On June 5, 2026, OpenAI activated conversion-optimized campaigns for ChatGPT Ads. The next day, ChatGPT Ads went live in the United Kingdom - the platform’s first European market.
These two events mark a clear shift: ChatGPT is no longer just an awareness channel. It is becoming a performance advertising platform that directly challenges Google and Meta.
From “In Development” to Live in 30 Days
When OpenAI opened ChatGPT Ads Manager to all US businesses in early May 2026, the announcement confirmed CPA (cost-per-acquisition) bidding was “in development” with no specific timeline. Less than a month later, it went live.
The conversion tracking infrastructure OpenAI deployed has two layers:
- JavaScript Pixel: browser-side tracking using a privacy-preserving identifier called
opprefstored in first-party cookies - Conversions API (CAPI): server-to-server solution that bypasses browser-level ad blockers, following the same architecture as Meta’s CAPI
Both can run simultaneously with event deduplication. Advertisers needed at least one conversion event configured before June 1 to qualify for early access.
This is not experiment-grade infrastructure. This is what serious performance platforms are built on.
The Conversion Numbers: Impressive, With Caveats
Criteo - OpenAI’s measurement partner with over 1,000 active brands by May 5 - published the first meaningful data: users referred from ChatGPT convert at approximately 1.5 times the rate of other referral channels.
In specific retail categories (electronics, home and garden), conversion rates were “approaching twice those of traditional search” (PPC Land, 2026).
The caveat matters. This data comes from a curated pilot with hand-picked advertisers in two high-intent categories. Users asking ChatGPT about specific products are already in commercial decision mode - that intent doesn’t transfer automatically to every industry. Financial services, B2B, or low-consideration purchases may see very different numbers.
When Criteo reports 1.5x, the data is real. But it is not yet a cross-industry signal.
CPM is Falling - The Window is Closing
When ChatGPT Ads launched February 9, 2026, CPM (cost per thousand impressions) was $60. After nine weeks, it had dropped to $25. EMARKETER projects further compression to approximately $15 by 2030 (EMARKETER, 2026).
This is the early-market pattern every major ad platform followed. Google Ads in 2002. Facebook Ads in 2007. A new channel launches with abundant inventory and limited demand - CPMs sit unnaturally low. As advertisers pile in, prices climb. Early movers pay less, learn faster, and build institutional knowledge that late movers have to buy at a premium.
For US and UK advertisers, the window is open but narrowing. For advertisers in markets where ChatGPT Ads isn’t available yet - including Vietnam and most of Southeast Asia - the window hasn’t opened. That is both an opportunity and a risk.
UK Launch Signals the Global Rollout Pace
On June 6, OpenAI VP of Monetization Benji Shomair announced via LinkedIn that ChatGPT Ads is now live in the United Kingdom - the first activation outside North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
The confirmed next wave: Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and Mexico, rolling out in the coming weeks.
Southeast Asia is not yet on the confirmed list. But the expansion logic is readable: OpenAI is sequencing by market size and advertiser infrastructure readiness. Japan and South Korea fit that criteria cleanly. Southeast Asia - including Vietnam, where ChatGPT weekly active users have tripled in the past 12 months (Marketech APAC, 2026) - is likely in the subsequent wave, roughly 6-9 months after Japan and South Korea go live.
That timeline is actionable information.
The Vietnam Signal Worth Tracking
Vietnam’s ChatGPT weekly active user growth is one of the fastest in Southeast Asia. ChatGPT Go is priced locally at approximately ₫132,000 per month - accessible to the professional class that makes purchasing decisions for businesses.
When ChatGPT Ads expands to Vietnam, 85% of ChatGPT users (Free and Go tiers) will be eligible to see ads. Fewer than 20% encounter them daily in current markets - meaning the platform is delivering reach without saturation. That ratio will shift as more advertisers activate.
The practical question for Vietnamese marketers is not whether to run ChatGPT Ads. It is whether your conversion tracking infrastructure and Answer Engine presence will be ready when the platform arrives.
What to Do With the Next 6-9 Months
Build Answer Engine presence now. Conversion ads on ChatGPT perform better when the brand already appears organically in AI responses. Optimizing for AI citations before paid placement is available creates a structural advantage that paid-only entrants cannot quickly replicate.
Prepare CAPI infrastructure. Server-side conversion tracking is the same architecture for Meta CAPI and ChatGPT’s Conversions API. If you haven’t built it for Meta yet, building it now gives you leverage across both platforms when ChatGPT Ads reaches your market.
Test in US markets if your product is global. ChatGPT Ads Manager is open for any US-based entity. If your business has a US presence or sells to US customers, the learning opportunity is available today.
CPM at $25 compared to Google Search’s $50-150 represents a significant price gap. That gap will not hold indefinitely. The brands that enter earliest pay the least and learn the most.
NateCue's Take
The 1.5x conversion number is real, but the context matters: these are retail categories (electronics, home/garden) with hand-picked pilot advertisers. Users asking ChatGPT about products are already in commercial intent mode - you're catching them mid-funnel, not top-of-funnel. That's not a property of the ad unit. It's a property of where in the buying journey the user is. What matters more is the CPM trajectory: $60 → $25 in nine weeks. That's not a crash - that's what happens when inventory is abundant and demand is still catching up. For marketers in markets where ChatGPT Ads isn't live yet (Vietnam, most of Southeast Asia), this is both good news (cheaper CPMs when it arrives) and bad news (the early-mover advantage is being harvested daily by US and UK advertisers right now). The window to prepare is the 6-9 months before Southeast Asia goes live. Use it to build Answer Engine presence before you need to pay for it.