OpenAI has continued expanding ChatGPT Ads since launching its initial advertising pilot in the United States earlier in 2026. The platform has introduced self-service campaign management, cost-per-click (CPC) bidding, conversion optimisation and additional measurement tools.
The changes are creating new advertising opportunities for hotels and travel businesses seeking to reach users through AI-powered conversations.
Expedia was among the online travel agencies (OTAs) that entered the initial advertising programme. Early access reportedly required a minimum budget of US$200,000 and CPM rates of US$60, with no conversion pixel available at the time.
However, the advertising platform has since evolved. In May 2026, OpenAI moved beyond its limited pilot by introducing self-service buying, CPC bidding and improved measurement capabilities.
The revised CPC model removed the initial minimum spend requirement. Advertisers must still maintain a minimum daily budget of US$25. They can also choose between a campaign-level total budget and a daily budget.
Cogwheel Marketing reported that it had applied for and gained acceptance into OpenAI’s ChatGPT Ads beta programme in June 2026. The agency subsequently shared its observations on campaign targeting, performance and the platform’s expanding features.
How ChatGPT Ads Target Audiences
Advertisers can select one of three campaign objectives: Reach, Clicks or Conversions. The selected objective cannot be changed after campaign creation.
Geographic targeting includes the United States, individual states, designated market areas (DMAs), cities and ZIP codes. Available international markets can also be selected.
Advertisers can search for specific DMAs, including San Diego, Indianapolis and Fort Myers–Naples.
More recently, OpenAI added the ability to exclude specific geographic locations. This gives advertisers greater control over where campaigns appear.
Landing-page query parameters can also be configured at campaign, ad group or individual ad level.
In addition, advertisers can create custom audiences by uploading raw or hashed email addresses and phone numbers. Audience lists must contain at least 25,000 users.
These audiences can serve as campaign filters. Advertisers can also exclude uploaded audiences to focus on prospecting new customers. At the ad group level, bid multipliers can be applied to selected audiences.
CPC Bidding and Context Hints
According to Cogwheel Marketing, CPC bids and context hints are important factors in campaign delivery.
The agency reports that bids of US$3–US$5 are associated with stronger delivery. Bids below US$2.99 are unlikely to generate impressions.
Based on its campaign observations, Cogwheel recommends starting at a minimum CPC bid of US$3. Advertisers can then increase bids in US$0.50 increments when delivery begins to slow.
Context hints are another important campaign setting. Although optional, they help OpenAI match advertisements with relevant conversations.
Advertisers should describe the types of travellers they want to reach, along with relevant topics, conversations and keywords associated with their hotels or services.
OpenAI specifically notes that “These hints guide matching but aren’t exact-match targeting rules.”
ChatGPT Ads: Creative Requirements and Limitations
ChatGPT Ads currently have several creative restrictions.
- Images: Each ad can use only one image, which must be in a square format.
- Headlines: The maximum length is 50 characters. However, text beyond 24 characters may be truncated.
- Descriptions: The maximum length is 100 characters, although text beyond 48 characters may be truncated.
Advertisers may also see an option to select ‘Add new ad’ after a campaign has been running.
This feature uses existing website metadata to prepare an ad draft, including an image, title and description. Advertisers can review and edit the draft before assigning it to a campaign and ad group.
It does not generate new advertising copy or images using AI.
In July 2026, OpenAI also introduced a refreshed static ad card format. The updated design makes advertisements more compact on desktop and mobile, with larger visual elements.
ChatGPT Ads Performance for Hotels
OpenAI’s Ads Manager provides campaign, ad group and individual ad performance data.
Cogwheel Marketing shared the following figures from its hotel advertising campaigns:
| Performance metric | Reported results |
|---|---|
| Impressions | More than 20,000 in less than two months |
| Conversion rate | Approximately 2.2% of total impressions |
| Click-through rate (CTR) | 1.6%–1.9% |
| Average CPC | US$3–US$3.50 |
| Average CPM | US$49–US$60 |
| Minimum daily budget | US$25 |
Conversion reporting depends on the events configured through Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Tag Manager.
The Ads Manager Overview tab also provides account health information, recommended campaign actions and performance trends through a flexible reporting chart.
Measurement Differences and Traffic Attribution
Cogwheel Marketing reports a 5%–10% discrepancy between clicks and conversions recorded in OpenAI’s Ads Manager and those measured in GA4.
