- ChatGPT app suggestions have now been disabled after some users mistook them for ads
- OpenAI suggests future user controls to determine which suggestions are displayed
- The backlash suggests that ads would not be welcome on the platform
User anger and confusion over ads appearing in ChatGPT continues, and it now appears that OpenAI has completely turned off its controversial app suggestions because they looked too much like ads.
Over the weekend, various executives at OpenAI offered conflicting perspectives on the “ads that aren’t ads” situation, with Marc Chen, Chief Research Officer at OpenAI, suggesting in a response to X.com that the company turn off app suggestions entirely until it can “improve the precision of the model.”
Chen also suggested that OpenAI may implement a way for users to turn off app suggestions in the future. “We’re also looking at better controls so you can turn this down or off if you don’t find it useful.”
I agree that anything that feels like an ad should be handled with care and we fell short. We have turned off this kind of suggestion while we improve the accuracy of the model. We’re also looking at better controls so you can turn this down or off if you don’t find it useful.5 December 2025
How we got here
ChatGPT introduced recently apps in conversations, meaning you can start an app just by asking a question. Currently, ChatGPT supports apps from Booking.com, Canva, Expedia and others. OpenAI has also released an SDK for developers so that more apps can be added in the future.
The problem arose because ChatGPT also suggests apps automatically when they seem relevant to the discussion. For example, if you’re talking about buying a new house, ChatGPT might suggest the Zillow app so you can browse listings inside ChatGPT using an interactive map.
Unfortunately, these app suggestions look extremely similar to ads when displayed, as shown in screenshots circulating online. Ads have never been a part of the ChatGPT experience until now.
User confusion
Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT, denied that OpenAI was running ads in a post on X, suggesting the confusion was due to user misunderstandings rather than OpenAI’s intentions.
I’m experiencing a lot of confusion about advertising rumors in ChatGPT. There are no live tests for ads – any screenshots you’ve seen are either not real or not ads. If we pursue ads, we take a thoughtful approach. People trust ChatGPT and everything we do will be designed to respect that.December 6, 2025
“I see a lot of confusion around ad rumors in ChatGPT. There are no live tests for ads, and all the screenshots you’ve seen are either not real or not ads. If we pursue ads, we’ll take a thoughtful approach. People trust ChatGPT, and everything we do will be designed to respect that.”
But as users pointed out, if an app suggestion is indistinguishable from an ad, it doesn’t matter what OpenAI calls it because the user experience is exactly the same.
“Fakes aside, the real ones that are ‘not ads’ still erode trust in the ChatGPT experience because they feel like ads,” said X user Ben Dickenson.
In contrast, Marc Chen was more conciliatory, admitting that ChatGPT’s app suggestions felt like ads. He stated that the company has currently turned them off, saying it “fell short” of user expectations.
Coming up short
There appears to have been some internal confusion at OpenAI over the weekend. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is usually quick to comment on ChatGPT issues, has been noticeably quiet on X recently, and there hasn’t been an official statement from the OpenAI account.
It seems inevitable that ads will come to the ChatGPT platform one day, but user backlash over app suggestions that looked like ads suggests they wouldn’t be welcomed, especially by paying customers.
OpenAI may insist it wasn’t ads, but users have made it clear that intent doesn’t matter; only perception does. When ChatGPT brings back suggestions, they need to feel unmistakably different from advertising, or the backlash will return just as quickly.
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