Future of Advertising with ChatGPT for Marketers

For those who are not aware, OpenAI has recently, and quietly, started testing ads inside ChatGPT in the United States. These are currently being shown to Free and Go users, and early signals suggest this will scale quickly.

According to OpenAI’s own announcement, this is part of a broader effort to expand access to the platform while keeping the experience intact. Early coverage from Reuters also suggests that the pilot is already generating significant revenue, which usually means one thing. This is not an experiment that will disappear.

At first glance, this might seem like just another ad placement. It is not.

This is the first time we are seeing ads inside a system that does not just return results, but actually gives answers and advice. That is a very different environment, and it changes how decisions are made.

How ads work inside ChatGPT

The experience is simple, a user asks a question, ChatGPT provides an answer, and then relevant ads appear next to or below the conversation.

If you want to see how this looks in practice, OpenAI has shared early examples as part of their announcement, where sponsored results sit clearly separated from the main answer but still aligned with the user’s intent.

For performance marketers, this creates a completely new moment. You are no longer competing for attention while someone is browsing. You are present when someone is actively asking for guidance.

It is also important to understand that the system has been designed very deliberately. The answer itself is not influenced by advertisers, and ads are clearly marked as sponsored. What drives them is the context of the conversation, meaning what the user is asking at that exact moment.

This might sound like a small detail, but it is what makes the entire model work.

This is where the shift begins

In traditional search, the user is in control. They search, they scan multiple results, they compare, and then they decide, inside ChatGPT, that process is compressed.

The user asks a question, the system provides a structured answer, and in many cases, the decision is already being shaped before the user even considers clicking anywhere. There are no ten blue links. There is often one clear explanation. We are moving away from “Who ranks first?” and closer to “Who gets included?”, and that is a very different game.

Why this matters for performance marketing

What makes this particularly interesting is the type of intent because users are not casually browsing, they are asking direct and practical questions. What tool should I use? What is the best option for my situation? How do these products compare?

This is not early-stage discovery. This is much closer to a decision.In many cases, the research, comparison, and recommendation are happening in a single interaction. The journey is shorter, and the influence is stronger.

For marketers who are used to optimizing funnels, this changes where the most important moment actually happens.

Where things stand today

At the moment, access to these ads is still limited. There is no public self-serve platform like Google Ads yet, and most of the activity is happening through selected partners and early integrations.

However, based on both OpenAI’s communication and industry reporting, a broader rollout is expected. Once a self-serve model becomes available, adoption will likely accelerate very quickly.

We have seen this pattern before. Early stages tend to come with lower competition, pricing inefficiencies, and a short window where those who move first gain a clear advantage.

What changes from here

The biggest shift is not technical, it is behavioural. People are no longer searching in short keywords. They are asking complete questions, often very specific, and often very close to a decision. That changes how intent needs to be understood.

At the same time, visibility is no longer only about getting the click, in some cases, there may not even be a click. The brand that is mentioned, recommended, or aligned with the answer is already part of the decision process. That puts pressure on clarity. If your product cannot be easily understood, compared, and summarised, it becomes much harder to surface in this type of environment.

This also changes how advertising will feel. These are not placements that interrupt a user while they scroll, they appear at the moment someone is looking for direction.

This all means the standard is different, messages that feel forced or overly promotional will struggle. Messages that feel relevant and useful will perform better.

What this means for marketers

This is one of those moments where the shift looks small at the beginning, but it is not. If you are used to competing for clicks, you will need to start thinking about how to be part of the answer. If your strategy depends on traffic alone, you may find that traffic becomes less predictable and necessary.

The advantage will go to those who move early, understand how intent is expressed in conversations, and position their products in a way that is easy to recommend. Because in this environment, being visible is no longer enough. You need to be the one that gets suggested.

To make sure you are visible you can start with using tools such as Bing's New AI performance dashboard.

Final thought

We are starting to see a shift from “Where should I click?” to “What should I do?”, that may seem like a small difference, but it is not. Because once the answer becomes the destination, the most valuable place to be is no longer the top of the page but inside the answer itself.