Someone asks ChatGPT which family SUV handles a December run to Plett without ruining them on fuel.
They get an answer.
Underneath it, one brand gets to say something.
Advertising in ChatGPT works differently from the channels you already buy. There are no keyword lists to build and the system reads the conversation and decides which ad genuinely helps the person asking. That means fewer inputs to manage, but the few you do give it carry far more weight than they used to.
First, the basics.
Ads in ChatGPT have been live in South Africa since 21 October 2026, when OpenAI added 26 countries and took the total to 89. More than 100,000 advertisers have run campaigns in roughly eight months, and ChatGPT has more than 1.2 billion weekly active users worldwide. Ads sit below the answer, clearly labelled, and only people on the Free and Go plans see them.
So how does ChatGPT decide which ad someone sees? It reads the conversation, then looks for an advertiser whose offer genuinely answers it.
To do that, it draws on what you have told it your offer is good for, what your landing page says about you, and what you are willing to pay for a result. The clearer those signals are, the more often you turn up in the right moment.
Here are three things you can do to put your best foot forward.
1. The page you send people to
In the channels you know, your landing page is where the click arrives. In ChatGPT, it arrives much earlier than that.
OpenAI reads your landing page when it decides whether your ad belongs in a conversation at all. A page that says plainly what you sell, who it suits and why someone would choose it gives the system something to work with. A page with a hero image and a “shop now” button does not.
There’s a second reason to get these pages right. OpenAI’s creative enhancements, can adapt your headline, translate your copy, resize your image and send the click to a different page on your site when that page fits the conversation better. You can switch this off in Ads Manager. If you leave it on, any page on your site might start receiving paid traffic, so the ones you’d rather nobody saw are worth fixing first.
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Flow’s top tip:
Make each product page load without a login, describe what the item is in the first sentence, and answer the question a buyer would ask next.
2. How you describe who you’re for
There are no keywords in ChatGPT. Instead you write context hints at ad group level, which are plain descriptions of the conversations where your offer or products can help.
The difference between a weak hint and a strong one is specificity.
“Running shoes” tells the system almost nothing. “Road running shoes for first-time half-marathon runners” tells it who the person is, what they’re trying to do, and when your product is the right answer. OpenAI is clear that hints guide matching rather than guarantee it, so treat them as something to test and rewrite rather than set once.
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Flow’s top tip:
Write hints the way your customers describe their problem, not the way your category describes its products. Create one ad group per distinct need, and make sure your hints would make sense if you had to read them out loud.
If you’re planning through Flow, Nova can draft a first set of hints from the same brief you’d hand a planner, which beats starting at a blank field.
3. What a result is worth to you
There’s no rate card. Ads are sold through an auction weighted by relevance, so the most useful ad can win without the biggest bid.
You pick one of three objectives:
- Reach or Views is billed per thousand impressions
- Clicks is billed per valid click
- Conversions optimise toward an event you’ve set up (though it still charges for clicks rather than conversions)
You tell the system what a result is worth at ad group level. For clicks and conversions campaigns, that figure works as a target average cost rather than a ceiling, so pick it from what you actually pay for a customer now, not from the most you would tolerate. Views campaigns still use a maximum bid. OpenAI’s suggested figures are global guidance rather than South African prices, so your early campaigns are how you find your own number.
Important note: A daily budget is an average across seven days, so spend can reach double your daily figure on a single day as long as the week stays within seven times that figure.
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Flow’s key insight:
You’re not buying specific placements in ChatGPT. You’re giving the system enough to recognise when your product is the right answer, and the clearest inputs win.
How to get started with ChatGPT Ads through Flow
Flow Platform is a technology partner supporting advertising in ChatGPT.
Here’s what that means for you:
The tools and workflow you already use
Plan and activate ChatGPT Ads alongside your other channels, with Flow integrated with the OpenAI ads API, so there is no separate platform to learn.
Set-up handled
Flow sets up your ChatGPT Ads account, tracking and product feed, and checks your campaigns against OpenAI’s ad policies before anything is submitted.
Direct OpenAI support
Because Flow is integrated with the OpenAI ads API, we work directly with OpenAI’s partner team, so approvals, questions and technical issues go straight to them.
Planning with data
Nova, Flow’s agentic AI strategist, helps shape the context hints that increase the relevance of your ad. ChatGPT Ads also supports custom audiences built from a brand’s own customer lists, so Flow’s data and audience expertise can be put to work.
One IO, billed monthly, no credit card
Book ChatGPT Ads on a single IO alongside your other channels and be billed monthly through Flow. That means less admin for your finance and media teams and a simpler path to scaling spend as results come in.
Ready to make ChatGPT part of your plan?
See how Flow works on our ChatGPT advertising page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I target keywords in ChatGPT?
No. You write context hints describing the conversations where your offer is relevant, and the system also reads your landing page, your ad copy and the conversation itself. Hints guide the matching but don’t guarantee delivery.
How much does it cost to advertise in ChatGPT?
There’s no fixed price. Ads are sold through an auction. You set a target cost per click or per acquisition for clicks and conversions campaigns, or a maximum CPM for Views.
Can South African brands advertise in ChatGPT?
Yes. Ads have been live in South Africa since 21 October 2026. Brands and advertisers can use Ads Manager Beta, or they can advertise through a technology partner such as Flow.
Why advertise in ChatGPT through Flow?
Flow is a technology partner supporting advertising in ChatGPT, so advertisers can buy through the tools and workflows they already use, with one IO and one monthly invoice. Flow is a technology platform, not an agency, so planning, creative and optimisation stay with your team or agency.
About Flow Platform
Flow Platform is the commerce media platform connecting data with demand. Flow’s Audience Marketplace lets brands book first-party audience segments from retailers and publishers. Flow is a technology partner supporting advertising in ChatGPT, enabling scaled ChatGPT Ads for South African brands and businesses.
