For twenty years, businesses fought to be found on Google, then on Facebook and Instagram. Now there is a new place where customers make decisions, and it just opened its doors to Pakistan.
OpenAI has expanded ChatGPT ads to 26 more countries, bringing the total to 83. OpenAI's own help pages now list Pakistan as available, which means a business based in Pakistan can buy ChatGPT ads directly through its self-service Ads Manager.
The growth has been fast. ChatGPT ads launched in February and reached 1 billion dollars in annualized revenue in under 200 days. More than 100,000 advertisers now use the platform, up from about 20,000 at the end of August. And ChatGPT has more than 1 billion weekly users.
What makes these ads different is timing. On social media, ads interrupt you while you scroll. On ChatGPT, people arrive with a goal. They are comparing products, planning a purchase or choosing a service. OpenAI says its ads use the context of the conversation, so your ad can appear right when someone is deciding.
Early results look promising. OpenAI says one online store earned three times its ad spend over 28 days, and a partner reported that more than 80 percent of the traffic from ChatGPT ads came from new customers.
Ads only appear on the Free and Go plans. Paid plans stay ad free. OpenAI says ads are clearly labeled, kept separate from answers, do not influence what ChatGPT says, and advertisers never see your private conversations. One note of caution: a 404 Media report found ads can be targeted by email, phone number and the topics people type, so it is worth checking your ad settings.
For Pakistani businesses, this is a genuinely new channel. Small and medium businesses can start without an agency at ads.openai.com. Start small, learn what customers in your category ask about, and measure carefully.
Early movers in a new ad channel usually pay less and learn faster. This one has just opened at home.
Research & written by Azhar Karim
