ChatGPT Ads: Who Sees Them and How to Turn Them Off

On 21 October 2026 OpenAI expanded ChatGPT Ads to 26 more countries, taking it to 89 in total, including Nigeria, South Africa, Bangladesh, Pakistan and much of Latin America. If you've just started seeing a small labelled box under your answers, that's why.

Below is what OpenAI's help centre says about who sees ads, what advertisers get, the topics ads never appear next to, and the exact steps to turn personalisation off or go ads-free. If you're a business wondering whether to advertise, I've written a separate guide to that.

Who sees ads in ChatGPT

Account	Ads?
Free	Yes, where ads are live, with an ads-free option
Go	Yes, where ads are live
Plus and Pro	No
Business, Enterprise and Edu	No
Anyone identified as under 18	No
Temporary Chats	No ads shown

OpenAI uses account age information and age prediction to decide who's under 18, looking at signals such as stated age, how long the account has existed and typical times of use. If you're comparing plans, my ChatGPT Go vs Plus guide sets out what each one includes.

Where ads appear and what they look like

You'll see one ad unit below a ChatGPT response, and it may contain one or several images. OpenAI is also testing a multi-image visual ad format that shows during image generation. Every ad is labelled and kept separate from the answer itself.

OpenAI says ads don't influence ChatGPT's answers: they run on separate systems, and advertisers can't shape, rank or change responses. Seeing an ad also doesn't mean OpenAI recommends that company.

Topics where ads never show

Ads aren't eligible to appear near sensitive topics, which OpenAI lists as personal health, mental health and politics. Political advertising isn't allowed in ChatGPT at all. Some regulated businesses, such as health and financial services, can advertise if they meet strict eligibility rules, but even then their ads are kept away from personal health conversations.

What advertisers can and can't see

This is the question I get asked most, so here's OpenAI's position in plain terms. Advertisers never receive your chats, chat history, memories, name, email, precise location, IP address or sensitive information. They get aggregated reports, such as total views and clicks.

The exception is if you choose to message an advertiser through an ad. Then the advertiser sees only the messages you send them directly, nothing else.

How ChatGPT chooses which ad to show

The ad system looks at what you're discussing in the current chat, basic context like general location and language, and the ad's own landing page, title, copy and the advertiser's targeting. Where several ads qualify, relevance and the advertiser's auction settings both play a part.

If personalised ads are switched on, ChatGPT can also use past chats and memory, plus how you've interacted with ads before. That's the setting most people will want to look at, and it's covered next. If you'd like to understand what's stored about you generally, my ChatGPT memory guide explains it.

How to turn off personalised ads

Ad controls live in Settings > Ads controls on the web and iOS. From there you can:

• Turn off Personalize ads. You'll still see ads, but they'll be based on the current chat only.
• Turn off Past chats and memory so those aren't used to choose ads.
• View your ads history and the topics used to tailor ads.
• Delete your ads data. It's no longer used straight away and is removed from OpenAI's servers within 30 days. This doesn't touch your chats.

Personalised ads aren't initially available in the European Economic Area or Switzerland. If you can't see Ads controls in the mobile app, update the app first.

How to go ads-free on the Free plan

Free users can switch off ads entirely, with a trade-off OpenAI spells out. You get no ads, but lower usage limits and fewer tools, for example no image generation or deep research. The steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Ads controls.
3. Tap Change plan to go ad-free.
4. Choose Reduce message limits.
5. Confirm the change.

If you hit a limit later, ChatGPT may show a banner with options to upgrade or to show ads again. You can also switch back from Settings > Ads controls. The other route to no ads is upgrading to Plus or Pro.

Hiding, reporting and asking about an ad

Every ad has a three-dot menu. Use Hide ad to dismiss it, Report ad if it looks misleading or unsafe, and About this ad to see why it was shown. There's also Ask ChatGPT, which shares that ad into your chat so you can ask questions. By default ChatGPT can't see the ads you're shown, so that's the only way to ask about one.

Hiding or clicking an ad doesn't get added to your ChatGPT memory. And if you'd rather a whole conversation ran ad-free, a temporary chat doesn't show ads.

My take

For most people the sensible setup is: leave ads on if the higher limits matter to you, switch off personalisation if you'd rather your past chats stayed out of it, and use temporary chats for anything personal. For business owners, the bigger story is that ChatGPT is now an ad channel in 89 countries. If you're working out where AI fits in your marketing, that's exactly what I help with in my AI consulting sessions.

Frequently asked questions

Do ChatGPT Plus users see ads?

No. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts don't have ads. Ads appear only on the Free and Go plans.

Can advertisers read my ChatGPT conversations?

No. OpenAI says advertisers never receive your chats, memories, name, email, precise location or IP address. They get aggregated views and clicks.

How do I stop ads in ChatGPT for free?

On the Free plan, go to Settings, then Ads controls, and choose the ad-free option with reduced message limits. You lose some tools, such as image generation.

Do ads change ChatGPT's answers?

OpenAI says no. Ads run on separate systems, are labelled, and advertisers can't shape or rank ChatGPT's responses.

How many countries have ChatGPT ads?

After the 21 October 2026 expansion, ChatGPT Ads is available in 89 countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Bangladesh and Pakistan.