How much advertising in ChatGPT costs: CPM, CPC, oCPC and a budget for the first test
Advertising in ChatGPT is paid to OpenAI under one of three models: per 1,000 impressions (CPM) with the Reach objective, per valid click (CPC) with the Clicks objective, or per click with conversion optimisation (oCPC) with the Conversions objective. There is no payment per sale and no payment “per recommendation”. For CPC campaigns, OpenAI recommends an initial maximum bid of 3–5 USD per click, and the real price is determined in a second-price auction weighted by relevance. The minimum daily budget depends on the account currency: the published values are 25 USD for the US and 15 GBP for the United Kingdom, while a euro value had not been announced as of September 2026 and is shown when the campaign is created. The daily budget is an average over seven days — spend on a single day can reach double the amount, and over a week up to seven times the daily budget. For a meaningful first test in Bulgaria, I recommend an advertising budget of €600 to €1,000 over 30 days.
I am Hristiyan Panov — a Performance Marketing consultant with over 5 years of experience and over €2,000,000 in managed advertising budget for over 90 companies on Google and Meta. Below is a breakdown of pricing in ChatGPT Ads according to OpenAI’s official documentation, and how to work out what click you can afford.
What are the payment models in ChatGPT Ads?
The campaign objective determines how you pay and what delivery is optimised for. With Reach (CPM), the platform maximises impressions and charges per 1,000 impressions — suitable for reach. With Clicks (CPC), the platform looks for clicks from users who are likely to engage, and charges per valid click. With Conversions (oCPC), the platform looks for clicks that are more likely to lead to the chosen event — a purchase, a sign-up, an enquiry — but charging remains per click, not per conversion. The objective cannot be changed after the campaign is created; if you need a different objective, a new campaign is created.
An important detail: oCPC requires tracking to be set up in advance through the OpenAI Pixel or the Conversions API, and at least one standard event with enough volume. A campaign with a rare event is hard to evaluate and hard to optimise.
How does the auction work and what determines the cost per click?
OpenAI uses a second-price auction weighted by relevance. This means two things. First, you do not pay your maximum bid, but a price determined relative to the next competitor. Second, the relevance of the ad to the conversation weighs alongside the bid — an ad whose context hints, headline and landing page match the conversation exactly can win impressions at a lower bid. That is why the first step when the cost per click is high is not raising the bid, but improving relevance: more precise hints, more specific headlines, a page that answers the customer’s comparison.
Ads Manager also gives an indication of the strength of the bid — whether it is competitive or likely to limit delivery. For new ad groups, the Maximize results strategy is selected by default, under which the platform sets the bids itself within the budget; it does not guarantee a specific cost per click or per result. If you need a hard ceiling, a manual maximum bid is chosen.
What is the minimum budget for advertising in ChatGPT?
The minimum daily budget is determined by the currency of the ad account. OpenAI’s table as of September 2026 includes Australia (25 AUD), Brazil (40 BRL), Canada (25 CAD), India (725 INR), Japan (2,500 JPY), Mexico (150 MXN), New Zealand (25 NZD), South Korea (25,000 KRW), the United Kingdom (15 GBP) and the US (25 USD). A euro value has not yet been published; the real minimum is shown when the campaign is created. A technically feasible minimum and a meaningful test, however, are two different things.
The budget can be daily or total for the campaign. With a daily budget, OpenAI paces spend as an average over a seven-day period: on a single day up to twice the daily budget can be spent, and over the seven days up to seven times the daily budget. An example from the documentation: with a daily budget of 100 USD for a seven-day campaign, the ceiling on media spend is 700 USD. The budget type cannot be switched back from daily to total after a change.
How much advertising budget is needed for a first test in Bulgaria?
