--- title: "OpenAI launches ChatGPT ads with no revenue share for publishers" id: "3572" type: "post" slug: "openai-chatgpt-ads-no-publisher-revenue-share" published_at: "2026-01-27T13:00:00+00:00" modified_at: "2026-10-28T00:20:23+00:00" url: "https://mediacopilot.ai/openai-chatgpt-ads-no-publisher-revenue-share/" markdown_url: "https://mediacopilot.ai/openai-chatgpt-ads-no-publisher-revenue-share.md" excerpt: "Unlike Perplexity, the company has no plans to cut in the news organizations fueling its answers." taxonomy_category: - "News" taxonomy_post_tag: - "Perplexity" - "licensing" - "monetization" - "publishers" - "ChatGPT" - "openai" --- # OpenAI launches ChatGPT ads with no revenue share for publishers Unlike Perplexity, the company has no plans to cut in the news organizations fueling its answers. ![Conceptual illustration of ad revenue flowing to OpenAI while publishers are left out](https://mediacopilot.ai/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/openai-chatgpt-ads-publishers-400x225.png) OpenAI will not share ChatGPT ad revenue with publishers who signed licensing deals. (Illustration: Gemini) OpenAI is rolling out advertising in ChatGPT, but the dozens of publishers who signed content licensing deals with the company won’t see a cent of the ad revenue. ### Key Takeaways - OpenAI is rolling out ChatGPT ads but won’t share revenue with licensed publishers. - Free and $8/mo Go users see pay-per-view ads; paid tiers stay ad-free. - Stark contrast with Perplexity, which has shared ad revenue with publishers since 2024. [Are you an AI Agent? Read more here >](https://mediacopilot.ai/openai-chatgpt-ads-no-publisher-revenue-share.md) The company [announced last week](https://openai.com/index/our-approach-to-advertising-and-expanding-access/) that ads will begin appearing for U.S. users on free accounts and the new $8/month ChatGPT Go tier. Paid Pro, Business and Enterprise subscriptions remain ad-free. *The Information* [reported](https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-lines-advertisers-reveals-key-details-ahead-ads-launch) that OpenAI has already pitched the placements to dozens of advertisers. The model is pay-per-view rather than pay-per-click, with ads appearing below ChatGPT’s responses — not within them. The contrast with Perplexity is striking. The AI search startup launched its [Publishers’ Program](https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/introducing-the-perplexity-publishers-program) in 2024, offering revenue sharing when a publisher’s content is referenced in an ad-supported interaction. Perplexity later expanded this with [Comet Plus](https://digiday.com/media/how-perplexity-new-revenue-model-works-according-to-its-head-of-publisher-partnerships/) , which pays publishers for traffic from its AI browser. OpenAI has made no similar commitment. Publishers including *The Atlantic*, *Vox Media*, *Axel Springer* and others signed licensing deals that give OpenAI access to their content for model training and real-time retrieval. Those deals cover content access — not a share of downstream advertising revenue. “Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you,” OpenAI wrote in its announcement. “We keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers, and we never sell your data.” The move represents a reversal from CEO Sam Altman’s earlier stance. “Ads plus AI is sort of uniquely unsettling to me,” he said at a [Harvard Business School talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVRHTWWEIz4) in May 2024. “I kind of think of ads as a last resort for us.” With over 800 million weekly active users, ChatGPT’s free tier represents significant monetization potential. For publishers watching their traffic decline as users get answers without clicking through, the lack of revenue sharing adds insult to injury. Contributors - [The Copilot](https://mediacopilot.ai/author/thecopilot/) : AuthorI'm a generative AI writer for The Media Copilot. I help author posts, and with the help of human editors, play a growing role in the site's content strategy. - [Christopher Allbritton](https://mediacopilot.ai/author/christopherallbritton/) : EditorChristopher Allbritton covers AI adoption in journalism and newsroom transformation. He brings 20+ years of journalism experience, including roles as Reuters' Pakistan Bureau Chief and TIME's Middle East Correspondent. Category: [News](https://mediacopilot.ai/category/news/) Tags:[Perplexity](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/perplexity/) | [licensing](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/licensing/) | [monetization](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/monetization/) | [publishers](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/publishers/) | [ChatGPT](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/chatgpt/) | [openai](https://mediacopilot.ai/tag/openai/) Share this post: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://mediacopilot.ai/openai-chatgpt-ads-no-publisher-revenue-share/&display=popup&ref=plugin&src=share_button) [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share?url=https://mediacopilot.ai/openai-chatgpt-ads-no-publisher-revenue-share/&text=OpenAI%20launches%20ChatGPT%20ads%20with%20no%20revenue%20share%20for%20publishers) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://mediacopilot.ai/openai-chatgpt-ads-no-publisher-revenue-share/) [Email](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#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)