As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes higher education, the University of New England (UNE) has responded — not by banning the technology, but by running ads on ChatGPT.
In the first pilot of its kind involving an Australian education provider, the Armidale-based university is testing if ads featured in ChatGPT conversations can drive new student enrolments.
“This isn’t experimentation for the sake of it,” said Michaela Lobb, UNE’s head of marketing, in a statement provided to SmartCompany.
“It’s about understanding, in real time, what drives engagement, intent and action, whilst using that to build a more responsive, performance-led student journey.”
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The pilot comes during intense competition for enrolments, as strict visa requirements convince many international students to consider options beyond Australia.
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At the same time, young Australians are rapidly adopting AI tools.
Nearly 79% of local students were generative AI users in 2025, and a growing proportion of would-be university scholars are already using platforms like ChatGPT before pursuing higher education.
Through the ChatGPT pilot, UNE is “building capability in environments where behaviour is already shifting,” said Lobb.
UNE is just one of several organisations testing ChatGPT ads locally through the pilot program.
Sydney digital marketing agency WiredCo is also taking part, with founder and CEO Ange Hamilton telling Campaign Brief that ChatGPT is “rapidly” becoming a “recommendation engine for consumers”.
Local behaviour is “moving fast from ‘search and click’ to ‘ask and trust,’” she added, highlighting the challenges ChatGPT ads pose to ‘traditional’ digital advertising platforms like Google and Meta.
Ads trial builds OpenAI revenue model
The local trial launched on April 17, and introduces ads to local users on ChatGPT’s free and entry-level Go tiers.
Discussing the test last week, Benji Shomair, a monetisation lead at OpenAI, said the test will not bombard users with promotional copy.
“Similar to our US pilot, we are rolling this test out slowly while we measure areas like trust metrics, dismissal rates, and relevance,” he said on LinkedIn.
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“We’ll expand the pilot carefully – learning from usage and improving over time.”
In a statement provided to SmartCompany, an OpenAI spokesperson called Australia a “hugely important” market for the business.
“Usage has more than doubled in the past 12 months and we’ve seen continued momentum since establishing our local Australia team, which makes it a natural place to deepen our understanding of how this should work for users outside the US,” they said.
The local ads pilot will to help the company “test, learn and refine the experience in key markets where we can move quickly, while holding a high bar for user experience,” the spokesperson added.
OpenAI is also testing ads in New Zealand and Canada, after introducing the revenue-raising system to the US market earlier this year.
Given OpenAI’s surging cash burn rate, and the closure of generative models like Sora, ChatGPT advertising is expected to become an increasingly important part of its revenue-raising strategy.
And running ChatGPT ads could cost brands a premium compared to more established digital marketing inventory.
Adnews reports the CPM — the cost per 1,000 impressions — for ChatGPT ads currently varies between $US15 to $US60, depending on how many advertisers are vying for the same ad space.
The average Google Ads CPM was US$11.12 in 2025, according to advertising infrastructure company Pixis.
The ChatGPT ad CPM is likely to shift as more brands and users interact with the system.
