across every update to the pilot since February 2026.
