ChatGPT doubles mobile ads as 820 brands join platform

OpenAI doubled ads per user on ChatGPT's US mobile app between April and July, with the advertiser count jumping from roughly 300 to more than 820, according to Sensor Tower estimates.

"ChatGPT is effectively diversifying its advertiser base, appealing to a wider swath of businesses, which bodes well for ramping monetization and expanding ad formats," the market intelligence firm wrote in its analysis.

Financial services companies posted the largest increase in ad spend share on ChatGPT, rising from 2 percent to 12 percent since April — the third-largest sector after shopping and software. Travel companies Expedia and GetYourGuide Deutschland, recruiting firm Talent Inc., and retailer Quince also ranked among July's top spenders, per Sensor Tower data.

The expansion comes as OpenAI seeks to convert its roughly 1 billion monthly ChatGPT app users into a revenue engine beyond subscriptions. The company reported $100 million in annual recurring ad revenue in May — a fraction of the $81.6 billion Google and $59.3 billion Meta each generated in their most recent fiscal quarters.

Home Depot, Intuit Displace Tech Firms in Top Ad Spenders

Back in April, tech companies like Speechify, Jotform, and Natural Intelligence dominated ChatGPT's ad roster. By July, those names had dropped out of the top 10, replaced by Booking Holdings, Intuit, Home Depot, and L.L.Bean. Scheels, the sports clothing retailer, was the only company to rank among the top 10 advertisers in both months.

The shift toward mainstream consumer brands reflects a maturation of ChatGPT's ad product. Retail remains the platform's largest sector by ad spend, though its share has declined as financial services, travel and tourism, and jobs and education have grown. Sensor Tower's estimates are based largely on data from a user panel and third-party data sources, according to Abe Yousef, senior insights analyst at the firm. OpenAI declined to comment for this story.

Ads Chief Says Volume Ramping After Four Months

OpenAI serves ads to users who don't pay for a plan or who subscribe to ChatGPT's $8-a-month Go tier — the vast majority of the company's user base. Dave Dugan, OpenAI's ads chief, told Business Insider in June that the company placed ads "very conservatively" in the first weeks to prioritize user experience.

"We've learned so much about user satisfaction, and as we've now, four months in, we've gotten more confidence about how we can deliver volume," Dugan said.

For now, OpenAI places ads beneath the AI's answer to a user's prompt and avoids queries about personal health or politics. Advertisers previously told Business Insider that the self-serve ad product, launched in May, remains rudimentary compared to the services run by Google and Meta. Still, OpenAI is expanding into new markets and adding tools to attract more ad dollars.

The monetization push carries implications for the broader digital advertising market. If ChatGPT sustains its growth trajectory, it could pressure Google's search ad dominance and Meta's social feed inventory, particularly as AI-generated answers reduce traditional search query volumes. OpenAI's $100 million in annual recurring ad revenue remains a fraction of the $81.6 billion Google and $59.3 billion Meta each reported in their most recent fiscal quarters, but the pace of advertiser growth — nearly tripling in three months — suggests the platform is gaining traction faster than many expected. For advertisers, ChatGPT offers a new distribution channel that reaches users at the moment of intent, a position Google has long held in search. The question is whether OpenAI can scale its ad infrastructure quickly enough to capture meaningful share before competitors like Perplexity and Anthropic's Claude build comparable offerings. With ChatGPT's 1 billion monthly users, even modest ad load increases translate into substantial revenue potential — the company just needs to prove it can maintain user satisfaction while scaling.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.