ChatGPT Ads Roll Out Across MENA as OpenAI Accelerates Ad Business

OpenAI has expanded ChatGPT Ads to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), opening its self-service advertising platform to marketers across the region as the company continues to scale its global advertising business.

The MENA rollout began on August 31, alongside the addition of markets across India and Europe. Advertisers in eligible markets can purchase campaigns through Ads Manager, while ChatGPT Ads is already available in more than 40 countries through OpenAI’s Ads Solutions team, agency partners and technology partners.

The expansion creates a new advertising environment for regional marketers, as consumers increasingly turn to conversational AI to research topics, compare options and inform purchasing decisions rather than relying solely on traditional search and discovery platforms.

Ads Integrated Into Relevant Conversations

According to OpenAI, ChatGPT Ads are positioned alongside relevant conversations, with the platform using the context of a user’s ongoing interaction to identify potentially relevant advertising. Ads are clearly labelled and remain separate from ChatGPT’s responses.

The platform also offers several performance-marketing capabilities, including cost-per-click (CPC) and outcome-optimised bidding, geographic and platform targeting, custom audiences, product feeds, Pixel and Conversions API functionality.

OpenAI said CPC and outcome-optimised bidding now account for the majority of campaigns running on the platform. The company has also reported that tens of thousands of advertisers are using ChatGPT Ads, with small and medium-sized businesses representing a significant share of its advertising activity.

Early Performance Signals

OpenAI has shared several early performance examples from advertisers using ChatGPT Ads. One ecommerce advertiser reportedly generated a 3x return on ad spend over 28 days, while a technology partner reported that more than 80% of ad-driven ChatGPT traffic came from new customers.

These figures are examples provided by OpenAI and should not be considered independent industry benchmarks.

OpenAI Scales Its Advertising Business

The MENA expansion comes as OpenAI rapidly builds its advertising business. The company says its advertising operation has reached a $1 billion annualised revenue run rate in under 200 days.

For marketers across MENA, the development could signal a shift in where brands compete for consumer attention. As conversational AI becomes increasingly integrated into product discovery, recommendations and decision-making, advertising within AI-led interactions could provide brands with an opportunity to influence consumers earlier in the customer journey.

OpenAI maintains that advertising does not influence ChatGPT’s answers and that advertisers cannot access users’ private conversations.

ChatGPT Ads are currently available to Free and Go users, while Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu users continue to have an ad-free experience.