How to Create ChatGPT Ads in South Africa: A Step-by-Step Guide
ChatGPT Ads went live in South Africa on 21 October 2026, so local businesses can now pay to appear inside ChatGPT conversations. You create the ads in OpenAI's self-service Ads Manager at ads.openai.com: set up a campaign, describe the conversations you want to appear in, then add a short title, a line of copy, a square image and a landing page. Your ad then shows below relevant ChatGPT answers.
This guide walks South African sellers through setting up ChatGPT ads step by step, what it costs and which businesses are allowed to advertise. It also covers how to measure results. It is part of our complete guide to paid ads for online stores in South Africa.
What are ChatGPT ads and who sees them?
ChatGPT ads are small sponsored units that appear below ChatGPT's answer when your offer is relevant to the conversation. They are clearly labelled as sponsored. OpenAI says they do not change the answer ChatGPT gives.
According to OpenAI's Ads in ChatGPT help page, ads may appear for people on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts do not see ads. OpenAI does not show ads to accounts it identifies as belonging to people under 18. Ads are also kept away from sensitive conversations such as personal health.
The key difference from Google or Meta is how matching works. There are no keywords and no interest targeting. ChatGPT matches ads to the meaning of the conversation, using the topics you describe plus your ad and landing page.
Can your business advertise on ChatGPT?
Most online stores selling everyday products can advertise, but several regulated categories are blocked outside the US. Check this before you spend time building a campaign.
OpenAI's ad policies state that ads for financial services and health services outside the US are generally prohibited. Legal services outside the US are currently not allowed. Dating, gambling, alcohol, drugs, political content and counterfeit goods are also excluded.
| Likely fine | Restricted or not allowed in South Africa |
|---|---|
| Homeware, fashion, gadgets and gifts | Health services, medical devices and online pharmacies |
| Local services and travel | Personal loans, buy now pay later and crypto |
| Courses and digital products | Legal services |
| Software and business tools | Supplements or wellness products with health claims |
Supplements sold through major retailers without medical claims may be accepted, but anything that promises health results will be rejected. If your product sits near a line, read the policy page in full.
How to create ChatGPT ads step by step
ChatGPT ads use a three-level structure: a campaign, ad groups inside it and ads inside each ad group. Setting up your first campaign takes under an hour if your landing page is ready.
Step 1: Create your Ads Manager account
Go to ads.openai.com and register your business. You will verify the business and add a payment method. New accounts may at first be limited to advertising in their home country, which suits most South African sellers anyway.
Step 2: Set up the campaign
The campaign controls how you pay and where your ads run. Choose an objective, set a budget, pick your dates and select South Africa as the country. You can usually narrow delivery further by region or city and choose platforms such as desktop web or the iOS and Android apps.
The main buying options are:
- Views: you pay per 1,000 impressions. Good for awareness.
- Clicks: you pay per valid click. The best starting point for most online stores.
- Conversions: delivery is optimised towards purchases or leads tracked by the OpenAI pixel, though you still pay per click or per 1,000 views.
Step 3: Build ad groups with context hints
Ad groups decide which conversations your ads can appear in. Instead of keywords, you write context hints: plain-language descriptions of the needs and situations where your product helps. OpenAI's guide to ad groups and context hints says hints inform relevance but are not exact-match rules and do not guarantee delivery.
Keep each ad group to one product, audience or use case. For a South African baby store, compare these two hints:
- Weak: baby products, prams, car seats
- Stronger: parents in South Africa comparing safe, affordable car seats for a newborn and wanting fast local delivery
The stronger hint describes a real buyer in a real situation. That is how people actually talk to ChatGPT.
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Step 4: Create the ads
Each ChatGPT ad is a title, a line of copy, a square image and a landing page. The unit is small, so every word has to work.
At the time of writing, practitioners testing Ads Manager report these limits:
| Element | Limit | Practical tip |
|---|---|---|
| Title | About 50 characters | Put the key point in the first 24 characters |
| Copy | Up to 100 characters | May be cut off after about 48 characters |
| Image | Square, at least 256 x 256 pixels | No small text, as it shows as a thumbnail |
| Landing page | A live, working URL | Match the page to the ad's promise |
Write like a helpful answer, not a billboard. A title such as "Newborn car seats, delivered in SA" with copy like "Compare safety-rated seats from R1,999. Free delivery over R800." fits the conversational setting better than "HUGE SALE NOW ON!!!". Only use prices and offers that are true on your site.
Add three to five ads per ad group, changing one thing at a time, such as the title or the image. That way you can see what actually moved the results. Ads Manager can also prefill a draft ad from your website's existing title, description and image, which you can then edit.
Step 5: Use ChatGPT to help write your ads
You can use ChatGPT itself to draft context hints and ad variations. Give it your product, your ideal customer, your landing page and the character limits, then ask for ten title and copy combinations and five context hints. Edit the results so they sound like your brand and check every claim against your site.
