Help us prepare for our appointment
Leslie
With over 400 million active weekly users, ChatGPT is undoubtedly the star of artificial intelligence models. The problem? The vast majority of its users enjoy the tool for free (only 2 million people opt for one of the paid plans). This makes the platform unprofitable. At least for now. Because although Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI, has long been opposed to advertising on ChatGPT, he seems to have finally changed his mind.
With 400 million monthly active users and 2 million paying users, ChatGPT loses money every month. And yes, to design such a powerful tool (and face increasingly fierce competition), the Open AI teams are investing heavily in its development. Revenues are not enough to cover expenses. The result? The company faced £5 billion in losses in 2025.
Even though each GPT is very promising, the situation cannot continue in the long term. That is why the OpenAI team is looking for ways to monetise it. And not just through APIs or paid subscriptions, which are still insufficient given the millions of free users. As Sam Altman says: “Rich people pay to give free access to poorer people.“
In addition to Plus and Pro subscriptions, the company is beginning to consider a strategy that has already proven successful: advertisements on ChatGPT.
While the prospect of advertising on ChatGPT seems inevitable, this has not always been the case. Last year, Sam Altman refused to use this practice because it detracts from the user experience. He stated, “When ChatGPT responds to me, I don’t want to have to figure out who is paying how much to influence the results.”
So no, by considering integrating ads, the CEO of Open AI is not giving up on UX. He is simply looking for a way to combine monetisation and user experience.
At present, it is taking a different approach. Open AI does not want to follow in the footsteps of traditional search engines that add advertisements to SERPs. ChatGPT will therefore not modify its responses to promote brands that pay.
So how will they do it? By prioritising affiliate links over sponsored links.
Ways to integrate advertisements into ChatGPT have already been tested. And yes, since April 2025, users have been enjoying the new Shopping feature. Similar to Google Shopping, internet users can see products that match their search intent. All they have to do is click on the “buy” button to complete their transaction. And they can do so without having to go through another search engine. Everything is done from ChatGPT to the final purchase on the seller’s website.
Until now, this Shopping feature has not been monetisable. But soon, ChatGPT will receive a small commission on each purchase. This means that the platform will not change its results and will still be able to monetise itself.
Alongside these affiliate links, ChatGPT could also add paid advertisements.
Would you like to see your adverts appear on ChatGPT? Feel free to contact our Ads agency to optimise your advertising campaigns.
