OpenAI has begun testing ads in ChatGPT for a limited set of U.S. users, with placements clearly labeled as sponsored. The platform’s internal economics suggest it’ll be available to everyone sooner rather than later.

When it does, advertisers will have access to a rare new channel for demand capture. But advertisers should enter this space with their eyes wide open.

For ChatGPT advertising to be successful, consumer behavior will need to change. And even if it does, ChatGPT won’t expand the advertising market. It’ll redistribute it.

Why ChatGPT is moving into ads

The fact that ads have arrived on ChatGPT should come as no surprise. By some estimates, a large language model (LLM) query costs 10 times as much as a traditional search query. With 2.5 billion prompts every day, ChatGPT’s expenses add up quickly.

What’s different isn’t the business model shift itself. It’s the data environment. Users have spent years feeding personal information, questions, and ideas into ChatGPT. In many ways, the platform knows more about its users than any comparable advertising tool. The big question now is how ChatGPT will harness this data to target users.

ChatGPT could become a new demand-capture channel

Advertising historically relied on generating demand: repeating a message enough times that buyers eventually acted. Search changed that by meeting buyers at the moment of intent.

ChatGPT has the potential to follow the search model, but with more context. It’s easy to envision a scenario 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 correct answer and a link to purchase.

When this happens, ChatGPT will be the first new demand-capture channel to emerge since Google launched pay-per-click ads nearly two decades ago.

But right now, there are a few significant barriers preventing this from happening.

For starters, most current AI queries lack purchase intent. Instead, they’re mostly informational: lists of Super Bowl halftime performers, storm-preparation tips, and workout routines. Compare that with existing platforms like Amazon and Google, which have spent decades training users to search with intent.

Even when users do shop through AI, there’s an attribution problem: consumers often use ChatGPT for research, then complete the purchase on Amazon, Google, or directly on a brand site. That breaks clean conversion tracking and makes “proof” harder than “impact.”

These challenges aren’t impossible to overcome. Google went through the same process early on as it transitioned from a homework tool to a shopping platform. But it took time.

ChatGPT will also need time to train consumers to use AI for shopping. So expect to see ChatGPT begin running commercials designed to train consumers to move from research queries to purchase-oriented ones.

While the possibility of a genuinely new demand-capture advertising platform is undeniably exciting, be realistic about its true potential.

Dig deeper: OpenAI quietly lays groundwork for ads in ChatGPT

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Market share reality check

AI can do many things exceptionally well, but it won’t expand the advertising pie. ChatGPT ads won’t suddenly introduce a surge of new consumers into the market. Ecommerce purchases will continue to grow at the same rate regardless of which new advertising platforms come online.

Instead, ChatGPT will capture a portion of the existing advertising share from Google, Meta, and Amazon. Consequently, advertiser budgets will likely shift rather than grow significantly.

ChatGPT’s largest competitors won’t give up market share without a fight. Google, in particular, has its own AI platform, Gemini, and an existing group of active advertisers it can draw from. These are powerful competitive headwinds for ChatGPT, which is recruiting its first group of advertisers from scratch.

Competition will be fierce among AI platforms as they race to reach profitability, and market consolidation seems inevitable. But even in that environment, ChatGPT has an opportunity to do something other platforms can’t.

The differentiator: Hyper-personalization

AI queries already lean heavily toward information gathering. Users employ these tools to help them plan everything from vacations to workout routines to tough conversations with their bosses. Taken together, AI platforms can learn more about individual users’ tastes and preferences than any other tool.

This capability unlocks hyper-personalization at scale.

Knowing everything that it does, AI can return perfectly tailored results with a one-click purchase option. Google and Amazon can’t match this capability because they still rely on users searching for particular specs, product names, or model numbers to deliver results.

There’s risk here. Hyper-personalization can feel invasive.

Some users will opt out entirely, just as some consumers avoid always-on devices in their homes. Meta ran into this dynamic years ago as public backlash forced changes in targeting and data practices.

This is where the distinction between demand capture and demand generation matters. Demand capture advertising generally feels less intrusive because it’s tied to a user’s explicit request. Most consumers will appreciate getting exactly what they ask for when they want it. But they’ll likely revolt if highly personalized and unsolicited ads start following them around the web.

If AI platforms can maintain that boundary, the convenience of hyper-personalization will ultimately win out for most users.

Dig deeper: ChatGPT ads collapse the wall between SEO and paid media

What you should do now

While OpenAI has already begun reaching out to select advertisers, it could be a year before we begin seeing widespread advertising on ChatGPT or other AI platforms. However, you should be prepared to move whenever that moment arrives.

So watch for official communications from OpenAI about ChatGPT advertising and, when possible, sign up for platform notifications.

In the meantime, you can make these few practical moves:

• Align internally on measurement expectations: If the channel starts as research-heavy, last-click ROAS may understate performance. Build room for assisted conversions and incrementality.
• Pressure-test mobile UX and checkout friction: Demand capture punishes slow experiences. If AI shortens the path to purchase, your site has to close quickly.
• Plan conservative early tests: Being an early adopter carries risk (immature controls, evolving placements), but it also creates an edge: faster learning on a genuinely new demand-capture surface.

New demand-capture channels don’t come along often. ChatGPT advertising could become one of them, but the winners won’t be the brands that rush in blindly. They’ll be the ones who enter with a clear thesis, realistic measurement, and a strategy built around trust.