TL;DR
- OpenAI said on 21 October 2026 that ChatGPT Ads now runs in 89 countries after adding 26, of which it named 11.
- Named additions include Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru in Latin America, plus Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
- OpenAI says over 100,000 advertisers have run campaigns since ads launched about eight months ago; it is a cumulative count with no spend data.
- Ads still show only on the Free and Go plans; the post gives no per-country start dates, currencies or languages for the new markets.
OpenAI expanded ChatGPT Ads to 26 more countries on 21 October 2026, taking the number of countries where the ads are sold to 89. The announcement names only 11 of the 26 new markets: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Thailand is not one of them because it has been live since 23 September 2026, so nothing changes for Thai-based accounts directly. What changes is the number of markets around the region, including Cambodia, where ChatGPT Ads can now be bought.
What OpenAI announced on 21 October 2026
The post, published on the OpenAI website under the title "ChatGPT Ads expands to 26 new countries as over 100,000 advertisers have used the platform" and tagged Product, is short. Its central paragraph reads: "Since we launched ads just over eight months ago, over 100,000 advertisers have run campaigns on ChatGPT. Today, we're expanding ChatGPT Ads to 26 additional countries, extending availability to 89 countries worldwide. This launch builds on our recent expansions across Europe and Southeast Asia and Taiwan."
OpenAI opens with the audience figure it has used through the autumn: "More than 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT each week to explore ideas, compare options and make decisions." That number describes all ChatGPT users. Ads reach a smaller group, because the post repeats that "Ads will appear only on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro, and Enterprise subscriptions will remain ad-free."
On buying, there is one sentence: "Advertisers can access ChatGPT Ads in these countries through technology partners or self-service access through Ads Manager." The post ends by pointing businesses to ads.openai.com.
The 11 named countries and the 15 that are not
OpenAI describes the 26 new markets in two groups and gives examples from each, not a full list.
Latin America: 14 countries, 4 named
"Following our launches in Mexico and Brazil, we're bringing ChatGPT Ads to 14 more Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Peru," the post says. That leaves 10 of the 14 Latin American additions unnamed.
Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia: 12 countries, 7 named
OpenAI says it is "also launching in more markets across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, including Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Pakistan." Seven of those 12 are named and five are not. The post mentions the Middle East as a region but does not name a single Middle Eastern country.
Taken together, 15 of the 26 new countries are not identified anywhere in the post, and none of the 26 has its own start date. The text says "today" for the expansion as a whole. PPC Land, the trade site that analysed the announcement, notes that this suggests a single activation but that the page does not state that every market went live at once.
How the count reaches 89
The arithmetic matches OpenAI's earlier figures. When ChatGPT Ads launched in Southeast Asia and Taiwan on 23 September 2026, OpenAI described availability as "more than 60 countries," and PPC Land reported that its Ads Manager help page listed 63. Adding 26 to 63 gives 89.
The rollout before this, as reported by PPC Land:
- 9 February 2026: the US ad pilot begins.
- 17 August 2026: Mexico and Brazil go live, bringing the public count to nine markets.
- 18 August 2026: OpenAI publishes its European expansion post, followed by 31 European markets from 24 August and India on 29 August.
- 23 September 2026: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan go live.
- 21 October 2026: 26 more countries, for 89 in total.
That is a move from nine markets in mid-August to 89 about ten weeks later.
The expansion in numbers
The table below lists the figures OpenAI gave in its 21 October post, with the limits of each one.
| Fact | What OpenAI said | What is missing |
|---|---|---|
| New countries | 26 additional countries | Only 11 named; no per-country start dates |
| Total markets | 89 countries worldwide | No full country list in the post |
| Advertisers | Over 100,000 have run campaigns since launch | Cumulative; no active count, spend or revenue |
| Who sees ads | Free and Go plans only | Plus, Pro and Enterprise stay ad-free |
| How to buy | Technology partners or self-serve Ads Manager | No partners named; no currencies stated |
What the 100,000 figure measures
The 100,000 number is not new to RA readers. It already appeared in the post "How OpenAI built ChatGPT's ad stack: an LLM orchestrator, a separate auction and a $1bn run rate", published on 23 October 2026, which covered an OpenAI engineering write-up. The new part of the 21 October announcement is the country expansion.
It is still worth being precise about what the figure counts. OpenAI defines it only as advertisers that "have run campaigns on ChatGPT" since ads launched "just over eight months ago." That is a cumulative total since the US launch on 9 February 2026. It includes any advertiser that ran a single test and stopped. The post does not say how many advertisers are active now, whether advertisers buying through technology partners are counted one by one, or whether any minimum spend applies before an advertiser is counted. It gives no breakdown by country, size or category, and no revenue or performance data.
