The short answer
| Cost item | Figure | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum daily budget, US | $25 | OpenAI |
| Minimum daily budget, UK | £15 | OpenAI |
| Reported cost per 1,000 views (CPM) | About $25–60, average around $45 | Agency reports |
| Reported cost per click (CPC) | About $3–5 | Agency reports |
| Cost per click in Windmill Strategy's B2B pilot | $5.68 | Windmill Strategy |
| Our planning range for B2B clicks | $4.50–6.50 | Answerbid assumption |
OpenAI doesn't publish average prices. The CPM and CPC ranges come from agencies that run campaigns, so treat them as observations, not a price list.
How you pay
Every campaign has one objective, and the objective sets what you pay for. You can't change it after the campaign is created.
- Views (CPM). You pay per 1,000 impressions. Built for reach.
- Clicks (CPC). You pay per valid click. The usual start for B2B.
- Conversions. The system bids for a conversion you track, such as a demo request, but you still pay per click (oCPC) or per 1,000 impressions (oCPM). OpenAI states it plainly: "You do not pay per conversion." A conversion event must be set up before you can create this kind of campaign.
Minimum budgets and pacing
The minimum daily budget is $25 in US dollars, £15 in pounds and €15 in euros. Two pacing rules matter for planning:
- A daily budget is a weekly average. One day can spend up to twice the daily budget, and a week up to seven times it. The budget week runs Sunday to Saturday.
- If the week's allowance runs out early, the campaign can stop until the next week, even while it shows as active.
Two campaigns at the US minimum come to about $1,500 a month. New self-serve accounts may also be limited to their home country until identity verification is approved, so verify the account before the launch date you promised your team.
What B2B clicks cost so far
Windmill Strategy published a B2B pilot with full numbers. It ran two campaigns for industrial manufacturing at the minimum budget from 22 June to 21 July 2026:
| Spend | Impressions | Clicks | Click-through rate | Cost per click | Conversions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,470 | 39,284 | 259 | 0.66% | $5.68 | 0 |
The clicks came at a normal price for B2B. Nothing connected them to pipeline, so the test couldn't show value either way. It is one pilot in one industry: a starting point, not a forecast.
We plan B2B campaigns at $4.50–6.50 a click, above the reported average, for two reasons. B2B ad groups target narrow buyer questions, which means fewer impressions to compete for. And many decision-makers use paid ChatGPT plans, which show no ads, so the reachable audience is smaller.
Budget planner
What a monthly media budget buys at our planning range, and how many companies you can expect to name on your website from those clicks:
| Monthly media budget | Clicks | Companies identified | Of those, fit your customer profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,500 | 230–330 | 85–130 | 25–40 |
| $3,000 | 460–670 | 170–250 | 50–75 |
| $5,000 | 770–1,110 | 290–420 | 85–120 |
| $10,000 | 1,540–2,220 | 580–830 | 170–250 |
How we calculate: cost per click $4.50–6.50; our planning average for company visits we name; 75% of matches unique; 30% fit the customer profile. These are planning ranges, not a promise. Real numbers show up in the first weekly reports. How company matching works: Which companies come from ChatGPT?
The full cost of a test
Media is only one line. A useful B2B test also needs ad groups written from real buyer questions, creative, conversion tracking, company identification and someone reading the results every week. Plan for 60 to 90 days: conversion bidding needs tracked conversions before it can work.
With Answerbid, all of that is the AI Ads & Intent package at $1,500 a month, with media billed separately by the ad platform. A 90-day test at $3,000 a month of media comes to $13,500. Add AI visibility with the Complete package at $2,500 a month. Try your own numbers in the calculator.
Paying less per useful click
- One ad group per buyer question. Write context hints around a specific problem, such as "month-end close software for a 300-person logistics company", not a broad category.
- Start on desktop web. B2B research happens at work. Split desktop from mobile so each gets its own bid.
- Exclude customers and staff. Upload hashed email lists as exclusions. Exclusion lists have no minimum size.
- Start on clicks, then switch. Move to conversion bidding once demo requests are tracked as a conversion event.
- Judge on companies, not clicks. Move budget each week to the questions that bring companies that fit your profile.
Questions
Is there a minimum spend for ChatGPT ads?
Yes, per day: $25 in US dollars, £15 in pounds, €15 in euros. There is no separate monthly minimum, but a meaningful B2B test needs at least two campaigns, so about $1,500 a month.
Do you pay per lead or per conversion?
No. Even conversion campaigns charge per click or per 1,000 impressions. The conversion is what the system optimises for, not what you pay for.
Can I target companies or job titles to keep costs down?
No. ChatGPT ads can't target companies, domains, job titles or seniority. You target the problems your buyers describe, then identify companies after the click on your own website.
Who sees the ads?
Users on the Free and Go plans in markets where ads run. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts see no ads. More detail in our ChatGPT ads field guide.