ChatGPT Ads began rolling out in six Southeast Asian markets on 23 September 2026: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Taiwan was also in the launch announcement, but it is not a Southeast Asian market. OpenAI's launch statement says advertisers can work through its Ads Solutions team, agency or technology partners, while eligible businesses can use self-service Ads Manager.
As checked on 24 September 2026, OpenAI's Ads Manager availability table marks all six Southeast Asian countries as “Available” for self-service. The legal entity that advertises and is billed must be based in an available country. A country being available does not bypass account setup, billing, identity checks, creative review or category restrictions.
Which Southeast Asian countries are available?
| Market | OpenAI self-service table, 24 Sep 2026 | First local check |
|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | Available | Bahasa Indonesia copy, delivery area, currency and fulfilment |
| Malaysia | Available | Bahasa Malaysia/English audience fit, local offer and landing page |
| Philippines | Available | Service area, local pricing and lead-handling hours |
| Singapore | Available | Singapore entity/billing and a clear local conversion action |
| Thailand | Available | Thai-language review and landing-page consistency |
| Vietnam | Available | Vietnamese-language review, delivery terms and lead routing |
The third column is our campaign preparation advice, not a platform feature or a claim that OpenAI automatically localises ads. Check the country table again when you create your account; access can change. OpenAI also lists Taiwan as available, but it belongs in a wider Asia-Pacific plan rather than a six-country Southeast Asia total. Sources: launch announcement; availability table.
How do you open an advertiser account?
Start at ads.openai.com. The business advertiser should create its own account, supply the legal and billing information requested, and complete verification. OpenAI says a client can then invite an agency user to work in the account; an agency cannot create the client's business advertiser account on the client's behalf through that setup flow. Keep ownership, billing and conversion data with the advertiser. OpenAI account setup.
The account's home country and the countries where ads will run are separate decisions. OpenAI says some new self-service accounts can initially advertise only in their home country. Eligibility for other supported countries follows identity approval and a required amount of actual home-country ad spend; selecting another country or setting a budget alone does not lift the restriction. Confirm what your approved account can target before promising a regional launch. Do not use a different legal entity location simply to work around availability. OpenAI campaign setup.
A practical six-market launch sequence
1. Pick one real customer decision. Start with a question a buyer might ask while comparing options: a family choosing a hotel, a team choosing a software tool or a customer comparing a product. Write down the offer, country, fulfilment and conversion action before opening Ads Manager. A generic awareness claim gives the platform and the customer too little context.
2. Check policies before production. OpenAI's ad policies restrict some categories and claims. Country access does not mean every product or service is eligible. Review the ad, image and landing page together, especially for regulated offers.
3. Build market-ready landing pages. A Singapore ad should not send buyers to a page with only an unrelated US offer. Confirm language, currency, delivery, local contact method, consent notice and the action you want users to take. OpenAI asks that landing pages be reachable by OAI-AdsBot and OAI-SearchBot. Creative and landing-page guidance.
4. Separate genuinely different needs. OpenAI recommends ad groups by product, theme or customer need, with separate groups where the messaging or destination changes. Context hints explain when the offer is useful; they are not exact-match search keywords and cannot guarantee a particular conversation placement. A regional campaign can use this structure to keep different market offers and buyer needs understandable. Ad-group guide.
5. Produce distinct, helpful creative. OpenAI favours clear, specific, benefit-focused titles and copy, simple relevant images, and multiple genuinely different angles for the same offer. Avoid repeating a slogan with slight word changes. Localise the substance of the offer, not only the language. OpenAI creative guide; our ChatGPT Ads creative examples guide.
6. Set up measurement before spending. Use distinct UTM parameters per market and creative. If appropriate, configure the OpenAI Pixel or Conversions API and a campaign conversion event. OpenAI's conversion guide says reported conversions depend on the event, attribution window and eligible click signals. Check consent and local privacy requirements before sending event data. Judge qualified enquiries or purchases in your own system as well as platform reports.
7. Launch in stages. A sensible first test uses one or two markets where fulfilment and measurement are strongest, then expands after the team has checked lead quality, rejected ads, landing-page friction and local response capacity. This is an operational recommendation, not an OpenAI rule or a promised performance timeline.
Is there a Southeast Asia launch credit?
Promotion check, 24 September 2026: The supplied Southeast Asia email landing link did not publicly verify a S$350 by 8 October offer. The advertiser must confirm any account-specific offer in its original email or Ads Manager before relying on it.
OpenAI's credit terms make the specific offer communication, eligible spend, designated account and expiry decisive. Do not treat a generic homepage promotion as a guaranteed benefit in each Southeast Asian market.
Paid ChatGPT Ads and organic AI search are different
An ad is a labelled sponsored placement below a response. It does not buy inclusion in ChatGPT's answer. Organic AI-search work aims to make a brand's own pages, evidence and third-party references discoverable and useful to answer engines. The two channels may support the same buyer journey, but they need separate reporting. OpenAI's ads principles; AI Studio's AI-search service.
For a regional team, a useful first brief is one market, one offer, one buyer decision. AI Studio can review market readiness, build a buyer-question map, produce ad copy and visual variations, check the landing page, and define a measurement plan. The advertiser owns its account and media budget. Send us your website and target markets if you want that brief reviewed.
Frequently asked questions
Are ChatGPT Ads available in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia?
Yes. OpenAI's 24 September 2026 self-service country table marks Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia available, alongside the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Your legal entity and account must still satisfy onboarding and review requirements.
Is Taiwan part of OpenAI's Southeast Asia launch?
It was announced in the same expansion, but Taiwan is not Southeast Asia. The Southeast Asia count is six markets; the full announcement adds Taiwan as a seventh Asian market.
Can one agency account run ads for every market?
Do not assume so. The advertiser's legal entity, approved account, target-market choices and agency invitations govern what can be run. Confirm the allowed setup in Ads Manager for each client and market.
Do context hints target exact ChatGPT questions?
No. OpenAI says context hints inform relevance; they are not exact-match keywords or guarantees that an ad will appear for a particular conversation.
Does buying ChatGPT Ads make ChatGPT recommend our brand?
No. OpenAI says ads are labelled and separate from ChatGPT's answers. Measure sponsored ad results separately from organic mentions or source citations.