Step 6: Set up tracking and submit for review
Before launch, install OpenAI's measurement pixel or Conversions API so purchases and leads are reported back to Ads Manager. Add UTM parameters to your landing page links so ChatGPT traffic shows clearly in Google Analytics. Our guide on how to track AI traffic in GA4 explains how to separate this traffic.
Then submit. OpenAI reviews ads, images and landing pages, mostly with automated systems and some human review. Rejected ads can be edited and resubmitted.
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How much do ChatGPT ads cost in South Africa?
ChatGPT ads run on an auction, so there is no fixed price per click. The main cost to plan for is the minimum daily budget of USD 25 per campaign, which was about R410 at the exchange rate when ads launched in South Africa.
That minimum is averaged over seven days, so daily spend can vary. OpenAI's published minimums do not include rand, so expect to be billed in US dollars and check your bank's foreign transaction fees. Over a 30-day test, that is roughly R12,000 to R13,000 at the minimum, which is more than many small stores spend on Meta in a month.
Why now could be the cheapest time to test ChatGPT ads
Warrick's insight
"Ad platforms tend to be at their cheapest in the early days. Ad costs are driven by competition: the more advertisers bidding for the same audience, the higher your cost per lead. We have watched that happen on the big platforms, where costs keep climbing as more businesses pile in and spend more. ChatGPT Ads only opened in South Africa in October 2026, so there are far fewer local advertisers competing for attention right now. That makes this an early-mover window to test the platform, learn what works and build your data before the auction gets crowded."
Warrick Kernes, founder of Insaka eCommerce Academy
There are caveats. OpenAI controls minimum budgets and the auction rules, so prices can move quickly. In the US, ChatGPT ads launched at a high fixed price of around USD 60 per 1,000 views and then fell sharply as OpenAI opened up self-service buying and click-based bidding. Lower competition also does not guarantee sales. Start with a small test budget and judge results on cost per sale, not just cost per click.
For most beginners, that means ChatGPT ads are a test channel, not a replacement for Meta or Google. Our guide to paid ads for online stores in South Africa explains where to start if you are new to advertising.
Run ChatGPT ads and build your GEO rank at the same time
Paid ads stop the moment you stop paying, but GEO keeps working. The smartest approach is to run ChatGPT ads for immediate visibility while you build your store's organic presence in AI answers in parallel.
ChatGPT also recommends stores in its normal answers when they are well described and trusted online. Earning those recommendations is called generative engine optimisation (GEO). It costs nothing per click. Over time, strong GEO lowers how much you need to spend on ads to stay visible.
Use the two together:
- Ads for speed. Test offers and messages quickly and learn which conversations bring buyers.
- GEO for compounding reach. Publish helpful, well-structured content that answers the same questions your ads target.
- Feed one into the other. Turn your best-performing context hints into blog topics and FAQ answers on your site.
Our complete guide to GEO for online stores in South Africa explains how to get started. Our post on how to get your online store recommended by ChatGPT covers the practical steps.
Consistent GEO content takes time to write. That is why Insaka built the GEO AI Content Engine, an AI tool that does the writing for you.
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Build your GEO rank while your ads run
The GEO AI Content Engine writes GEO blog posts for your Shopify or WordPress store, to help it get recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI.
Frequently asked questions
Are ChatGPT ads available in South Africa?
Yes. OpenAI expanded ChatGPT Ads to South Africa on 21 October 2026. South African businesses can buy ads through OpenAI's self-service Ads Manager or through approved technology partners.
Who sees ChatGPT ads? Does everyone see them?
No. ChatGPT ads only appear for people on the Free and Go plans. Go cost R149 a month when it launched in South Africa. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu users do not see ads. Nor do accounts that OpenAI identifies as belonging to under-18s. Free users can also switch to an ads-free mode with lower usage limits.
That still covers most of the audience. In February 2026, OpenAI reported about 900 million weekly users and just over 50 million paying subscribers, so roughly 94% of weekly users were not paying at all. Go subscribers see ads too. Ads only show when they are relevant to the conversation and never next to sensitive topics, so reach is large but not guaranteed. One trade-off: heavy professional users are the most likely to pay for Plus or Business, so B2B sellers may reach fewer decision-makers than consumer brands do.
Can I target specific keywords with ChatGPT ads?
No. ChatGPT ads use context hints instead of keywords. You describe the conversations and needs your product suits. ChatGPT matches ads to the meaning of each conversation.
Do ChatGPT ads affect ChatGPT's answers?
OpenAI says ads do not influence answers. Ads appear separately below the response and are labelled as sponsored. Advertisers do not see individual conversations.
Learn to run profitable ads with Insaka
New ad platforms reward sellers who understand the basics: a product people want, a landing page that converts and tracking you can trust. ChatGPT ads are no different. Insaka eCommerce Academy teaches South Africans how to build those foundations and grow sales through paid ads, SEO and AI search.
Explore our courses and free resources at insaka.co.za to build an online store that is ready for every new channel.
Written or reviewed by Warrick Kernes, founder of Insaka eCommerce Academy and Shopify's 2021 Top Education Partner worldwide, based on 15+ years of selling online in South Africa.