The only advertiser voice in the post is Asmita Dubey, chief digital and marketing officer of L'Oreal Group, who says testing early with OpenAI "enables us to pioneer helpful experiences and journeys, from discovery, to evaluation, to agentic commerce." The quote describes intent. It does not say which markets L'Oreal advertised in or what the tests produced.
What stays the same in the new markets
The ad surface does not change: ads appear only on Free and Go, and OpenAI restates the principles it published in January. "Guided by OpenAI's ads principles, we keep conversations private from advertisers and do not sell customer data. Ads in ChatGPT are clearly labeled and separate from ChatGPT's answers, and advertising does not influence the answers ChatGPT provides," the post says.
PPC Land points out that the January principles also said ads would not be shown to users under 18 or near sensitive subjects such as health, mental health or politics. The 21 October post does not restate those exclusions for the new markets, and it contains nothing on political advertising or country-specific rules across the 26 jurisdictions.
OpenAI's example of how ads fit a conversation is a person training for a first marathon who explores meal ideas for race week, narrows options by diet and cooking time, and could then be shown an ad for a grocery delivery service "they hadn't considered." The point OpenAI makes with it is that placement follows the state of a conversation, not a typed keyword.
What OpenAI did not say
Set against what an advertiser in a new market would want to know before buying, the post leaves a lot out:
- the full list of 26 countries, of which 15 are unnamed;
- per-country activation dates, or confirmation that all 26 went live on 21 October;
- billing currencies, minimum spend or pricing in the new markets. PPC Land notes that a minimum-spend table seen in August listed daily floors in ten currencies, and the post does not say whether new markets are billed locally or in US dollars;
- which ad languages, formats and targeting options work in each market. The new countries bring in languages such as Khmer, Bengali, Urdu, Ukrainian and Serbian, and the post does not address them;
- whether the legal-entity rule that applied to self-serve in the Southeast Asian launch, where self-service was limited to advertisers whose legal entity is in a listed country, also applies to the new markets;
- which technology partners sell in the new countries;
- active advertisers, spend or results, globally or by market.
What comes next, according to OpenAI
The closing section lists the next areas of work without dates: "With ChatGPT Ads now available in 89 countries, our next phase of growth will include the development of additional formats, objectives, buying options, and measurement capabilities. We are also continuing to explore new ways for businesses to interact with consumers in more native ways in ChatGPT." The post does not say when, or whether, any of this reaches specific markets.
What this means for Thai marketers
For advertisers in Thailand, the 21 October expansion is about reach, not access. Thailand has been live since 23 September 2026, covered in RA's post "ChatGPT Ads Launches in Thailand: What Thai Advertisers Need to Know": Thai businesses can buy through self-serve Ads Manager, and ads show only to Free and Go users. The new Asian markets OpenAI names are Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
PPC Land's reading is that for advertisers already buying ChatGPT inventory, the expansion widens the set of markets that can be reached from one account. OpenAI's post itself does not say how location targeting works across markets, or whether a Thai-registered advertiser can target Cambodia from a Thai Ads Manager account. A Thai brand that sells into Cambodia should check in Ads Manager whether Cambodia appears as a location before planning budget, and should not assume Khmer-language ads or local-currency billing are supported, because the source does not say. If you are deciding whether ChatGPT belongs in your media mix, a ChatGPT Ads management service can set up and test campaigns in the markets that are confirmed, and paid placements sit alongside the organic side of the same channel, where ChatGPT SEO work decides whether your brand is mentioned in answers at all.
Questions about the ChatGPT Ads expansion
Which countries did ChatGPT Ads add on 21 October 2026?
OpenAI added 26 countries but named only 11: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The other 15, which include 10 Latin American countries and 5 across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, are not listed in the post.
Is Thailand part of this expansion?
No, because Thailand was already live. OpenAI launched ChatGPT Ads in Thailand on 23 September 2026 as part of its Southeast Asia and Taiwan rollout.
Does "over 100,000 advertisers" mean 100,000 are advertising now?
No, it is a cumulative count of advertisers that have run campaigns since ads launched about eight months ago. OpenAI gives no active-advertiser number, spend or revenue figure.
Can a Thai advertiser run ChatGPT Ads in Cambodia?
Not stated by the source. Cambodia is one of the named new markets, but the post does not explain cross-border targeting, supported languages or billing currencies, so check what Ads Manager offers in your account.
Which ChatGPT users see the ads?
Only users on the Free and Go plans see ads. Plus, Pro and Enterprise subscriptions remain ad-free, according to OpenAI.
ChatGPT Ads has gone from nine markets to 89 in about ten weeks, with documentation trailing the launches. Relevant Audience will follow up when OpenAI publishes the full country list or market-level details. If you want help working out whether ChatGPT Ads fits your plans in Thailand or neighbouring markets, our team can walk you through the options.
