There is a catch: When you switch to the ads-free tier, you’ll have lower usage limits, limits on uploading documents for review and lose access to image generation and deep research. If you use ChatGPT primarily for asking questions and conversation, this may be sufficient. If not, and you don’t want to pay a monthly fee, you may want to stick with ads. Before you make that decision, it’s good to know exactly how ads work with ChatGPT.

OpenAI says ads do not influence ChatGPT’s answers. The ads run on a separate system, and advertisers cannot shape, rank or alter a response. An ad is a paid placement, not an endorsement or recommendation from OpenAI. It can appear below a response, where it is labeled “Sponsored” and separated from the answer.

The ad you see may be related to the conversation you are having. OpenAI’s system considers the subject and apparent intent of your current chat. It also considers the ad’s title and wording, the page it links to and information and targeting choices supplied by the advertiser. The goal is to show an ad that is relevant to what you are discussing rather than one chosen at random.

If ad personalization is turned on, ChatGPT may also use selected information from your broader activity on the service. That does not mean advertisers can read your conversation. OpenAI says it does not share chats with advertisers or sell users’ data to them. Advertisers cannot access your chat history, saved memories or personal details. They receive combined, non-identifying performance figures, such as the total number of times an ad was viewed or clicked.

You can decide whether ChatGPT uses information beyond the current conversation to select ads. Open Settings and choose Ads controls. From there, you can turn off ad personalization, dismiss an ad and provide feedback, see why a particular ad appeared or clear the data used for advertising. These choices let you limit how much of your ChatGPT activity goes into ad selection without changing the way ChatGPT answers your questions.

Like with Google and other services, turning off personalization does not eliminate ads. ChatGPT can still select one based on the subject of the conversation you are currently having. However, it will not use your other chat threads, previous ad activity or topics from your broader ChatGPT use to make that choice.

Personalized ads can be useful, particularly if you are considering a purchase. Your conversation may be split over multiple chats, and this allows ChatGPT to combine relevant preferences to show you an ad that better suits your requirements. If personalization is on and you also use ChatGPT’s memory feature, saved memories and recent conversations may help determine which ads you see. You can turn off Memory for ads in settings if you want to limit the data ChatGPT can access, while still allowing you to use the free ad-supported tier.

For sensitive topics, use the Temporary Chat feature by selecting the dashed speech-bubble icon. Temporary chats disappear once you close the window and are not saved to your account, although an ad can still be selected from the context of that temporary conversation.

If you want to switch to ad-free ChatGPT, it’s easy. Open Settings in ChatGPT, select Ads controls, tap change plan to go ad-free, choose reduce message limits and confirm your change. You can revert to seeing ads at any time.

The best solution for basic use is to use the back-and-forth method. Toggle on ad-free for casual chats. If you hit the limit, go back to the ad-supported tier, a system you can maintain indefinitely. When you need more intensive resources, such as file uploads and image generation, it may be more efficient to keep the ads on to reduce interruptions to your workflow.

Leslie Meredith has been writing about technology for more than a decade. As a mom of four, value, usefulness and online safety take priority. Have a question? Email Leslie at asklesliemeredith@gmail.com.