OpenAI has published official ad-credit policies on its website, setting out how promotional credits work on its advertising platform. Marketing Brew reported the policies on 31 July 2026 in a story by Jasmine Sheena.
The terms are short and tight. Credits expire 90 days after they are allocated, they are nonrefundable and nontransferable, OpenAI will not replace unused credits, and they cannot be used alongside other "credits, coupons, discounts, rebates, incentives, or makegoods".
What OpenAI's published credit terms cover
Marketing Brew reported on 31 July 2026 that OpenAI's policy page sets out expiry, refunds, transfers, stacking, and the platform's own discretion over the credits it hands out. OpenAI reserves the right to automatically apply credits to "eligible fees", and to "suspend, revoke, or void" them.
What the policy leaves out matters as much to anyone building a budget. Marketing Brew does not report credit amounts, eligibility criteria, minimum spends, or how an advertiser qualifies for credits in the first place. Any number circulating against those questions is unsourced, and should be treated that way in a media plan.
The credit terms, one line at a time
The table below sets each published term against what OpenAI's policy says, as reported by Marketing Brew on 31 July 2026.
| Term | What OpenAI's policy says |
|---|---|
| Expiry | Credits expire 90 days after allocation |
| Refunds | Credits are nonrefundable |
| Transfers | Credits are nontransferable |
| Unused credits | OpenAI will not replace them |
| Stacking | Cannot be used with other credits, coupons, discounts, rebates, incentives or makegoods |
| How credits are applied | OpenAI may automatically apply them to eligible fees |
| OpenAI's discretion | OpenAI may suspend, revoke or void credits |
Sensor Tower counted 820 US advertisers as of 29 July 2026
Sensor Tower analyst Abe Yousef counted 298 unique advertisers in the United States on OpenAI's ad platform in April 2026, rising to 820 as of 29 July 2026, in figures cited by Marketing Brew on 31 July 2026. Sensor Tower also measured ads served per user per hour in the US rising 105% over the same period, from April 2026 to 29 July 2026.
Keep the attribution straight, because these figures travel fast and get repeated as though OpenAI released them. They are Sensor Tower estimates. OpenAI has not published an advertiser count or an ad-load figure, and Marketing Brew did not measure either itself.
Read at face value, 820 advertisers is a small base for a product with ChatGPT's reach, and it is also close to a tripling in roughly three months. Both readings are true at once, and they explain why the written credit terms arrived when they did: a platform signing up hundreds of new accounts needs rules that scale without a human negotiating each one.
A 90-day clock decides how long your test really is
The 90-day expiry OpenAI published is the number to plan around. Ninety days from allocation is not ninety days of usable testing, because setup, creative approval and a learning period all come out of the same window. A test that starts three weeks late finishes with credits it cannot roll over, and OpenAI's policy says unused credits will not be replaced.
The no-stacking clause matters for a different reason. If credits cannot be combined with other credits, coupons, discounts, rebates, incentives or makegoods, an advertiser holding more than one offer has to sequence them rather than pool them, which stretches a test across a longer calendar than a single budget line suggests.
Colin Fleming joined as CMO in June 2026
OpenAI hired Colin Fleming, formerly of Salesforce, as chief marketing officer in June 2026, and works with the ad-tech firm Pacvue, Marketing Brew reported on 31 July 2026. Ads started rolling out in the United States roughly six months before that report.
What this means for Thai marketers
Every figure above is US-scoped. Marketing Brew's 31 July 2026 report does not describe availability in Thailand or anywhere outside the United States, so none of it justifies shifting budget out of channels that currently convert. The paid opportunity in Thailand is undocumented rather than confirmed, and those are different things.
The part that is actionable today sits on the organic side. ChatGPT already answers product and vendor questions for Thai users, with or without an ad unit attached, which makes being visible inside those answers a separate job from buying placements later. That work is generative engine optimisation and ChatGPT SEO: structured, quotable pages that an answer engine can lift a fact from and attribute.
For the budget that has to perform this quarter, the ranking of options has not moved. Google Ads remains the channel with measurable intent, published rate cards and a decade of Thai benchmark data behind it. Treat OpenAI's platform as something to watch and to be ready for, and revisit it when written terms for this market exist.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy ChatGPT ads in Thailand?
Marketing Brew's 31 July 2026 report does not say. The advertiser counts and ad-load figures it reports are US-scoped, and the article does not describe availability in Thailand or in any market outside the United States.
How long do OpenAI ad credits last?
Ninety days from the date they are allocated, according to the policy OpenAI published and Marketing Brew reported on 31 July 2026. Credits left unused at that point are not replaced.
How much credit does OpenAI give, and who qualifies?
The reporting does not say. Marketing Brew's article covers the terms attached to credits, not the amounts, the eligibility criteria, any minimum spend, or the process by which an advertiser is granted them.
Is 820 advertisers a big number?
It is a small advertiser base that grew quickly, and the figure belongs to Sensor Tower rather than OpenAI. Sensor Tower analyst Abe Yousef put unique US advertisers at 298 in April 2026 and 820 as of 29 July 2026, with ads served per user per hour up 105% across the same months.
If you want a view of how your brand currently shows up inside AI answers, and what would have to change before an ad buy on a platform like this one would add anything, our team can walk through it with you.
