Advertising on ChatGPT: What Businesses Need to Know

‍

AI is changing how people discover businesses, research products and make decisions. Now, advertising is becoming part of that experience. Here's what the latest developments mean for businesses, and why Zest is getting involved.

‍

For years, digital advertising has followed a fairly familiar pattern. People search Google, scroll through social media or visit a website, and businesses compete for their attention.

But what happens when someone skips the search results and asks AI instead?

"What's the best option for my business?"

"Which products should I compare before buying?"

"Can you recommend a company that does this?"

ChatGPT is becoming another place where people explore questions like these, compare alternatives and work out what to do next. And now, businesses have another way to reach potential customers within that experience.

At Zest, we're actively advertising on ChatGPT. We're still in the early stages of exploring the channel, but we think it's worth understanding how it works, where the opportunity might lie and what businesses should consider before investing.

Because while there's plenty of excitement around AI, the important question for marketers is a much more practical one: can it deliver commercial value?

ChatGPT advertising is moving quickly

‍

ChatGPT advertising is developing rapidly, with a growing audience and new campaign and measurement capabilities.

In October 2026, OpenAI reported that ChatGPT reaches 1.2 billion people each week. That's the scale of the platform OpenAI says advertisers can potentially reach, although it doesn't mean every user sees ads or is available to every campaign.

OpenAI has also expanded its advertising tools, giving businesses ways to create campaigns, manage budgets and measure performance. Its latest developments include expanded measurement partnerships and a new visual advertising format being tested in the United States.

These developments matter because advertising needs more than a large audience. Businesses need ways to reach relevant people, understand what happens after an ad is shown and assess whether the investment is worthwhile.

The platform is still evolving, and access to particular features can depend on eligibility and campaign availability. But the direction is clear: OpenAI is building out an advertising offering around the way people use conversational AI.

For marketers, that's worth paying attention to.

Of course, the size of the platform doesn't tell us whether advertising on it will work for a particular business. That's something advertisers need to establish for themselves.

‍

How does advertising on ChatGPT work?

‍

ChatGPT ads are designed to appear within the experience, generally below a ChatGPT response. They're clearly labelled and visually separate from the answer itself.

The advertising system considers several signals when selecting relevant ads, including the context and intent of the current conversation, the ad's content, its landing page and information supplied by the advertiser. Depending on a user's advertising settings, selected signals from their broader ChatGPT experience may also be used.

This creates a different environment from traditional keyword-based advertising.

Imagine someone researching accounting software for a growing business. They might ask ChatGPT to compare platforms, explain which features matter or narrow down the options.

A relevant advertiser could have an opportunity to reach that person while they're actively exploring the category.

The same principle could apply to retail, travel, professional services, education, home improvement and plenty of other industries.

The potential appeal is the context in which the ad appears. Rather than relying exclusively on a short search query or a predefined audience, advertisers have another way to connect with people as they explore a question or consider their options.

That doesn't mean ChatGPT knows exactly what someone intends to buy. Nor does it mean an ad will appear every time a relevant question is asked. It creates another opportunity to reach people in a context that may be commercially relevant.

How is it different from Google Ads and Meta?

‍

ChatGPT advertising isn't a replacement for the channels businesses already use. It has a different role to play.

Google Ads is particularly useful when people are actively searching for products, services or providers. Search advertising can capture existing demand, while Google Shopping gives retailers a way to showcase products to people looking to buy.

Meta advertising can help businesses reach audiences, introduce products, build awareness and generate demand across Facebook and Instagram.

ChatGPT advertising introduces another opportunity to reach people in a conversational environment, where they may be explaining a problem, comparing alternatives or working through a decision.

There is overlap between these channels, but their strengths aren't identical.

Someone searching for a specific product on Google may already know what they want. Someone asking ChatGPT to help compare products might still be working out which option suits them best.

Both situations have value to a marketer. The challenge is understanding which channel can reach the right audience, at the right stage, at a cost that makes commercial sense.

For some businesses, ChatGPT advertising may complement existing campaigns. For others, it may be less relevant, or not yet mature enough to justify a meaningful investment.

The point isn't to move budget simply because a new platform has arrived. It's to understand whether the channel can contribute something that existing activity isn't already delivering.

Is there evidence that ChatGPT ads work?

‍

There are encouraging early signals, but it's important to distinguish reported results from universal performance benchmarks.

OpenAI has begun sharing advertiser case studies and expanding its measurement partnerships. Its October 2026 update also highlighted third-party measurement findings, including a report from DV Rockerbox that WeightWatchers' attributed cost per acquisition on ChatGPT ads was 15.3% lower than its blended paid search benchmark.

That's an interesting result, but it needs context. It's a reported comparison from a particular advertiser, not a prediction of what other businesses will achieve. Results will vary according to the product, audience, campaign, market and measurement method.

The same caution applies to return on ad spend, cost per click and conversion rates.

A campaign can attract inexpensive clicks without generating sales. A high return on ad spend doesn't necessarily mean high profit. And a conversion attributed to an ad doesn't automatically prove that the ad caused the purchase.

