ChatGPT ads are coming — here’s how to prepare now

OpenAI has begun testing ads on ChatGPT for a limited set of US users, placements clearly labeled as sponsored. The internal economics of this platform suggest that it will be available to everyone sooner rather than later.

If it does, marketers will have access to a rare new demand capture channel. But marketers should enter this space with their eyes open.

For ChatGPT advertising to be successful, consumer behavior will have to change. And even then, ChatGPT will not expand the advertising market. It will redistribute.

Why does ChatGPT enter ads

The fact that ads have come to ChatGPT should not surprise us. By some estimates, a large language model (LLM) query is 10 times more expensive than a traditional search query. With 2.5 billion messages every day, the cost of ChatGPT is growing rapidly.

The exception is not a change in the business model itself. It is a data area. Users have spent years providing personal information, questions, and opinions on ChatGPT. In many ways, the platform knows more about its users than any comparable advertising tool. The big question now is how ChatGPT will use this data to target users.

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Advertising has historically relied on demand generation: repeating a message enough times that consumers eventually act. Search has changed that by meeting consumers at the moment of intent.

ChatGPT has the ability to follow the search model, but with more context. It’s easy to imagine a situation where someone asks which security camera will work with their existing system. The platform already knows everything about the user’s security system, so it delivers the right answer and the purchase link.

If this happens, ChatGPT will be the first new channel to appear since Google introduced pay-per-click ads nearly two decades ago.

But right now, there are several important obstacles preventing this from happening.

First, most current AI inquiries do not have a purchase intent. Instead, they’re more informative: Super Bowl halftime lineups, hurricane preparation tips, and workout routines. Contrast that with existing platforms like Amazon and Google, which have spent decades training users to search with intent.

Even if users shop with AI, there is a problem of responsibility: consumers often use ChatGPT to conduct research, and then complete the purchase on Amazon, Google, or directly on the product site. That breaks the clean tracking of conversions and makes “evidence” more difficult than “effect.”

These challenges are impossible to overcome. Google went through a similar process early on as it transitioned from a homework tool to a shopping destination. But it took time.

ChatGPT will also need time to train consumers to use AI when shopping. So expect to see ChatGPT start using marketing tools designed to train consumers to move from research questions to buying.

While the prospect of a truly new advertising platform is undeniably exciting, be sure about its true potential.

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A real check for market share

AI can do many things very well, but it will not increase advertising. ChatGPT ads will not suddenly stop the increase of new buyers in the market. Ecommerce purchases will continue to grow at the same rate no matter what new advertising platforms come online.

Instead, ChatGPT will capture a portion of the existing advertising share from Google, Meta, and Amazon. As a result, advertisers’ budgets may change rather than grow.

ChatGPT’s biggest competitors won’t give up market share without a fight. Google, in particular, has its own AI space, Gemini, and an existing team of active marketers to draw from. These are the strong competitive spirits of ChatGPT, which attracted its first group of advertisers from the beginning.

Competition will intensify among AI platforms as they race to reach profitability, and market consolidation seems inevitable. But even in that area, ChatGPT has the potential to do something that other platforms can’t.

The difference: Hyper-personalization

AI queries already rely heavily on information gathering. Users use these tools to help them plan everything from vacations to workouts to difficult conversations with their bosses. When combined, AI platforms can learn more about individual user preferences and preferences than any other tool.

This capability opens up greater personalization at scale.

Knowing everything it does, AI can return results that are perfectly aligned with the purchase option in one click. Google and Amazon can’t match this ability because they still rely on users searching for specific features, product names, or model numbers to deliver results.

There is danger here. Hyper-personalization can feel invasive.

Some users will opt out altogether, just as some consumers avoid always-on devices in their homes. Meta entered these turbulent years last year as public backlash forced changes in the direction and behavior of data.

This is the difference between demand capture and demand generation. On-demand capture advertising often feels less appealing because it’s based on a specific user request. Most buyers will be happy to find exactly what they are looking for when they want it. But they will revolt when highly personalized and unsolicited ads start following them around the web.

If AI platforms can maintain that edge, the ease of personalization will finally be successful for many users.

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What you have to do now

Although OpenAI has already started reaching select advertisers, it may be a year before we start seeing widespread advertising on ChatGPT or other AI platforms. However, you should be ready to move whenever that time comes.

So look for official communications from OpenAI about ChatGPT advertising and, if possible, sign up for forum notifications.

In the meantime, you can take these few practical steps:

• Match within the measurement expectations: If the channel starts as heavy research, the last click ROAS may underestimate the performance. Create an environment for assisted conversion and ascension.
• Check out the mobile UX and checkout interface: Demand capture penalizes a slow experience. If AI is shortening the purchase path, your site should take off quickly.
• Schedule an early follow-up exam: Early detection is risky (raw controls, dynamic positioning), but it also creates an edge: learning quickly in a truly new shooting environment.

New recording channels don’t always appear. ChatGPT advertising may be one of them, but the winners won’t be the brands that go in blind. They will be the ones who come in with a clear thesis, realistic measurements, and a strategy built on trust.