Issue 1 catches up on ChatGPT ads since September: 63 countries, new minimum budgets, account setup, verification times and the regulated categories table.
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Issue 1, Monday 19 October 2026. A catch-up on what OpenAI changed in ChatGPT ads since September. From next week, one week at a time.
The week in 30 seconds
- Self-serve Ads Manager now covers 63 countries, all six Gulf states included. Qatar's minimum fell to QAR 60 a day.
- OpenAI published a regulated categories table. Outside the US, most health and legal categories and many finance ones are not allowed.
- Verification can take up to 7 business days, and your Brand Name, not your account name, is what shows on your ads.
What OpenAI changed
Help articles below were read on 17 Oct 2026.
- 63 countries (23 Sep). OpenAI added six Southeast Asian markets and Taiwan (OpenAI, 23 Sep). All six Gulf states are listed as Available. The rule stays: "the legal entity that will advertise and be billed must be based in a country listed as available" (OpenAI Help).
- Minimum budgets. Seven currency rows were added for the new markets, and QAR moved from 70 to 60 between our 21 Sep and 17 Oct copies. AED 65 and SAR 50 hold (OpenAI Help).
- Account setup. Signup can build a first ad from your website, or skip it. Country, currency and time zone "cannot be changed after account creation". Since 25 Sep, Account, Brand and Legal Name are separate. The Brand Name is "the public name shown alongside your ads in ChatGPT", and "Brand Name changes trigger brand review and pause ad serving until the new name is approved." (OpenAI Help)
- Verification and policy (new article). "The review may take up to 7 Business days to complete." Its new table shows that outside the US every health row except health software is Not allowed, as are legal services, payments and remittances, personal loans and crypto. Deposit accounts, cards, insurance and investing are "Restricted to Select Approved Advertisers" (OpenAI Help).
- Measurement. The help articles list 7 mobile partners (Adjust, Airbridge, AppsFlyer, Branch, Kochava, Singular, Tenjin) and 8 web partners (Fospha, Hightouch, INCRMNTAL, LiveRamp, Northbeam, Rockerbox, Triple Whale, WorkMagic) (mobile, web). On 5 Oct OpenAI said "Negative Phrases are now available to qualifying advertisers" (OpenAI Ads blog, 5 Oct).
- AI tools and formats. 16 Sep: the Ads Manager plugin for ChatGPT, AI ad suggestions, opt-in text customization that "automatically translates ad copy to a user's preferred language", HubSpot and Shopify integrations, and a US Sponsored Agents test (OpenAI, 16 Sep). 5 Oct: a visual format during image generation, tested in the US first (OpenAI, 5 Oct).
- New help articles. The plugin guide says it "cannot override verification, policy review, account eligibility, or delivery decisions" (OpenAI Help). New guides cover conversion tracking problems (OpenAI Help), Google Analytics 4 and HubSpot; we have not read the last two yet (collection).
- Developer API. The docs show product feed campaigns can be created by API with
mode: "product_feed"and can use conversion bidding, both in open beta, with no changelog date (docs). The changelog adds invoice account daily limits (9 Sep), device level web targeting (10 Sep) and attribution windows in reporting (30 Sep) (changelog).
What it means for advertisers
UAE. You can sign up and pay in AED today. "Some new self-serve ad accounts can initially advertise only in their home country" until verification is approved and spend builds at home (OpenAI Help). A UAE company with Saudi plans should expect to start at home. Also, "A registered or licensed business is not automatically eligible for every advertising category or market" (OpenAI Help). A licensed hospital, law firm or remittance app still sits in a Not allowed row.
Gulf. Saudi and Qatari companies can bill in SAR and QAR. Kuwaiti, Bahraini and Omani currency have no row, and OpenAI does not say what those accounts use. Text customization may help Arabic audiences; we have not seen it handle Arabic yet.
Worldwide. Measurement is maturing: named partners, view-through and a conversion time column. The plugin can build campaigns, but it cannot speed up review.
OpenAI says verification, approval, ad review and delivery are "separate checks", and a stall at any one stops your ads. If your account is stuck, or your category sits near a restricted row, talk to us before you resubmit.
Numbers that matter
| What | Number |
|---|---|
| Self-serve countries | 63, incl. UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman (source) |
| Minimum daily budget, UAE | AED 65 (source) |
| Minimum daily budget, Saudi Arabia | SAR 50 |
| Minimum daily budget, Qatar | QAR 60 (was 70) |
| Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman | No own currency row |
| Business verification | Up to 7 business days (source) |
| Ad image minimum | 640 by 640 pixels (source) |
| Context hints per ad group | Up to 2,000 (source) |
All figures read on 17 Oct 2026.
In the press
- Campaign Middle East, 5 Oct: a GCC planning op-ed by Hatem Fakih of 5th Element. Right that Arabic content and measurement come first. One miss: it calls remittance brands an immediate opportunity, but OpenAI marks remittances Not allowed outside the US.
- Digiday, 5 Oct: fair point that inventory, not measurement, is the harder problem.
- PPC Land, 24 Sep: accurate on the Asian expansion; its currency question is still half open for the Gulf.
- Search Engine Land, 16 Oct: reports a redesigned Conversions page and weekly performance emails. Not verified: we could not open the article or find either item on an OpenAI page.
Still wrong out there: "UAE and Saudi access to ChatGPT ads is unconfirmed." AI assistants still said so in our 17 Oct checks, citing pages from before mid September. OpenAI lists both as Available for self-serve Ads Manager (OpenAI Help, read 17 Oct).
What advertisers ask us most
- Can a UAE company advertise on ChatGPT? Yes, if the company that pays is based in a listed country, and the UAE is listed. Our UAE guide has the details.
- Can we advertise in our category? Check OpenAI's table before you build anything. Health services, legal services, remittances and personal loans are Not allowed outside the US, and housing listings are not allowed anywhere. Our policy guide lists every row.
- Our account is stuck in verification or was rejected. Now what? Verification, account approval and ad review are separate checks, and each one has its own fix. Resubmitting the same details rarely helps. Our account rejected guide explains the checks.
One practical check
Compare like with like. By default, Ads Manager dates a conversion by the ad click or view that got credit. To match your CRM, add the "Conversions (by conv. time)" column (OpenAI Help). Then check your view window: at 1 day, Conversions includes view-through; at 0 days, clicks only (OpenAI Help).
What we are watching next week
- The visual ad test, due to start in the US "later this month" (OpenAI, 5 Oct).
- Whether OpenAI confirms the Conversions page and weekly emails Search Engine Land reported.
- Which currency Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman accounts bill in.
- The ad policies, still "Updated: September 10, 2026" on 17 Oct (OpenAI).
Want us to look at your account? Book a call.
Ahmad Alshareefi, Marketing Director, Big AL Consulting
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