Updated ChatGPT Ads Terms & Policies

2. Ad Content Policies

Our ad content policies define the categories of advertising currently supported on ChatGPT. During the initial test period, ads are primarily limited to consumer verticals such as lifestyle and household goods, local services, travel and experiences, and digital products or education. These categories may expand over time. We may approve ads from approved advertisers within the financial services, healthcare & medicine, and legal services categories. These categories are being rolled out gradually with approvals being reviewed manually on a case-by-case basis.

All other categories are disallowed at launch, including ads that violate OpenAI’s Usage Policies and those related to sensitive or regulated areas such as dating or sexual content, unsubstantiated health claims, alcohol and drugs, healthcare, financial or legal services, gambling, and political content. This list may evolve as the program develops.

These standards apply to all ad assets, including copy, images or video, and landing pages. Ads must be consistent end-to-end: approved creatives may not link to destinations that introduce disallowed content (for example, a food delivery ad linking to alcohol delivery).

Baseline Ad Standards

The following standards apply to all ads regardless of category. An ad that violates these standards is prohibited even if the product category is otherwise allowed.

Misleading or Deceptive Ads

Ads must be truthful and not misleading, including unfounded claims about capabilities, pricing, outcomes, affiliations, or comparisons with other products or companies. Ads that exaggerate results, use false endorsements, or otherwise deceive users are prohibited regardless of category.

Obscenities and Offensive Language

Ads must use professional and non-offensive language and imagery. Ads containing obscene, vulgar, or shocking language—including in product names, event titles, or branding—may be rejected even if the underlying category is otherwise allowed.

Discrimination, Harassment, and Bullying

Ads must not include derogatory, defamatory, or exclusionary content, including slurs or language that targets individuals or groups based on protected characteristics.

Interface Imitation

Ads must be clearly distinguishable from the ChatGPT product experience. We may remove or require modification of ads that imitate the appearance, functionality, or voice of ChatGPT or other OpenAI interfaces in a way that could reasonably cause users to believe the ad is part of the product.

Disallowed Ads

Ads must comply with OpenAI’s Usage Policies. In addition, ChatGPT applies stricter standards to advertising in certain regulated and sensitive categories to protect user trust and brand safety. OpenAI reserves the right to decline, restrict, or remove advertisers and to refuse to display ad content and website links for any reason, including where they conflict with our advertising principles, business interests, or competitive position.

Adult Content

Ads for adult content or services are currently disallowed. This includes dating apps, sexual services or products, adult companion apps or websites, adult-themed events, full nudity, sexual health products, and assets featuring sexualized poses or explicit/racy imagery.

Ads for lingerie, underwear, or swimwear may be allowed when presented in a standard fashion or retail context and not framed to provoke sexual arousal.

Alcohol & Tobacco

Ads that promote or facilitate the sale, use, or consumption of alcohol or tobacco are currently disallowed, including marketing for alcoholic beverages (products over 0.5% ABV), cigarettes, vaping, or nicotine products, as well as alcohol- or tobacco-focused activities. Incidental references are acceptable only when alcohol is not the focus and the ad otherwise meets safe eligibility requirements.

Counterfeit Goods

Ads for non-genuine products that copy or substantially imitate another brand’s trademark, logo, name, or distinctive features in order to appear genuine are prohibited. This includes the promotion, sale, solicitation, or facilitation of knockoffs, replicas, imitations, or pirated products without authorization.

Financial Services

Ads for financial products and services are restricted. In the US, we may allow ads from approved financial advertisers on a case-by-case basis for:

• Auto loans and leasing

• Credit cards

• Credit monitoring

• Deposit accounts

• Financial planning

• Insurance

• Investment services and brokerages

• Mortgages

• Personal loans

• Payment services

Advertisers may be required to provide proof of licensure. Financial tools that do not promote financial products or transactions are generally permitted. We do not allow ads for credit repair, debt settlement, debt assistance, or alternative investments such as bullion. Ads for financial services outside the US are generally prohibited.

Gambling

Ads promoting products or services that involve wagering money on games of chance, skill, or uncertain outcomes are currently disallowed. This includes casino or betting promotions, online sports betting, lotteries, and poker or gaming platforms that offer cash prizes.

Ads for casinos may be permitted only when promoting lodging, travel, or entertainment experiences where gambling is not the focus (e.g., a hotel stay at a casino resort). Digital games that do not involve real-money wagering or cash prizes may also be allowed.

Graphic Sexual or Violent Content

Ads must not include explicit sexual content or graphic violence. Sexually explicit advertising—including pornography, sexual services, full nudity, explicit sexual acts, or imagery intended to provoke sexual arousal—is not permitted. This also includes tools that generate or manipulate sexual imagery (e.g., “nudify” or AI sexualization tools).

Ads must also not depict graphic or realistic violence, including gore, severe injury, or death against humans or animals, particularly when presented for shock or sensationalism. Age-restricted entertainment (e.g., R-rated films, M-rated games) may be advertised if the ad creative and landing page are non-explicit and non-graphic.

