- OpenAI could charge premium advertising rates without offering detailed engagement data to advertisers
- ChatGPT ads will rely entirely on impressions rather than click-based performance metrics
- Users paying for GPT Plus avoid ads, leaving free subscribers exposed to marketing
As OpenAI prepares to introduce ads to ChatGPT, early signals suggest pricing that rivals some of the most expensive media inventory available today.
Report of The information claimed the company was internally considering rates as high as $60 per thousand views.
This figure puts ChatGPT ads in the same cost range as National Football League live streams, including premium slots for the upcoming Super Bowl.
ChatGPT ad rates rival NFL live streams
OpenAI has not publicly confirmed these numbers, leaving potential advertisers to rely on limited disclosures and third-party reporting.
The proposed pricing model is based on impressions rather than user actions. Advertisers would pay for how often an ad is served, not how often it is clicked.
OpenAI also did not share detailed data on click performance, either for ads or for outbound links to publishers whose content is used when training the model.
Available signals suggest that click-through rates are likely very low compared to traditional search platforms, particularly Google.
A media buyer working with early advertisers said OpenAI plans to provide only high-level performance data, which will include total impressions and total clicks, without deeper analytics or behavioral insights.
An OpenAI spokesperson compared this reporting approach to television advertising, where audience exposure matters more than direct interaction.
This comparison is key to how OpenAI appears to justify pricing that reflects live sports broadcasts.
Ads should appear below ChatGPT replies, rather than being embedded within the replies themselves.
The company said the ads will not influence the responses generated and personal information, including health data, will not be used to train models for advertising purposes.
Users on the free tier or the $8 Go subscription should see ads, while those paying $20 per month for GPT Plus can avoid them.
The rollout is expected in the United States within a few weeks, marking the start of monetization of a well-established AI tool.
Unlike social platforms or search engines, ChatGPT does not naturally encourage clicking outside of the interface, making comparisons to existing digital ad markets difficult.
However, the central question is whether impression-based pricing at NFL levels makes sense without transparent engagement metrics.
TV ads benefit from decades of audience measurement standards, while ChatGPT still defines how attention within an AI interface should be valued.
Without clearer evidence of user interaction or downstream impact, advertisers may struggle to gauge whether ChatGPT impressions are delivering results.
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