OpenAI is attempting to pivot its advertising strategy within ChatGPT, moving away from simple cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) toward a model focused on cost-per-click (CPC) and specific conversion actions. According to reports from The Information, the company is prioritizing optimization for purchases and app installs. The stakes are incredibly high: management has promised investors that ad revenue will hit $2.4 billion by 2026, with a massive surge to $11 billion by 2027. However, current reality is struggling to keep pace with these lofty expectations.
The technical rollout of the pilot project has faced significant hurdles. Media buyers report that OpenAI is currently generating only $15–$25 per thousand impressions, despite initial projections of $60. Agency insiders reveal that the testing period had to be extended beyond March because the system simply could not handle the scale required to spend allocated ad budgets. Even the launch of a self-service portal in partnership with Criteo and a reduction in the minimum entry threshold to $30,000–$50,000 have failed to stabilize the situation. The platform clearly lacks the robust infrastructure that has long been the industry standard at Google and Meta.
Advertisers remain skeptical of ChatGPT due to a lack of granular analytics and brand safety controls. Ben Kahan of Brainlabs explained that OpenAI currently provides only aggregated metrics regarding spend and clicks. Targeting remains another pain point, as it is limited to broad topics rather than precise keywords. Because every AI response is generated uniquely, brands cannot fully control the context in which their mentions appear.
OpenAI is attempting to scale a service while offering extremely limited tools for performance measurement. Without a comprehensive ad manager and verification systems, ChatGPT risks remaining a playground for one-off experiments rather than becoming a systematic sales channel. Given these technical constraints, the $11 billion revenue forecast appears increasingly overambitious.