OpenAI's self-serve Ads Manager is now in open beta for U.S. businesses, including home services contractors, a category that spans plumbing, HVAC, roofing, electrical, remodeling, and general contracting. As of May 2026, the platform is available with no minimum spend requirement, allowing contractors of any size to bid on sponsored placements that appear below relevant responses when homeowners ask ChatGPT about repairs, installations, or improvement projects.
The system uses contextual intent matching rather than keyword auctions: advertisers write thematic guidance describing the questions and situations homeowners bring to ChatGPT, and OpenAI matches ads to those conversations. OpenAI recommends a starting cost-per-click of $3 to $5, with CPM bidding ranging from a $60 default down to roughly $25 in observed buys.
Advertisers receive aggregated performance data only; OpenAI does not share user chat history or personal details with advertisers. Local services sit alongside household goods, travel, and digital products in the initial ad categories, while sensitive verticals such as health, mental health, and politics remain excluded.
Homeowners are also being routed to home services professionals through embedded marketplace apps from Angi and Thumbtack, which connect requests inside ChatGPT to their existing pro networks.
Contrast: Apple Maps takes the opposite approach. I covered this earlier in July: Apple, which is preparing to launch its own Maps advertising product in the U.S. and Canada this summer, updated its advertising policy on July 14 to explicitly prohibit home services from Apple Maps ads. That category includes trades like plumbing, electrical, locksmith, HVAC, pest control, roofing, and general contracting. Apple also bans bail bond services, cryptocurrency ATMs, and political ads from the platform, and will evaluate medical services ads on a case-by-case basis. Apple did not publicly explain the rationale for excluding home services.
The decision sets Apple apart from Google, where Local Services Ads represent one of the largest local advertising categories, and from OpenAI's newly open ChatGPT ad marketplace.
Open AI (ChatGPT) and Apple's announcements land as home services contractors weigh a growing set of options for reaching homeowners at the point of inquiry, with some platforms actively courting the category, and others deliberately keeping it out.
For further information on the specifics of advertising within OpenAI (ChatGPT), visit their Ad Policies page.