The agency also found that ChatGPT Ads accounted for 31%–56% of total AI traffic to hotel websites across ChatGPT sources.
However, conversions were attributed to ‘AI Assistant’ or ‘Referral’ traffic sources rather than directly to ChatGPT Ads.
Engagement rates from ChatGPT Ads were above 20%, according to the agency. This was lower than the 66%–70% average reported for organic AI traffic sources.
These figures represent Cogwheel Marketing’s observations and should not be treated as industry-wide performance benchmarks.
New ChatGPT Ads Features Introduced in July 2026
OpenAI introduced several advertising and measurement updates in July 2026.
- Conversion-optimised campaigns: Advertisers can select the Conversions objective to create optimised CPC (oCPC) campaigns. The system adjusts delivery towards clicks more likely to generate the selected conversion event, while billing remains based on valid clicks.
- Daily budget changes: Fixed daily limits are being replaced by average daily budgets based on the amount advertisers want to spend over seven days. Total campaign budgets remain unchanged, although daily spending may vary within the applicable limits.
- Automatic spend pacing: Daily budgets are distributed automatically throughout the day to help maintain more consistent spending.
- Mobile measurement integrations: OpenAI introduced integrations with AppsFlyer and Adjust to measure and attribute app installs and in-app events.
- Automatic advanced matching (AAM): This feature uses hashed customer information to improve the matching of website conversions with advertisements.
- Bulk API: Advertisers can create and update campaigns, ad groups and ads in bulk through the Ads API.
- Product feed ad format: OpenAI began rolling out an updated product card format displaying prices and star ratings.
New ChatGPT Ads Features Introduced in August 2026
OpenAI added further campaign management, measurement and advertising formats in August.
- Additional oCPC campaign options: Advertisers can clone an existing CPC campaign into a new oCPC campaign or create oCPC campaigns in bulk. During cloning, Ads Manager automatically fills in the conversion event if only one eligible event is available. Otherwise, advertisers must select one.
- Dynamic URL parameters: Supported macros, including
{campaign_id},{ad_group_id},{ad_id}and{ad_account_id}, can be added to landing-page query parameters. The platform automatically populates their values when ads are delivered. - Triple Whale integration: Advertisers can connect ChatGPT Ads to Triple Whale to compare campaign performance across channels. Sonar Optimize is also available to help brands send conversion signals to OpenAI.
- Hightouch conversion API: Hightouch added support for sending conversion events to ChatGPT Ads for measurement and campaign optimisation.
- Pixel validation diagnostics: Ads Manager now provides additional information about pixel validation, including why events were dropped, the affected fields, error types and recommended fixes. Advertisers can access these details under Tools, then Conversions, in the diagnostics panel.
- Automatic advanced matching update: AAM became the default setting for new Web pixels. OpenAI also scheduled its activation for existing Web pixels on 17 August 2026. The feature uses hashed customer information from website forms to improve conversion matching.
- Multi-product carousel: OpenAI began testing a carousel format for product feed campaigns, allowing several products from an advertiser to appear within a single advertisement.
New ChatGPT Ads Features Introduced in September 2026
September brought additional bidding options, platform controls and international expansion.
- Maximise results bidding: Advertisers can select Maximize results to let ChatGPT Ads automatically set and adjust bids according to their campaign objectives and available budgets.
- Platform targeting: Advertisers can choose which supported ChatGPT platforms receive their campaigns. Options include the iOS app, Android app and web.
- View-through conversions: Ads Manager now reports one-day view-through conversions at campaign, ad group and ad levels. A conversion qualifies when it occurs within one day of an eligible ad impression and no qualifying ad click receives credit for the same conversion.
- WorkMagic integration: Advertisers can connect ChatGPT Ads to WorkMagic to compare performance across channels and send conversion signals to OpenAI through its Conversions API.
- Expansion to Brazil and Mexico: ChatGPT Ads became available in both markets.
- European expansion: OpenAI announced plans to extend ChatGPT Ads to 31 European countries, creating additional advertising opportunities in the region.
New ChatGPT Ads Features Introduced in October 2026
October brought further changes to conversion reporting, account management, measurement and creative formats.
- Additional conversion reporting through the API: Advertisers can now retrieve attributed conversion events beyond their selected campaign goal through the public Insights API. For example, a campaign optimised for one event can also report attributed purchases without changing its optimisation settings.
- Separate account, brand and legal names: Advertisers can manage three different names under Settings → General: the internal account name, the public brand name displayed with advertisements and the registered legal name used for billing and verification.