With an initial bid of 3–5 USD per click, as OpenAI recommends, €500 buys a limited volume of traffic. If Bulgarian competition in the auction produces lower prices, all the better, but this should not be promised in advance. For a first test I recommend three levels of advertising budget, going entirely to OpenAI:
A minimum start of €300 to €500 — only to check whether there is delivery and whether the intents are right. A full first test of €600 to €1,000 over about 30 days — enough to read the relevance and quality of the traffic. A serious test for an online shop or lead generation — €1,000 to €2,000 and up, when tracking is stable and there is a working catalogue campaign.
The cost of managing the campaign is a separate matter and depends on the scope — it is determined for the specific case after an eligibility check.
How do you work out what cost per click you can afford?
A click from ChatGPT can cost more than a click in Google or Meta and still be better value, if the person is further along in their decision. The right measure is not “CPC in ChatGPT against CPC in Meta”, but the threshold cost per click: the website conversion rate multiplied by the contribution from one conversion. If each visitor brings on average €4 of contribution (for example a 2% conversion rate at €200 contribution per order), a click for €1.50 is profitable, while a click for €0.20 from traffic that does not buy is a cost.
Therefore the first 30 days are read on three levels. First delivery: impressions, CTR, cost per click. Then traffic quality: engaged sessions, products viewed, additions to the basket or enquiries started. Finally business result: orders or enquiries, cost per result, revenue. Decisions after 20 clicks are premature; decisions after 30 days with working tracking are meaningful. Method for the threshold: ROAS and margin thresholds.
How is it billed and when is the card charged?
ChatGPT Ads works on post-payment: spend accumulates in the account and is charged to the saved card when the account’s payment threshold is reached. New advertisers start with a lower threshold, which OpenAI may raise automatically after a successful payment history; the threshold cannot be changed manually, nor through support. A balance at the end of the month is charged even if the threshold has not been reached. When a card is added, the bank may show a temporary authorisation of 100 USD — this is a check, not a charge, and it is released after verification.
The payment information must match the country and legal entity from the account registration. The country, currency and time zone cannot be changed after creation, which for a Bulgarian business means choosing carefully at registration.
What does OpenAI say about expected prices and results?
OpenAI states explicitly that the platform is in beta and that there are no performance benchmarks by advertiser, industry or campaign type. All ranges for CPM, CPC or CTR published by third parties come from individual accounts and early months, when the market was different, and should not be used for planning in Bulgaria. The only guiding statement from OpenAI is that ads from a product feed are among the strongest in the programme — for an online shop, a catalogue campaign is a good first step.
FAQ — Frequently asked questions about the cost of advertising in ChatGPT
Is it paid per sale or per result?
No. Even for campaigns with a conversion objective, billing is per valid click. The bid in oCPC is oriented towards conversion, but it is not a cost per conversion and does not guarantee a cost per result.
What bid should I set at the start?
OpenAI recommends a maximum bid of 3–5 USD per click for CPC campaigns. For CPM, Ads Manager shows whether the bid is competitive. For oCPC there is no recommended value at present — the bid is tuned according to results.
Can the campaign spend more than the daily budget?
Yes, on a single day — up to twice the daily budget. Over the seven-day period, spend does not exceed seven times the daily budget.
Is there a minimum budget in euros?
As of September 2026, OpenAI has not published a value in euros. The account minimum is shown when the campaign is created.
Is a click in ChatGPT more expensive than in Google?
According to the official documentation, there are no benchmarks to compare against. The right measure is the threshold cost per click for your business, not a comparison between platforms.
Conclusion
The price of advertising in ChatGPT is determined by three things: the chosen objective (CPM, CPC or oCPC), the relevance of the ad to the conversation, and competition in the auction. The minimum budget is a technical question; a meaningful test is a business question — an advertising budget of €600 to €1,000 over 30 days with working tracking answers whether the channel brings customers at an acceptable cost. The decision to scale is made on cost per result, not on cost per click.
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Related articles: Advertising in ChatGPT: how it works · ChatGPT Ads conversion tracking · How much Google advertising costs
Sources: OpenAI Help Center — Create Campaigns (minimum budgets) · OpenAI Help Center — Daily Budgets · OpenAI Help Center — Billing & Payment · OpenAI Help Center — The Basics
