In the US, a law firm can advertise on ChatGPT if its lawyers are licensed in the state where the ad runs. You open an account, pass OpenAI's business verification, build a campaign with a daily budget of at least $25, and every ad is reviewed before it runs. Your state bar's advertising rules apply exactly as they do to any other ad.
Step 1. Check that you are allowed
OpenAI's ad policy now permits legal-services ads in the US, but only when the advertiser is licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction where the ad is shown. Legal-services ads outside the US are still prohibited. The policy names immigration, personal injury, legal claims and document preparation, and treats legal services as a restricted category, so ads get manual review. Until late August 2026 the policy said legal ads were not permitted, so older articles you find online are out of date.
In practice: target only the states where your lawyers are admitted. A firm licensed in Texas only cannot run a campaign aimed at Florida.
Step 2. Get verified
Every advertiser goes through OpenAI's business verification. Plan for it to take up to seven business days, and for legal advertisers, expect to be asked to confirm your license. Start before you write any ads.
Step 3. Pick a campaign goal
You choose one of three goals when you create a campaign:
| Goal | You pay per | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Views | Thousand times the ad is shown | Awareness |
| Clicks | Click | A first test; easiest to read |
| Conversions | Click or view; OpenAI shows the ad to people more likely to call or fill in a form | After tracking works |
Even on a conversions goal you do not pay per lead.
Step 4. Set the budget
The minimum is $25 a day per campaign, about $750 over a 30-day month. Daily budgets work as an average: on a busy day ChatGPT can spend up to twice your daily budget, but never more than seven times it across a week. At $25 a day that is at most $50 on one day and $175 in a week.
OpenAI has not published average click prices for legal ads, and prices are set in an auction, so size the test by what you can afford to learn from, not by a forecast. See how much ChatGPT ads cost for law firms.
Step 5. Target by place and conversation
ChatGPT ads are sold in a second-price auction weighted by relevance: the best-fitting ad can win without the highest bid, and the winner pays just enough to beat the next ad. You steer targeting through the conversation itself with "context hints", which are not exact-match keywords, and narrow by state, city or zip code. Build one campaign per case type (truck accidents, car accidents, wrongful death) so each ad matches the question being asked.
Step 6. Write the ad and the page behind it
Ads must be accurate. OpenAI prohibits exaggerated results, which matches ABA Model Rule 7.1 on false or misleading communications. Name the responsible lawyer or firm. Send each ad to a page about that case type, not your homepage, and put your state's required disclosures on that page.
Step 7. Check whether your state wants the ad filed
| State | Rule | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | File within 10 days after the ad first runs | $100 |
| Florida | File at least 20 days before first use | $150 |
| Nevada | File each paid ad within 15 days | $100 |
Florida exempts some simple ads, but an ad with an image may not qualify. Rules change; confirm with your own bar before launch. This is not legal advice. More in law firm advertising rules.
Step 8. Set up tracking before launch
OpenAI offers a pixel and a conversions API. Install them first. Without them you see clicks but not which ones became calls or signed cases. Then follow each lead through your intake sheet or CRM to a signed case.
Step 9. Know how billing works
You are billed after ads run. Card accounts are charged when spend reaches a payment threshold, adding a card can place a temporary authorization hold on your card, and larger accounts can move to invoicing.
Who sees your ad
Ads show to people on ChatGPT's Free and Go plans, including some logged-out use. Plus, Pro and business plans are ad-free, and OpenAI does not show ads to users it identifies as under 18. OpenAI says it does not share conversations with advertisers: you see aggregated results, not what people typed.
Doing it yourself or with an agency
Everything above can be done in-house. What slows firms down is verification, writing ads that pass both OpenAI review and the state bar's rules, building a separate campaign per case type, and tracking to signed cases. Bookedly (bookedly.co) runs this for law firms: Wayman Law Group in St. Louis got 3 signed cases from ChatGPT Ads in under 2 weeks. Matt Wayman said: "Had our first two calls from chatads today. Signed one of them up and the other is calling me Friday to sign up." See ChatGPT Ads for law firms. Related: What is OpenAI Ads Manager? and ChatGPT Ads vs Google Ads.
Questions
Can any lawyer advertise on ChatGPT?
In the US, yes, if the firm is licensed where the ad runs and passes OpenAI's verification and ad review.
How much does it cost to advertise on ChatGPT?
The minimum is $25 a day per campaign. Click prices come from an auction and OpenAI has not published legal-ad averages. See ChatGPT ads cost.
Do I pay per lead?
No. You pay per view or per click, even on a conversions goal.
Can I pay to be recommended inside ChatGPT's answer?
No. Ads are labeled sponsored and sit apart from the answer. Getting named in the answer is earned: see how to get your law firm recommended by ChatGPT.
Is a ChatGPT ad a "paid recommendation" under bar rules?
No bar has ruled yet. Our reading is that a labeled, separate, per-click ad looks like ordinary paid advertising. Read Can lawyers advertise on ChatGPT? and ask your bar.
Want a budget and case-type plan for your city?
Start with the Free AI Visibility Check.
Sources (checked October 28, 2026)
- OpenAI Help Center "Ads in ChatGPT: the basics"
- OpenAI Help Center "Create campaigns for ChatGPT ads"
- OpenAI Help Center
- OpenAI Help Center, billing and payment
- OpenAI, "Our approach to advertising"
- State Bar of Texas Advertising Review
- Florida Bar Handbook (Dec 2025)
- State Bar of Nevada
- ABA Model Rule 7.1