Does ChatGPT have ads? Yes, on two plans

You saw a box marked Sponsored under a ChatGPT answer, or a friend told you ads are coming. Here is which ChatGPT plans show ads and which don't, what an ad looks like, what it is based on, how to turn ads off, and what Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Meta AI and Perplexity have each said about ads. Every statement below was read at its source on 5 October 2026.

Short answer: yes. ChatGPT shows ads on the Free and Go plans. In OpenAI's words: "Ads may appear for users on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts will not have ads." OpenAI started testing ads in the United States on 9 February 2026 and has since added more countries; on 23 September 2026 it said ChatGPT Ads "are now available in over 60 countries." OpenAI also says it doesn't show ads to accounts it identifies as belonging to people under 18, and that "Temporary Chats will not show ads."

Which ChatGPT plans show ads

The table below puts OpenAI's own wording next to each plan. Prices are the ones OpenAI publishes; the pricing page shows the price for your country, so yours may differ.

So the "ChatGPT Go vs Plus" question has a plain answer on ads: Go can show them and Plus doesn't. Go is the low-cost plan OpenAI brought to the US in January 2026, when it said it would test ads "for the free and Go tiers." One older OpenAI page, "What is ChatGPT Go?", still says "We may start testing ads in ChatGPT Go in the future"; the newer ads article and pricing page both include Go.

What a ChatGPT ad looks like, and where it appears

OpenAI describes the format this way: "Ads can appear below the end of a response. Ads are clearly labeled as sponsored and visually separated from ChatGPT's response." You may see "one or more ad units below a ChatGPT response when there's a relevant match to your chat," and one unit can show items from more than one advertiser.

A few places OpenAI says ads don't go:

• Sensitive topics. "Ads are not eligible to appear near sensitive or regulated topics, including personal health, mental health, or politics." OpenAI also says it does not currently allow political advertising in ChatGPT.
• Temporary Chats. "Temporary Chats will not show ads." What a Temporary Chat keeps and doesn't keep is in our Temporary Chat guide.
• The Atlas browser, for now. "During this test, ads do not appear in the ChatGPT Atlas browser."

Sponsored Agents (new in September 2026). On 16 September 2026 OpenAI said it is "testing Sponsored Agents, which let people start a conversation with a business-sponsored agent after clicking an ad in ChatGPT." OpenAI says that conversation is "clearly labeled," "distinct from ChatGPT's independent answers and separate from the original conversation," and that "Sponsored Agents are now being tested with select advertisers in the United States."

What OpenAI says about ads and answers. OpenAI's position is: "Ads do not influence ChatGPT's answers. Ads run on separate systems from our chat model, and advertisers have no ability to shape, rank, or alter ChatGPT's responses." By default, "ChatGPT can't see the ads shown to you"; to ask about one, you use Ask ChatGPT from the ad's three-dot menu.

Do ChatGPT ads use your chats and memory?

Partly, and it depends on one setting. OpenAI lists what can be used to pick an ad for you:

• Always: "What you're discussing in your current chat thread," plus "Basic context such as general location or language."
• Only with personalized ads on: your current chat "including personalized model responses," "How you interact with ads (for example, ads you hide or engage with)," and "Past chats and memory." OpenAI adds: "If memory is on, ChatGPT may save and use memories and reference recent chats when selecting an ad."

And what goes to advertisers: "Advertisers never receive your chats, chat history, memories, name, email, precise location, IP address, or sensitive information." OpenAI says advertisers get "aggregated, non-identifying information about how their ads perform, such as total views or clicks," and "we never sell your data to advertisers." Clicking or hiding an ad doesn't get added to your ChatGPT memory, OpenAI says, but if you share an ad into a chat with Ask ChatGPT, that chat can be referenced later if you have "reference chat history" on.

One regional difference: "Personalized ads are not initially available in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland." For ads without personalization, OpenAI says: "If you turn off ads personalization, you will still see ads based on the context of your current chat thread, but we won't use other chat threads, ads history or topics to inform the ads we show you."

How to turn off ads in ChatGPT, or see fewer of them

OpenAI's ad settings live in one place, which its help article calls Ads controls (the same article also writes it "Ad Controls"). It says the controls appear only for Free and Go users in regions where ads are, or soon will be, available, and that if you don't see them in the mobile app, you should update the app.

Option 1: Ads-Free on the Free plan

You can remove ads without paying, in exchange for lower limits. OpenAI's steps: open Settings, select Ads controls, tap Change plan to go ad-free, choose Reduce message limits, and confirm. OpenAI says what changes: "No ads," "Lower usage limits (you may hit rate limits more often)," and "Reduced feature access (some tools may be unavailable, such as image generation or deep research)." To switch back, tap Show ads on the limit banner, or use the plan option in Ads controls.

Option 2: Plus or Pro

Both are ad-free. OpenAI: "If you want an ad-free experience without the reduced Free limits, you can upgrade to Plus or Pro." Go doesn't get the Ads-Free option; OpenAI says Go users would "need to switch back to Free to use it, or upgrade to a plan that's already ad-free (like Plus or Pro)."

Option 3: keep ads, but change what they're based on

Inside Ads controls, OpenAI lists these settings, "depending on your region and eligibility":

• Personalize ads (a switch). "Turning personalization off can make ads less tailored, but it doesn't remove ads."
• Past chats and memory (a switch). "If disabled, past chats and memory won't be used to inform the ads you see."
• View History and Topics. "See ads you've viewed or interacted with, and the topics used to make ads more relevant."
• Delete ads data. "Clears ads history and topics data (this does not affect your chats)." OpenAI says full removal can take up to 30 days.