Changes to these names have different consequences. Internal account name changes do not trigger a review. Brand name changes pause ad delivery until approval, while legal name changes restart business verification and may also pause campaigns.
- Expansion into Southeast Asia and Taiwan: ChatGPT Ads became available in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan.
- Additional measurement partners: OpenAI expanded its measurement ecosystem with Northbeam, DV Rockerbox and INCRMNTAL. Mobile measurement partners now also include Kochava, Tenjin and Airbridge.
- Redesigned Conversions page: The updated Ads Manager interface provides an overview of conversion activity and event quality recommendations. It displays event volumes and trends, the proportion of active campaigns optimising for conversions, and active warnings linked to the Diagnostics tab.
- Weekly performance emails: Advertisers with active campaigns now receive weekly account summaries showing performance and changes from the previous week, together with a link to the full Ads Manager report.
- In-platform feedback: Advertisers can report technical issues or submit product feedback through the account menu in the lower-left corner of Ads Manager.
- More visual advertising formats: Following the launch of Intelligent UI in ChatGPT, OpenAI began experimenting with larger advertising cards and images. Tests include wider cards and larger images on desktop, as well as more prominent full-width images on mobile.
These tests use existing campaigns and creative materials, so advertisers do not need to make changes. OpenAI also plans to test a multi-image advertising format, initially with selected advertisers in the United States during image generation.
What Hotels Should Consider When Using ChatGPT Ads
Cogwheel Marketing views ChatGPT Ads as a potential addition to hotels’ paid media strategies, particularly for upper-funnel marketing and businesses seeking greater visibility in AI-generated responses.
However, advertising is only one part of a hotel’s broader AI visibility strategy.
The agency’s SEO services include an AI Baseline Overview and Visibility Report. It measures visibility scores, brand sentiment, brand mentions, cited pages, Share of Voice (SOV) and frequently cited domains.
Hotels can also use Cogwheel’s Analytics BI Tool to review Top Referring Domains and Source Traffic reports. These reports help identify whether ChatGPT.com and other AI platforms are referring visitors to their websites.
For hotels that already receive organic citations in AI-generated responses, Cogwheel recommends considering a Google Demand Gen campaign as an alternative advertising strategy.
Additional Details for Hotels Running ChatGPT Ads
Despite the expanding feature set, several operational limitations remain relevant to hotel advertisers.
Account structure: ChatGPT does not currently support the creation of a master manager account, although the option appears during account setup. For now, each advertiser must create an individual business account.
Campaign types: Individual hotels can currently select only the Standard campaign type. The alternative, Product Feed, uses feed items and ad group product filters to generate advertisements. This format may offer additional opportunities for larger hotel brand marketing operations.
Beta development: OpenAI’s Ads Manager remains in beta. According to Cogwheel Marketing, new features and updates have been appearing approximately every two weeks.
Reporting differences: The agency has identified a 5%–10% discrepancy between the clicks and conversions reported in Ads Manager and those recorded in GA4.
These differences make independent measurement important when assessing campaign performance.
What Hotels Should Consider When Using ChatGPT Ads
Cogwheel Marketing views ChatGPT Ads as a potential addition to hotels’ paid media strategies, particularly for upper-funnel marketing and businesses seeking greater visibility in AI-generated responses.
However, advertising is only one part of a hotel’s broader AI visibility strategy.
The agency’s SEO services include an AI Baseline Overview and Visibility Report. It measures visibility scores, brand sentiment, brand mentions, cited pages, Share of Voice (SOV) and frequently cited domains.
Hotels can also use Cogwheel’s Analytics BI Tool to review Top Referring Domains and Source Traffic reports. These reports help identify whether ChatGPT.com and other AI platforms are referring visitors to their websites.
For hotels that already receive organic citations in AI-generated responses, Cogwheel recommends considering a Google Demand Gen campaign as an alternative advertising strategy.
Related Coverage
ChatGPT Ads for Hotels: Targeting, Costs and Performance in 2026
IHG Brings Hotel Search to ChatGPT as AI Travel Planning Surges
Wyndham Brings 8,400 Hotels to ChatGPT in AI Booking Push
Editorial Disclosure: This article is an independently written editorial analysis based on industry reporting by Cogwheel Marketing and insights from Kylie Chen. Updated in October 2026. Originally published in August 2026. The content has been rewritten and contextualised for editorial clarity and relevance.
