ChatGPT is now officially becoming an advertising platform

OpenAI’s new tracking policy signals that AI assistants are evolving into media, discovery, and customer acquisition channels

OpenAI has updated its US privacy policy to enable marketing cookies by default for free ChatGPT users, marking a significant shift in how the company approaches monetization and user acquisition. While OpenAI says chat conversations themselves are not shared with advertisers, the company can now use tracking identifiers and marketing data to measure advertising performance across external platforms. The move positions ChatGPT closer to the business models used by Google, Meta, and other large consumer internet platforms, where advertising, targeting, and conversion tracking play a central role. For hoteliers and travel brands, the change is another signal that AI assistants may soon become an important layer in digital discovery, recommendation, and customer acquisition.

Key takeaways

• Marketing cookies enabled by default: Free ChatGPT users in the US now have marketing tracking activated automatically unless they manually opt out in account settings.
• ChatGPT enters the advertising economy: The update moves OpenAI closer to the monetization models used by major digital advertising platforms, where user behavior and conversion tracking support customer acquisition and growth.
• Conversations remain private: OpenAI states that chat conversations themselves are not shared with advertisers or marketing partners despite the broader tracking changes.
• Limited identifiers may still be shared: OpenAI may share data such as cookie IDs, device identifiers, and hashed user information with partners to measure whether advertising campaigns lead to sign-ups or conversions.
• Free users are the primary focus: Reports suggest the marketing settings were enabled by default mainly for free accounts, while some paid and enterprise accounts were not automatically opted in.
• AI platforms are becoming discovery channels: For hoteliers, this reinforces the idea that AI assistants may increasingly influence how travelers discover hotels, compare options, and make booking decisions.
• Advertising in AI will evolve differently: Unlike traditional search advertising, AI-driven recommendation environments may favor conversational relevance, trust, and contextual visibility over classic keyword bidding alone.
• Trust and transparency will matter more: As AI platforms expand commercial models, privacy controls and user trust are likely to become key competitive differentiators.

Source: Wired

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