On any single ad, the three-dot menu offers Hide ad, Report ad, About this ad (why you're seeing it) and Ask ChatGPT.

Do other AI assistants have ads?

Here is what each company says about its own product, read on 5 October 2026. These positions change, so check the source if it matters to you.

Does Gemini have ads?

Not in the Gemini app, by Google's account. Google's Gemini Apps Privacy Hub, updated 24 September 2026, answers "Do you use my Gemini Apps chats to show me ads?" with: "Your Gemini Apps chats are not being used to show you ads. If this changes, we will clearly communicate it to you." In December 2025, after a press report said ads were coming to Gemini, Dan Taylor, Google's VP of Global Ads, wrote on X: "There are no ads in the Gemini app and there are no current plans to change that" (as reported by Search Engine Land). Google has since softened that. In March 2026, Search Engine Land reported that Google SVP Nick Fox told WIRED the company is "not ruling them out," and that learnings from ads in AI Mode will "likely carry over" to Gemini down the road. Don't confuse the app with Google Search: Google's ads help says "Ads are eligible to be shown above, below or within AI Overviews on Search." That's Search, a separate product.

Does Claude have ads?

No. Anthropic published "Claude is a space to think" on 4 February 2026: "we've made a choice: Claude will remain ad-free. Our users won't see 'sponsored' links adjacent to their conversations with Claude". The caveat, in Anthropic's words: "Should we need to revisit this approach, we'll be transparent about our reasons for doing so."

Does Microsoft Copilot have ads?

Yes, for the consumer Copilot. Microsoft's "Copilot privacy controls" page says Microsoft may "Show you personalized ads in Copilot and other Microsoft services. You can opt out of seeing personalized ads at any time," by switching off See ads that interest you in your personalized ad settings. Its Copilot privacy FAQ adds: "If your settings allow us to deliver personalized ads in Copilot, and if Copilot's personalization setting is enabled, we will use your Copilot conversation history to help further personalize the ads you already receive."

Does Meta AI use your chats for ads?

Yes, across Meta's apps. Meta announced on 1 October 2025: "We will soon use your interactions with AI at Meta to personalize the content and ads you see," starting 16 December 2025, rolling out "in most regions." Its example: chat with Meta AI about hiking and "you might start seeing recommendations for hiking groups, posts from friends about trails, or ads for hiking boots." Meta says it doesn't use conversations about topics such as religious views, sexual orientation, political views or health to show ads. Reuters reported the same day that users "will not have an option to opt out" and that the UK, the European Union and South Korea were excluded.

Does Perplexity have ads?

Not any more, by its executives' account; we found no Perplexity page on it. TechSpot, reporting on 18 February 2026 on executives' comments to the Financial Times, said Perplexity "quietly phased out sponsored content late last year" and "would not pursue advertising further." One executive is quoted: "The challenge with ads is that a user would just start doubting everything." The same coverage says the company hasn't ruled out returning to ads in the future.

If you'd rather not have ads at all

For ChatGPT, the cleanest routes are the ones above: Plus or Pro, or Ads-Free on the Free plan if the lower limits suit you. Temporary Chat avoids ads for one conversation, but it doesn't save to your history.

Equerry is a personal assistant for iPhone and iPad, and the answer for it is short. No ads. Equerry sells one paid plan and has no ad-supported version. Nothing to connect: it reads only what you send it. You forward or CC an email, share a PDF, photo, link or text from the share sheet, type a note, or record a voice note in the app, and later you ask about it in plain words. It answers from what you sent it. Equerry Pro is $39.99 a month or $329 a year.

Sources, all read on 5 October 2026. OpenAI, in a browser session because its help center refuses automated fetches: "Ads in ChatGPT" (help.openai.com, article 20001047, marked as updated about a week earlier) for which plans show ads, where ads appear, what signals are used, Ads controls, Ads-Free and Temporary Chats; "Our approach to advertising and expanding access to ChatGPT" (16 January 2026) for Go at $8 and the first ads plan; "Testing ads in ChatGPT" (first published 9 February 2026, updated through 11 August 2026); "ChatGPT Ads expands across Europe" (18 August 2026); "Reimagining advertising with AI" (16 September 2026) for Sponsored Agents; "ChatGPT Ads expands to Southeast Asia and Taiwan" (23 September 2026) for "over 60 countries"; the ChatGPT pricing page; "What is ChatGPT Plus?" (article 6950777) and "What is ChatGPT Go?" (article 11989085). Google: Gemini Apps Privacy Hub (support.google.com/gemini, answer 13594961, updated 24 September 2026); "About ads and AI Overviews" (Google Ads Help, answer 16297775); Dan Taylor's statement as quoted by Search Engine Land (8 December 2025); Nick Fox's comments to WIRED as reported by Search Engine Land ("Google leaves door open to ads in Gemini," Anu Adegbola, 12 March 2026). Anthropic: "Claude is a space to think" (anthropic.com, 4 February 2026). Microsoft: "Microsoft Copilot privacy controls" and "Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot" (support.microsoft.com). Meta: "Improving Your Recommendations on Our Apps With AI at Meta" (about.fb.com, 1 October 2025), and Reuters (Echo Wang, 1 October 2025). Perplexity: TechSpot (Skye Jacobs, 18 February 2026), reporting the Financial Times, and TechCentral.ie (19 February 2026). Quoted wording is each company's own; where a company has published nothing, we name the outlet. These pages change often; your own app is the authority for your account.

Last updated 2026-10-05.

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