Advertising in ChatGPT for Swiss companies

On August 24, 2026, OpenAI launched advertising in ChatGPT for 31 European markets, with Switzerland included. Initially, the channel could only be booked through OpenAI's ads team or via partner agencies. Now the next step follows: the Ads Manager is open, and Switzerland is now listed as “Available” on OpenAI's official country list (verified on September 2, 2026). Swiss companies can thus open their own ad account and set up campaigns themselves.

This is the first serious new ad space in years that is owned by neither Google nor Meta. Reason enough to take a sober look at it before shifting budgets.

What the ads look like

The ad appears below the answer, separated by a line and labeled as an advertisement. It is not inside the answer itself. OpenAI explicitly states that advertising does not influence what ChatGPT answers in terms of content. Anyone who wants to appear in the answers themselves needs citable content and evidence. That is a different job; we have written something about that here: Google is redesigning Search.

Ads are only visible to users on the free plan and the low-cost Go subscription. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu remain ad-free, as do accounts belonging to minors.

The Swiss special case

Personalized advertising is not available at launch in the European Economic Area and Switzerland. The ad is selected based on the context of the ongoing conversation, not via a profile from previous chats.

In practice, this means: you are buying a moment in a conversation, not a person with a profile. Someone describes their situation in three sentences and gets advice. Below that is your ad. This is closer to a consultation in a store than to a list of hits with ten blue links.

Advertisers do not get access to the conversations. Anyone used to the search term report from Google Ads will have to adapt: You cannot see the exact phrasing someone used to find your ad.

What the channel cannot do yet

The Ads Manager is running in beta. Building campaigns, assigning permissions, billing, and evaluation are already possible, as is conversion measurement via a custom pixel and a Conversions API. For bidding, you can choose between cost per thousand impressions, cost per click, and a conversion-optimized cost per click.

What is missing is the depth of analysis that you know from Google Ads. Impressions, clicks, spending, and conversions can be broken down by campaign, ad group, and ad, but for devices, only by mobile and desktop. Furthermore, targeting is not based on keywords, but on short descriptions of the conversation scenarios in which you want your ad to appear. And control is handled at the country level. Targeting individual regions or postal codes is currently only available in the US.

Then there are the advertising guidelines, and they are stricter than most expect. OpenAI works with an inclusion list rather than an exclusion list. In the initial phase, primarily consumer and household goods, local services, travel and entertainment, as well as digital products and education are permitted. Everything else is not allowed for the time being.

For Swiss companies, one point is crucial: advertising for financial, health, and legal services outside the US is currently prohibited. Political content is also excluded, as are campaigns on controversially debated social issues. Practices, trust offices, law firms, and politically active organizations are therefore left out, no matter how good the ad might be. It is better to clarify whether your offer is permitted before spending the first franc than after the rejection of the first ad.

When a test is worthwhile

Not for everyone. The channel makes sense where people seek advice before buying: products that require explanation, services with comparison, anything with a longer decision-making phase. Anyone who attracts foot traffic through price is better off waiting a bit longer.

What we currently recommend to clients: shifting budgets instead of adding more. In doing so, account for a minimum daily budget per campaign. OpenAI scales it by billing currency; the value has not yet been published for Swiss francs, but in comparable markets it is the equivalent of around CHF 20 to CHF 25 per day. For a single campaign, that comes out to nearly CHF 700 a month. Anyone who can budget less is better off waiting. Before that, measurement needs to be properly set up, with consistent UTM parameters and a verified GA4. Without that, after three months you won't be able to tell whether the channel produced results.

Even more exciting, however, is the timing: As long as self-service is young, the competition in the bidding process is thin. That changes as soon as everyone is there. Those who test now gather empirical data that others will pay for later.

We will take care of that for you

You do not need to learn anything for this. The ad account runs under your company, and we will be added with the necessary permissions. First, we will check whether your offer is permitted at all and whether the channel fits your target audience. After that, we will build the campaign and ads, set up tracking, and report back to you with numbers, even if they turn out meager. After three months, you make a decision based on data instead of a gut feeling.

We are certified Google Partner and have been managing search engine advertising for Swiss SMEs, non-profits, and educational institutions for years. ChatGPT Ads is being added as a channel, the work behind it remains the same. Contact us, if you would like to test the new ad space.