In short
- From 9 November 2026 you pick a target cost in ChatGPT Ads: Target CPA for conversion campaigns, Target CPC for click campaigns. Max Bid and Max CPC stop on 1 January 2027.
- A target is an average, not a maximum. Individual conversions or clicks can cost more or less, and even the average can come out differently.
- The system is only as smart as the signals you feed it. Without a working pixel or Conversions API, and without a realistic target, your budget sits unspent.
In this article (6)
Advertising in ChatGPT is new enough that most business owners haven’t tried it yet. And it’s already changing. Not the ads themselves, but how you bid. Good news for anyone whose tracking is in order. Bad news for anyone whose isn’t.
What’s changing
OpenAI is making ChatGPT Ads “intelligent by default”. In plain English: you say what result you want and what it may cost, and the system decides per auction what to bid. You no longer set a maximum bid per click or per impression.
There will be three ways to bid:
Intelligent bidding
The system gets as much result as possible out of your budget, with no target price. This used to be called Maximize Results or Autobid.
Target CPA
For conversion campaigns. You say what a conversion, such as a sign-up or a lead, may cost on average.
Target CPC
For click campaigns. You say what a click may cost on average. The system may bid higher or lower per auction.
And the old buttons, Max Bid and Max CPC, disappear.
When
- Monday 9 November 2026: Target CPA and Target CPC are available in Ads Manager, for new campaigns and for switching existing ones over.
- Until 1 January 2027: existing campaigns with Max Bid or Max CPC keep running as they are.
- 1 January 2027: Max Bid and Max CPC stop. Target CPA takes over from Max Bid, Target CPC from Max CPC.
Already advertising in ChatGPT? Then you have until the end of the year to switch over calmly. Not yet? In the Netherlands and Belgium you can now open an account in Ads Manager yourself.
Target CPA and Target CPC: how it works
The biggest misunderstanding sits in one word: target. A Target CPA is not a maximum. It’s an average.
Set a Target CPA of €50 and the system works towards an average of €50 per conversion. Some conversions cost €80, others €25. And even that average can end up higher or lower. OpenAI says so itself: a target is not a guaranteed price.
Same with Target CPC. Max CPC was a ceiling: never more than this per click. Target CPC lets the system bid above or below your target per auction, to get as many clicks as possible out of your budget at the average you choose.
Two more things you need to know:
- What you optimise for and what you pay for are two separate settings. A campaign can optimise for sign-ups while you pay per click or per impression.
- The auction sets the price. You pay the winning bid in the auction, whichever way of bidding you choose.
Pick a realistic target
This is where it goes wrong for anyone who thinks a lower target means cheaper leads. OpenAI warns about it itself: a target below your actual current results can choke your reach. Then your budget sits unspent and you get less, not cheaper.
An example, made up but recognisable.
You run a free online masterclass. Last month you spent €400 and got 10 sign-ups. Your real cost per sign-up: €40. Set a Target CPA of €20 now and you’re asking the system for sign-ups at half of what they’ve cost so far. Wanting it doesn’t make it happen. Start at €40, and adjust once you see what happens.
Factory bread
Picking a target based on what you'd *like* to pay.
If it's far below your real cost, the system bids too low and your budget sits unspent.
Fresh from the baker
Picking a target based on what you actually paid in recent weeks.
The system gets an achievable target and can learn what works.
Factory bread
Changing the target every day.
The system is still learning. Every change resets it.
Fresh from the baker
Looking at spend, results and average cost together, over a fixed period.
You see the trend instead of one day's noise.
Factory bread
Optimising for the cheapest sign-up.
Cheap sign-ups who don't show up or don't buy are expensive.
Fresh from the baker
Weighing your target against what a client brings you.
A €60 sign-up who often becomes a client is cheaper than a €20 one who never shows.
No tracking, no smart bidding
Smart bidding sounds like the system sorts everything out itself. It does, with the signals you give it. Give it nothing, and it sorts out nothing.
For conversion campaigns that means:
Set up the OpenAI Pixel or the Conversions API
Or both. And choose which conversion counts: a sign-up for your masterclass, a lead, a purchase.
Check that something actually comes in
OpenAI says it in so many words: installing it doesn't prove usable signals are arriving. Check that conversions really show up in your data source.
Look at the Event Quality Score
It tells you how usable the information per conversion is. Fix warnings about missing data, delays or duplicate events.
Make sure there are enough conversions
A high score doesn't mean there are enough to scale on. Few sign-ups per week? Then the system has little to learn from.
And then the part no ad platform does for you: looking at what happens after the sign-up. Did that person show up? Did it become a conversation? A client? A full room is the start, not the finish. Even when ChatGPT fills that room.
Something for your masterclass or workshop?
Honestly: we don’t have our own ChatGPT Ads figures yet. We’re testing it in earnest, but the platform is new, and anyone who claims to know exactly what it delivers is selling you something.
What we do see: this is the same direction as Meta. There too, the system decides more and more itself, and your role gets smaller in the settings and bigger in two other things. What you say, and what you measure. Read more in Meta Andromeda: why one ad for everyone no longer works.
Want to test in ChatGPT? Then don’t start at the platform. Start with the question of whether the rest is in order: a crystal-clear offer, tracking that works, and an idea of what a sign-up is worth to you. Don’t know that yet? Take the free leak test first. Thirteen questions, three minutes. Got it in order and want us to set up the test for you? Read how we approach advertising in ChatGPT.
A smart system with a dumb target is still a dumb system. Tell it what winning looks like.
Rubin is the founder of Online Marketing Bakery in Roermond. You take the stage, we fill the room. And we make sure it buys.
[email protected] · More about the bakers
Further reading: ChatGPT advertising · Meta Andromeda: one ad per buyer · Facebook advertising agency · GEO: getting found in AI answers · Event marketing · Take the free leak test
How we work: first the offer, then the room. Want to get going with a brief like this? We do that in the Sold-Out Session: your offer and your event structure in one half-day.