AI & Marketing Automation

ChatGPT Ads Are Open in MENA: What Egyptian and Gulf Marketers Should Test First

7 min read

ChatGPT is now a paid ad channel you can buy in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and most of the Gulf. OpenAI opened its self-serve Ads Manager to advertisers in Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco and other MENA (Middle East and North Africa) markets on August 31, 2026, and added Saudi Arabia and the UAE on September 16, both as a beta limited to approved categories. On October 21, ads were reported live in 89 countries worldwide. My advice: run a small, structured test this quarter, focused on high-intent categories, with measurement set up before you spend the first riyal or pound.

What actually launched, and when

The timeline matters because it tells you how mature the product is. ChatGPT Ads started as a US pilot on February 9, 2026, reportedly sold at a $60 CPM (Cost Per Mille, the price of 1,000 impressions) with a $200,000 minimum commitment. On May 5, OpenAI opened Ads Manager to all US businesses with CPC (Cost Per Click) bidding and dropped the minimum. By August 31, the company said the ads business had passed a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate in under 200 days.

Then the geography expanded quickly:

August 31: self-serve opens in India, Europe and a first group of MENA markets, including Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Iraq, Lebanon, Algeria and Tunisia, according to trackers that follow OpenAI's availability page.
September 16: Saudi Arabia and the UAE are added, as reported by ITP.net.
September 23: seven Southeast Asian markets and Taiwan go live, bringing the total to 63 countries.
October 21: Crypto Briefing reports the total at 89 countries. OpenAI has not detailed which 26 markets were in that batch.

One correction to a common headline: Egypt and the Gulf were not part of the latest jump to 89. They have been open for about two months. That is still very early, and it means few regional competitors have built a real playbook for this channel yet.

How ChatGPT ads work today

A few facts shape any test plan:

Ads show only to users on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro and Enterprise users do not see them.
Ads are labeled and shown separately from ChatGPT's answers. OpenAI says ads do not influence answers and advertisers cannot see private conversations.
Targeting can use the context of the current conversation and, depending on the country and user settings, broader ChatGPT use.
According to Axios, as reported by Channel Insider, most campaigns run on cost-per-click or outcome-optimized bidding.
In the region, access is a beta for approved categories. Index Lab, citing OpenAI's documentation, notes that some new self-serve accounts can at first advertise only in their home country.

OpenAI has also shared numbers worth reading carefully. The company says about 20% of ChatGPT conversations globally show clear commercial intent, and that average cost per purchase fell about 60% over six weeks, as reported by ITP.net. These are OpenAI's own figures, not independent audits. Treat them as a reason to test, not as a forecast for your account.

Which categories should test first

People use ChatGPT to compare, plan and decide. That makes it strongest for considered purchases, where the buyer asks questions before acting. In Egypt and the Gulf, I would start with:

Fintech: credit cards, BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later), savings, investment apps and SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) lending, as long as your category is approved. Sensor Tower estimated that financial services grew from 2% to 13% of ChatGPT ad spend between April and August.
B2B (Business-to-Business) SaaS (Software as a Service): accounting, human resources, POS (Point of Sale) and e-invoicing tools, where buyers ask comparison questions.
Education, travel and real estate, where the research starts long before the purchase.

Impulse categories with a low ticket size are a weaker fit for now. If your product is bought in seconds, Meta, TikTok and Google will likely stay cheaper per sale.

If you sell software to SMEs in the Gulf, my notes on B2B SaaS marketing in the UAE and Saudi Arabia apply here too.

A practical test plan for one quarter

Here is how I would structure a first test:

Budget: take 5-10% of your current paid search budget rather than new money. Search intent is the closest benchmark, so that is the line ChatGPT should compete with.
Scope: one country, one or two products, and one clear conversion such as a lead, a sign-up or a first transaction.
Creative: write ads as answers to real questions your customers ask, in both English and Arabic. One reported feature auto-translates ad copy, but I would not rely on it for Arabic tone.
Landing page: match the question. Someone who asked how to compare credit cards should land on a comparison, not the homepage.
Duration: at least six to eight weeks, so the algorithm and your data have time to settle.
Decision rule: agree in advance on the CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) and payback period that would justify scaling.

If you need a refresher on setting those targets, I wrote about customer acquisition cost, lifetime value and payback.

Measurement before spend

Most failed channel tests fail on tracking, not on the channel. Before launch, confirm that conversions are passed back to Ads Manager, tag every link with UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters, and check that your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system records the source of each lead. OpenAI says it has added conversion-tracking tools and works with more than 50 technology and measurement partners, and app measurement partners such as AppsFlyer and Adjust have been reported as live. Use a holdout group or a before-and-after comparison on branded search to see whether ChatGPT is creating new demand or just taking credit for demand you already had.

Where the early pricing advantage ends

Every new ad channel has a window when attention is cheap because few advertisers are bidding. In the US, reported CPMs fell from $60 at launch to as low as $25 by mid-April as the auction opened up. In MENA, that window is open now, but three things will close it: large global brands switching on regional campaigns, local competitors copying what works, and OpenAI adding formats and buying options that pull in bigger budgets. My rough rule: if your cost per result rises for several weeks in a row while your creative and targeting stay the same, the easy phase is over, and the channel has to compete on the same unit economics as every other channel.

FAQ

Can I run ChatGPT ads in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt?

Yes, in beta. Egypt and several other MENA markets opened for self-serve on August 31, 2026, and Saudi Arabia and the UAE were added on September 16. Access is limited to approved categories, so check OpenAI's Ads Manager availability page before you plan a campaign.

How are ChatGPT ads priced?

Most campaigns reportedly use cost-per-click or outcome-optimized bidding. The first US pilot was sold on a CPM basis with a high minimum commitment, but that minimum was removed when self-serve opened.

Do all ChatGPT users see ads?

No. Ads appear only to Free and Go users. Paid Plus, Pro and Enterprise subscribers do not see them, which affects who you can reach and should shape your targeting expectations.

If you want help designing a ChatGPT ads test for your market, with measurement set up properly from day one, get in touch or see how I work as a fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer).

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