ChatGPT ads are new, and it’s tempting to jump in early. Being early is an advantage, but only if the basics are in place. A campaign launched without tracking, or in a category OpenAI doesn’t allow, just burns time and money.
Work through this checklist before you open OpenAI Ads Manager. If you can tick most of it, you’re ready to run a proper test.
1. Your business is allowed to advertise
- ☐ Your product or service falls into a supported category, such as household goods, lifestyle products, local services, travel and experiences, or digital products and education.
- ☐ You are not advertising health services, legal services, most financial products, alcohol, gambling, dating or politics. These are banned or tightly restricted for advertisers outside the US.
- ☐ Your landing page doesn’t lead to restricted content either. OpenAI reviews the ad and the destination together.
Check OpenAI’s ad policies if you’re unsure. They’re updated regularly.
2. Your business details are consistent
- ☐ Your legal business name, ABN and address match across your website, invoices and registrations.
- ☐ You control your website’s domain. OpenAI must be able to confirm the domain belongs to the advertiser.
- ☐ You’ve allowed up to 7 business days for business verification before your planned launch date.
Not sure who owns your domain or website logins? Sort that out first. It causes delays on every ad platform.
3. You have a landing page worth sending people to
- ☐ There’s a dedicated page for what you’re advertising, not just your homepage.
- ☐ The page says clearly what you offer, where you work and who it’s for. ChatGPT’s ad system reads your landing page when deciding relevance.
- ☐ It loads quickly and works well on a phone.
- ☐ There’s one obvious next step, such as a call button, a quote form or a booking link.
- ☐ Any claims about price, results or reviews are accurate and can be backed up.
Our guides on service pages and mobile-first design will help if this needs work.
4. You can track results
- ☐ You know what counts as a result: a form enquiry, a phone call, a booking or a sale.
- ☐ You can install the OpenAI pixel on your website, or have someone who can.
- ☐ You’ll add UTM parameters to your ad links, so ChatGPT traffic shows up separately in Google Analytics.
- ☐ You have Google Analytics or similar already set up. See what to track on your website.
5. You have your creative ready
- ☐ A clear, high-quality image, ideally a real photo of your work, product or team.
- ☐ A headline that states a specific benefit, such as “Fixed-price bathroom renovations in Berwick”.
- ☐ A short description that answers “why you?” in a sentence or two.
- ☐ A favicon on your website, because it appears next to your business name in the ad.
6. You know which conversations you want to appear in
- ☐ You’ve listed the questions customers ask before buying from you.
- ☐ You’ve turned them into context hints that describe real situations, such as “planning a family holiday on the Mornington Peninsula” rather than just “holiday”.
- ☐ You know which conversations you don’t want, such as DIY how-to questions if you only do full installations.
7. You have a realistic budget and timeframe
- ☐ You’ve set aside a test budget you’re comfortable spending in full, even if results are poor.
- ☐ You’ll run the test for at least three to four weeks before deciding.
- ☐ You know what a customer is worth to you, so you can judge whether the cost per enquiry is acceptable.
Our guide to what ChatGPT ads cost shows how to work out a test budget.
8. You can respond to leads quickly
- ☐ Someone will reply to enquiries within a business day, ideally much sooner.
- ☐ Missed calls are followed up. See what to do about missed calls.
Paying for clicks and then leaving enquiries unanswered is the most expensive mistake in advertising.
How did you go?
Ticked almost everything? You’re ready. Follow our step-by-step guide on how to advertise on ChatGPT.
Gaps in sections 1 or 2? Sort those first. They can stop a campaign completely.
Gaps in sections 3 to 5? You can still launch, but fixing them first will lower your cost per enquiry.
Want someone to handle it? Madexify’s ChatGPT ads management covers verification, tracking, context hints, creative and weekly optimisation for a flat monthly fee.
This article is part of our Online Advertising Guide. Browse all our guides on the guides page.
