ChatGPT ads · Australia · the audience
Who actually sees a ChatGPT ad
Free and Go are the two plans that show ads. Plus, Pro, Business and the rest don't, and nobody OpenAI identifies as under 18 does either. That cuts out a big slice of the office. What's left is closer to the person who rings you.
The paid plans never see an ad
OpenAI is blunt about it. Ads show only to people on the Free and Go plans. In its own words, "Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts will not have ads".
It also says no ads go to accounts it identifies as belonging to people under 18. So the audience is grown-ups, on the 2 cheapest ways in. That's your starting point before a single word of the ad gets written.
How many people is that? Nobody's saying.
OpenAI says ChatGPT has more than 1 billion weekly active users. That's people using it in a week, worldwide, on every plan.
OpenAI doesn't publish how many of those are on the free plans. It doesn't publish an Australian number either. So anyone telling you how many Sydney homeowners will see your ad is guessing.
Why the free plan is likely where your customer is
This next bit is my read, not a published figure. People pay for ChatGPT when they're in it all day for work. A homeowner opens it twice a month, to ask what's wrong with the hot water. That person is most likely on the free plan.
If that's right, the ad rules have done you a favour. The people who see ads are on the free plan, and a homeowner with a leak is usually on the free plan. I can't prove it with a number, and I'm telling you that up front.
Where an ad won't show at all
- Near sensitive or regulated topics. Ads aren't eligible there.
- Near personal health conversations. Never.
- Political ads don't run at all.
- Health and money businesses can still be eligible, if they meet OpenAI's strict criteria.
- Any chat where nothing matches. OpenAI says the box shows when there's a relevant match.
And when an ad does show, you may not be alone. OpenAI says the box can carry one or more items from an advertiser, or more than one advertiser. What a ChatGPT ad looks like walks through the box itself.
What this means for a trade in Australia
Ads have been showing in Australia since April 2026. So the audience here is real. The smaller thing to hold on to is who's in it. Free plan, adult, asking about something in front of them.
That's not a browsing crowd. Every day, people ask ChatGPT for your trade in your area, and your ad can sit under that answer. They are not browsing. They are asking for the job. What's live in Australia has the dates and what we know about buying here.
4 questions people ask me about the audience
Do the big spenders on ChatGPT see my ad?
No. OpenAI says Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts don't have ads. So if your customer pays for ChatGPT, you won't reach them this way. For most trades that's a small loss. The person with a leak and no plumber is rarely on a paid work account when they ask.
Are teenagers seeing my ad?
OpenAI says it doesn't show ads to accounts it identifies as belonging to people under 18. That word identifies is doing some work, and I can't tell you it's airtight. It does mean the spend isn't aimed at kids. For a trade, the buyer is a bill payer anyway.
How many Australians will see it?
Nobody knows. OpenAI publishes a worldwide figure of more than 1 billion weekly users and stops there. No free plan split, no country split. So the way to find out is to run a month and count what actually lands. A reach number from anyone is a guess.
Can I see who saw my ad?
No, and neither can anyone else. OpenAI says advertisers get totals only, like views and clicks. No chats, no names, no email, no location down to a street. You find out who they are the old way. They ring you and you answer.
Let ChatGPT show your business to high-intent customers
- ChatGPT has released paid ads, and this changes the marketing game absolutely.
- If you missed out on Facebook ads in 2007, where anything you posted would have popped off, don't miss out on the next big ad platform.
- Unlike Facebook, where people get interrupted mid doom-scroll, ChatGPT shows your business to people who are already researching something related.
- That makes ChatGPT a cheat code. The engine your customers ask for advice shows your business right under its answer.
- Most marketing agencies charge you thousands before you see any results.
- We work for you, for free. You just cover your own ad spend. The first month is free, so you see the results for yourself before you pay us anything.
- Then, if you want to keep getting those results month after month, we sort out a rev-share or a retainer. A rev-share is a cut of what it makes you. A retainer is a flat monthly fee. Agreed in writing before month 2 starts.
- In the free month, we don't get paid if you don't get paid. After that, it's the rev-share or the retainer you chose.
- Only 10 a month. The work up front is heavy and brings us no income at first. That is all we can take.
If the ads make you nothing, you pay us nothing and we stop there. You will have paid OpenAI for the clicks, and that is all.
Read next
For what's live here and when it started, read ChatGPT ads in Australia. To decide whether you're the right size for this yet, the fit test for a small business takes a minute. And the page on results is what's known so far.
30 minutes, then a straight answer
30 minutes on the phone, mostly questions about your business and your customers. You get 2 straight answers. Do people ask ChatGPT for what you do? And is it worth a run, where we only get paid a rev-share or a retainer, sorted once you have seen the results, to find out?