Recently, several users on social media and online boards claimed that ChatGPT is showing advertisements during chats — even though the company says the service remains ad-free. Confusion spiked after a screenshot shared by a user showed what looked like a suggestion to “Connect Peloton” in the middle of a conversation about unrelated topics. That unexpected prompt sparked outrage among those who treat ChatGPT as a neutral, distraction-free assistant.
Internally at ChatGPT’s parent company, engineers have confirmed that what appears in the screenshot isn’t a paid ad, but part of a new suggestion/“apps-discovery” feature: the assistant may propose apps or services that it thinks could help with tasks. According to them, there’s no financial transaction behind these suggestions — they’re meant to help users explore tools or services, not to promote or sell. That explanation has calmed some critics, but many remain skeptical: to them, a random suggestion among AI answers feels and reads like an ad.
At the same time, evidence found in a beta version of the ChatGPT Android app hints that the company might be laying the groundwork for traditional ad integration. Identifiers like “search ad,” “ads feature,” and “search ads carousel” appear in the code — terms commonly used for advertisement tools. Though these features aren’t enabled yet, their mere presence in the codebase has raised red flags among privacy- and user-experience-conscious users, who fear the shift from “free but clean” to “free but ad-supported.”
The possibility of ads has triggered wider concern. If ChatGPT begins showing ads — even only to free users — many feel that the tool’s identity could change: from a trusted, neutral assistant into another “free, ad-supported service,” where suggestions may carry hidden commercial motives. For professionals, students or anyone using ChatGPT for serious work, even subtle commercial influence inside answers could reduce trust or introduce bias.
For now, no official ad rollout has been announced, and paid users (on subscription tiers) continue to expect an ad-free experience. But with internal code suggesting future ad functionality, the debate remains open — and many longtime users of ChatGPT are paying close attention.