Health Services

Ads for regulated medical products and services, or claims related to the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of physical or mental health conditions, are restricted. Ads for health services outside the US are generally prohibited. In the US, we may allow ads from approved advertisers on a case-by-case basis for:

• Consumer medical devices, wearables, and apps

• Dental services

• Dietary supplements

• Disease awareness campaigns that do not advocate for public policy

• Health insurance

• Hospitals and urgent care

• Medical testing and diagnostic products and services

• Minimally invasive cosmetic procedures

• Vision products and services

Eligible ads must be lawful, factual, responsibly presented, and subject to appropriate review and compliance controls. We do not allow ads for unsafe or unapproved medical products; unsupported treatment claims; or health-related products that exploit body-image concerns, distress, or other vulnerabilities.

Housing and Jobs

Ads for individual job listings or housing rentals or sales are prohibited. Advertisers may link to platforms that include job or housing listings as long as the landing page or ad creative does not reference a specific listing.

Legal Services

Ads for legal advice, representation, or legal services offered to individuals or businesses are permitted in the US only when the advertiser is licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction where the ad is shown. Ads for legal services outside of the US are currently prohibited.

Political Content

Ads that advocate for or against political actors, elections, public policy, or contested social issues are currently disallowed.

This includes advertising related to elections or electoral participation; advocacy connected to public officials or government action; and advertising that frames contested social issues as matters of public controversy or political debate.

Recreational Drugs

Ads for products or services that promote the use of substances intended to intoxicate or alter consciousness, including cannabis or psychedelics, are currently disallowed. Non-intoxicating hemp-derived products may be permitted where they do not promote intoxicating use.

Scams & Fraud

We prohibit ads that deceive, defraud, or exploit users to obtain money, personal information, or other valuable assets. This includes ads that impersonate individuals, brands, official entities, or trusted services; promote fraudulent or implausible offers; or direct users to high-risk or deceptive destinations.

Sensitive Topics or Events

Ads must not exploit or sensationalize socially contested issues, major public tragedies, or other high-impact events where advertising could undermine user trust or create brand-safety risk.

Wellness Claims

Ads must not promote wellness or health-adjacent products that make unsubstantiated health claims outside established medical or regulatory frameworks. General wellness and lifestyle advertising may be permitted where no medical claims are made.

Allowed Ads

During the early phases of advertising, we are focused on a limited set of consumer categories, including household and consumer goods, local services, travel and entertainment, and digital products and education.

We expect to expand eligible categories over time as our safeguards, review systems, and compliance infrastructure mature.

3. Advertiser Policies

To advertise on OpenAI, advertisers must meet standards designed to protect users, maintain trust, and preserve the integrity of our services. These requirements apply throughout an advertiser's use of OpenAI Ads. We may restrict or remove advertisers that violate these policies.

Advertiser Identity

Truthful identity and affiliation: Advertisers must provide accurate information about their business identity, ownership, and affiliations. They may not misrepresent their relationship with another individual, organization, or brand.

Intellectual property and brand use: Advertisers may use only the trademarks, logos, brand assets, and other intellectual property they own or are authorized to use.

Destination integrity: Ads must lead users to destinations that clearly relate to the advertiser and the offer being promoted.

Advertiser Trustworthiness

Abuse of OpenAI Ads: Advertisers may not defraud the OpenAI Ads platform or attempt to circumvent our policies or enforcement processes.

Business conduct: Advertisers are responsible for protecting consumers by maintaining safe and honest business practices.

Advertiser Eligibility

Eligible products and services: Advertisers may promote only products and services that are permitted under our Ad Content Policies.

Geographic compliance: Advertisers must comply with applicable legal and policy requirements in the regions where they operate and target advertising.

4. Ad Integrity

We’re building advertising in ChatGPT with a clear purpose: help make powerful AI accessible to more people while giving businesses of all sizes—from SMBs and startups to global brands—new ways to grow.

From the start, we’ve taken a transparent and principled approach to our advertising business, with clear policies and processes that determine who can run ads, where they can appear, and what kinds of ads are allowed.

This section explains how we implement these standards, including how we review and monitor ads, what standards we apply, and what happens when ads don’t meet our safety bar.

Review Scope

Our review process evaluates the full ad experience at three levels: advertisers, ad creative and landing pages, and placement.

Review & Monitoring

Most reviews are conducted through automated systems with human oversight and calibration. We continuously monitor ads and advertiser activity using user feedback, automated metrics, and ongoing quality evaluations.

Enforcement & Reporting

When an ad or advertiser doesn’t meet our policies or integrity standards, we take action to protect users and our services, up to suspension or termination of advertiser accounts for severe or repeated violations.

Incident Response

No review system is perfect, so we plan for the possibility that a policy-violating ad may be shown. When an issue is confirmed, we act quickly to protect users and strengthen our standards over time.

Responsible Scaling

We’re building the ChatGPT ads platform with safety and trust at the core, expanding access deliberately using real-world performance and feedback to refine our approach.

Changelog

• v1.6 (September 2026): Updated to clarify our right to decline ads where they conflict with our advertising principles, business interests, or competitive position.

• v1.5 (August 2026): Updated to reflect that legal services are permitted in the US.

• v1.4 (August 2026): Clarified our policy stance on housing and job listings.

• v1.3 (July 2026): Introduced a new section on advertiser policies and updated the financial and health services sections.

• v1.2 (May 2026): Added a new section that explains what standards we apply and what happens when ads don’t meet our safety bar.

• v1.1 (April 2026): Refined our ads placement policy for regulated-advice contexts.

• v1.0 (March 2026): Initial publication of the OpenAI Ads Policies.