ChatGPT Advertising: A Marketer's Guide to OpenAI's New Ad Platform

OpenAI just opened a new front in the attention wars.

As of today, ChatGPT - with its 800 million monthly users - is becoming an advertising platform. If you're running paid media, this needs to be on your radar.

Here's what we know, what we don't, and how to prepare.

The Basics

OpenAI is testing ads in the US for logged-in adults on the free tier and the new $8/month "Go" plan. Ads appear at the bottom of responses when there's a relevant sponsored product or service.

Key details:

• Personalisation is on by default (users can opt out)
• No ads near health, mental health, or political topics
• No ads served to under-18s
• Plus, Pro, and Enterprise subscribers remain ad-free
• OpenAI claims responses won't be influenced by advertisers

No word yet on buying mechanisms, CPM ranges, or targeting options. But we can make some educated guesses based on what's been reported.

Why This Platform Is Different

Forget everything you know about search ads. This is a different animal.

Context depth is unmatched. A Google search gives you a keyword. A ChatGPT conversation gives you intent, constraints, preferences, objections, and emotional state - all in natural language. The targeting potential is extraordinary.

Someone asking ChatGPT to help plan a budget holiday to Spain while mentioning they have two kids, hate crowds, and need wheelchair accessibility isn't comparable to someone searching "spain holiday." The specificity is on another level.

The user is leaning in. ChatGPT users are actively engaged in problem-solving mode. They're not scrolling past your ad in a feed. They're in a conversation, looking for answers. If your product genuinely solves their problem, the receptivity is high.

Generative ad creative. Reports suggest OpenAI is exploring ads where the AI generates the pitch based on conversation context. Instead of static ad copy, the system could dynamically highlight different product features depending on what the user cares about.

This is personalisation at a scale we haven't seen before.

The Targeting Opportunity

Based on internal discussions reported by The Information, OpenAI is thinking about this as "intent-based monetisation."

Rather than targeting demographics or keywords, you'd target moments of intent. Someone actively trying to solve a problem your product addresses.

Potential targeting vectors (speculative, based on reports):

• Conversational topics - trigger ads when users discuss relevant subjects
• Stated preferences - users often tell ChatGPT exactly what they want
• Problem patterns - recognising when someone is trying to solve something your product addresses
• Purchase intent signals - questions about pricing, comparisons, "best" queries

The platform already has an "Instant Checkout" feature letting users buy from Walmart and Etsy directly through ChatGPT. Connecting ads to frictionless purchasing is an obvious next step.

What We Don't Know Yet

Plenty of gaps remain:

• Auction mechanics - CPM? CPC? Cost per conversation?
• Targeting granularity - how specific can you get?
• Measurement and attribution - how will conversions be tracked?
• Creative specs - what formats will be available?
• Inventory volume - how many ad-eligible conversations happen daily?
• Geographic rollout - US first, but when does this go global?

Until OpenAI opens the platform more widely, we're working with limited information. But that's also the opportunity - getting in early typically means better rates and less competition.

Strategic Considerations

Where This Fits in Your Media Mix

ChatGPT advertising sits somewhere between search and social:

• Search-like intent - users are actively looking for solutions
• Social-like context - rich conversational data for targeting
• Neither's scale - 800M users is significant but not Google/Meta territory

Early hypothesis: this works best for considered purchases where people naturally seek advice. Think software, professional services, travel, education, financial products, health and wellness.

Impulse purchases might be harder. Nobody asks ChatGPT what snack to buy.

The Trust Factor

ChatGPT's value proposition is unbiased helpfulness. The moment users feel they're being sold to rather than helped, engagement drops.

OpenAI knows this. They've promised clear labelling and separation between ads and responses. Whether that holds as revenue pressure mounts is another question.

For advertisers, this creates an interesting constraint: your offering needs to be genuinely helpful in context. Hard sells and aggressive tactics will likely backfire. The ads that perform will be the ones that feel like useful recommendations rather than interruptions.

Creative Approach

If generative ad creative becomes reality, the game changes completely.

Instead of writing 47 ad variations for A/B testing, you'd provide:

• Product information and key benefits
• Target customer profiles
• Constraints (claims you can/can't make)

Then let the AI generate contextually relevant pitches in real-time.

This means your inputs matter more than your copy. Clear, accurate product data. Well-defined value propositions. Specific use cases. The AI does the rest.

It's a shift from "write great ads" to "provide great information that enables great ads."

What to Do Now

1. Watch the Beta Closely

When OpenAI opens this to advertisers, pay attention. Follow the trade press, join relevant communities, see what early testers report. First-mover advantage is real in new channels.

2. Audit Your Product Information

If AI is going to generate ads for you, it needs good inputs. Is your product information clear, accurate, and comprehensive? Are your key benefits well-articulated? Do you have data on what actually resonates with customers?

Clean this up now.

3. Think About AI Visibility Generally

Paid is only half the equation. ChatGPT also makes organic recommendations. How does the AI perceive your brand? What does it say about you when users ask?

Search "best [your category]" or "[problem you solve]" in ChatGPT. See what comes up. That's your AI visibility baseline.

4. Prepare for Measurement Challenges

Attribution is going to be messy. Conversational AI doesn't fit neatly into existing tracking frameworks. Start thinking now about how you'll measure impact - direct response, brand lift, incrementality testing.

Don't expect perfect attribution from day one.

5. Budget Allocation

Don't bet the farm on an untested platform. But do carve out experimental budget. 5-10% of your test-and-learn allocation for emerging channels seems reasonable.

The goal isn't immediate ROI. It's learning how the platform works before your competitors figure it out.

The Bigger Picture

ChatGPT advertising is the first significant crack in Google's grip on intent-based marketing.

For two decades, if you wanted to reach people actively looking for solutions, Google was the only game in town. That's changing. AI assistants are capturing queries that would previously have gone to search.

This won't replace Google overnight. But it does mean the paid media landscape is fragmenting. Search, social, retail media, and now conversational AI. More platforms to learn, more budgets to split, more complexity to manage.

The marketers who thrive will be those who experiment early, learn fast, and adapt their strategies as these platforms evolve.

ChatGPT ads are just the beginning.

Want help preparing your marketing strategy for AI platforms? Get in touch to discuss how I can help.