What’s On/Ads
Can UAE businesses advertise on ChatGPT? Yes. Here is what to know first
OpenAI's Ads Manager now lists the UAE and Saudi Arabia as available for self-service. Here is how ChatGPT ads work, who sees them, the budget and company rules, and how to run a sensible first test.
Ads arrived in ChatGPT in 2026, and they reached the Gulf in stages. When self-service buying opened to parts of the Middle East and North Africa at the end of August, the first list included Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman but not the UAE or Saudi Arabia. Both now appear as available on OpenAI's Ads Manager availability page. Trackers that monitor the page say they were added between 16 and 18 September 2026, without an announcement.
The essentials
- Company location: OpenAI's page says the legal entity that advertises and is billed must be based in a country listed as available. A UAE company qualifies.
- Budget: OpenAI says the minimum daily budget depends on market and currency, with a standard 25 dollars in the US. Trackers report 65 dirhams in the UAE and 50 riyals in Saudi Arabia, which OpenAI does not list, so check in Ads Manager.
- Pacing: a daily budget is an average across seven days, so individual days can vary.
- Audience: Free and Go users see ads; paid Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu users do not, and nor do under-18s or temporary chats.
- Placement: ads appear after an answer, clearly labelled as sponsored.
- Buying: self-service, on impressions, clicks or conversions.
OpenAI states that ads do not influence ChatGPT's answers. Its Go plan has been available wherever ChatGPT is since January 2026, at 8 dollars a month in the US; we could not confirm the UAE price.
Is it worth it?
The appeal is timing. People ask ChatGPT what to buy, where to go and how to choose, and an ad under a relevant answer meets them at that moment. Reports say ChatGPT ads passed a one billion dollar annual run rate within months. But the format is new, audience sizes in the UAE are not published and measurement is still developing, so treat it as a test, not a pillar.
A sensible first test
- Sign in to Ads Manager with your UAE company and confirm the currency and minimum budget yourself.
- Pick one product, one goal and a budget you are comfortable learning from, and run it for at least two weeks.
- Tag every link so ChatGPT visits appear separately in your analytics.
- Write the ad as a helpful next step after an answer, not as a banner.
- Compare the cost per result with your search and social campaigns before scaling.
Curious whether AI platforms belong in your marketing mix? ALXO can set up a careful test and read the results with you. Let us talk.