For businesses considering ChatGPT advertising, the real test is whether the channel can generate worthwhile results relative to its cost and the alternatives.

That requires proper measurement, realistic expectations and enough data to make a meaningful comparison.

What should businesses measure?

‍

The metrics that matter depend on what a campaign is trying to achieve.

For an awareness campaign, impressions and reach may be useful indicators. For a campaign designed to attract visitors, clicks, click-through rate and cost per click provide a starting point.

For businesses focused on enquiries or sales, the more important measures are further down the funnel.

These might include:

• Conversion rate: How many visitors take the desired action?
• Cost per acquisition: How much does it cost to generate a customer or qualified lead?
• Return on ad spend: How much attributed revenue is generated relative to advertising spend?
• Customer quality: Are the enquiries or sales commercially valuable?
• Incremental value: Is the channel generating additional business, or simply taking credit for conversions that would have happened anyway?

OpenAI's advertising tools provide reporting on metrics such as impressions, clicks, spend, click-through rate and average cost per click. Conversion measurement is also supported, subject to the campaign's eligibility and setup.

Advertisers can use tracking parameters on landing page URLs to identify traffic from ChatGPT ads in their existing analytics tools. Where supported, conversion tracking can help connect campaign activity with actions taken on a website.

Attribution still needs careful consideration. Different platforms can report on the same customer journey in different ways, so businesses should compare like with like wherever possible.

The goal is to build a realistic picture of performance, rather than relying on whichever dashboard presents the most flattering numbers.

What about privacy and trust?

‍

Advertising in a conversational environment naturally raises questions about privacy and how ads are selected.

OpenAI says ads are separate from ChatGPT's answers. Advertisers cannot pay to influence the answers ChatGPT generates, and OpenAI says it keeps conversations private from advertisers and does not sell user data.

The advertising system can use contextual signals to select relevant ads, subject to the platform's settings and controls. Advertisers receive campaign reporting rather than access to individual users' private conversations.

This distinction matters. The opportunity is to make advertising relevant to what people are exploring, not to give businesses access to private discussions.

Trust will be important as the platform develops. People use ChatGPT for all sorts of tasks, from everyday questions to more personal or sensitive subjects. Advertising needs to fit within that experience without undermining confidence in the answers.

For businesses, this is another reason to think carefully about relevance. A well-matched ad can be useful. An irrelevant one is just another interruption.

Should your business advertise on ChatGPT?

‍

The honest answer is that it depends on your audience, your objectives and the economics of your business.

If your customers research options before making a decision, ChatGPT advertising is worth investigating. That could include retailers, service providers, tourism businesses, software companies, professional firms and many others.

But being able to advertise on a platform doesn't mean you should.

Businesses need to consider whether their potential customers use ChatGPT, whether the advertising format suits their offering, how much they can afford to spend testing the channel and whether they can measure the results properly.

There is also the question of readiness. A clear proposition, a useful landing page and a strong customer experience still matter. A new advertising platform won't fix a website that fails to convert visitors or an offer that doesn't stand out.

For most businesses, we wouldn't recommend abandoning established channels in favour of ChatGPT. Google Ads, Meta and other platforms already play valuable roles in many marketing strategies.

A more sensible approach is to identify where ChatGPT might complement existing activity, run a controlled test and evaluate the results against clear commercial objectives.

Some businesses may find a compelling opportunity. Others may discover that their budget is better spent elsewhere. Both are useful outcomes.

Why Zest is getting involved now

‍

We're now actively testing ChatGPT advertising, with an initial focus on e-commerce. We're interested in how the platform can reach potential customers, how its campaign tools perform in practice and whether it can deliver value alongside established advertising channels.

We're still early in that process. We're not going to pretend we've cracked the code or make sweeping claims based on limited results.

Instead, we're getting hands on with the platform, learning how it works and paying attention to what the data tells us. That gives us a practical understanding of the opportunities and limitations as the channel develops.

We're also looking at the bigger picture. Advertising doesn't operate in isolation. The strength of a brand, the quality of a website, the clarity of an offer and the ability to turn interest into a sale or enquiry all contribute to the outcome.

A new platform is only useful if it helps a business achieve something worthwhile.

That's the approach we're taking with ChatGPT advertising: curiosity, practical testing and a focus on commercial results.

A new channel worth understanding

‍

Digital marketing has never stood still. Search, social media and online advertising have all evolved as technology and customer behaviour have changed. AI is now influencing how people discover information, compare options and make decisions.

ChatGPT advertising is still developing, and there's plenty to learn about its long term role in the marketing mix. But with an audience of 1.2 billion people per week reported by OpenAI, expanding advertising tools and new measurement capabilities, it's a channel businesses should understand.

That doesn't mean every business needs to advertise on ChatGPT today. It means understanding the opportunity before deciding whether it's right for you.

Zest is already exploring that opportunity and learning what it takes to make the channel work.

Want to know whether ChatGPT advertising could fit your marketing strategy? Get in touch with us. We'll help you assess the opportunity and work out whether it's worth testing for your business.

‍