Does ChatGPT use my chats to show me ads?
OpenAI started showing ads in ChatGPT in the US in February 2026, added the UK in June 2026, and on August 24, 2026 expanded to 31 European markets: the 27 EU countries plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. Ads appear only on the Free plan and the lower-cost Go plan. They show up below an answer, are labeled as ads, and OpenAI says they do not change what ChatGPT tells you.
What can be used to pick your ads. According to OpenAI’s help center, if ad personalization is on, ChatGPT may use your current conversation, your past chats, your memories, and how you interact with ads (which ones you hide or click) to choose more relevant ads. If memory is on, it may use memories and reference recent chats when selecting an ad. Hiding or clicking an ad does not get added to your ChatGPT memory. OpenAI says it does not sell your conversations to advertisers, does not show ads to users under 18, and does not place ads next to sensitive topics such as health, mental health, or politics.
It depends on where you live. In the US, UK, and most other ad markets, personalization is a setting you control, so it is worth checking how yours is set. In the EU, the wider EEA, and Switzerland, ads launched without personalization: you see ads based on the conversation you are having and your approximate location. Personalized ads there are only shown if you give explicit consent.
How to turn it off. Go to Settings → Ad Controls. From there you can:
- Turn off ad personalization, so ads are based on the current conversation instead of a profile of you.
- Clear the data used for ads. OpenAI says it stops being used right away and is removed from its servers within 30 days.
- See why a particular ad was shown, and dismiss ads you don’t want.
Turning personalization off does not remove ads. The only reliable way to get no ads is a paid plan: Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu are ad-free. At the US launch, OpenAI also let Free users hide ads in exchange for fewer daily messages, so look for that option if a paid plan is not for you.
Temporary Chat is the simplest workaround. Temporary Chats are not used for ads, are not saved to your history, and are not used for training. Use one for anything you would not want shaping your ads, such as a gift you are researching for someone in your household.
This is not the same as training. The “Improve the model for everyone” toggle in Settings → Data Controls decides whether your chats help train OpenAI’s models. Ad Controls decides whether your chats help pick your ads. They are separate switches, and turning one off leaves the other as it was. For the training side, see Does ChatGPT train on your conversations?, and for every setting in one place, see the full ChatGPT privacy guide.