September 2026 | Digital Marketing | Performance Marketing
For a time, digital advertising has been controlled by a group of well-known platforms: Google for people looking for something Meta for people exploring new things, TikTok for people wanting to be entertained and programmatic networks for people wanting to reach a lot of people.
That situation is changing.
With ChatGPT Ads appearing in Europe at the end of August 2026 advertisers now have an option: an advertising space that is based on conversations with artificial intelligence.
This is not another place to place your ad or promote a product. It might be the start of a kind of advertising. Advertising that is based on conversations and what people want to achieve.
For Performance Marketers that makes ChatGPT very interesting.
What Are ChatGPT Ads?
At the level ChatGPT Ads let companies promote their products or services inside the ChatGPT experience. The key difference is that these ads are next to an AI conversation, not on a search page or a social media feed. OpenAI has designed the ad experience to be relevant and based on what the user is trying to do. The ads are clearly separated from the regular responses from ChatGPT and the companies advertising do not have control over what the AI says.
This difference is important.
People are not just looking through content. Seeing an ad. They are asking questions looking for solutions comparing things and making choices. This creates a different situation for advertising.
The Change from Search Intent to Conversational Intent
Search ads have always relied on words people type.
A person searches:
“Best CRM for business”
Google sees the question companies pay for relevant words and the person sees a mix of organic results and paid ads.
Now imagine the same person asks ChatGPT:
“I run an e-commerce business with five workers. We need a CRM that’s easy to use has automation works with email and costs less than €100 a month. What would you suggest?”
This is not a few words. It is a description of a problem, a need, a budget, a preference and the desire to make a purchase. That is why conversational AI is so interesting for advertising. The signal for ads is not just what someone looks up. It can be what they want to achieve.
Why This Is Important for the Advertising Business?
Advertising has always been about being in the place at the right time. The industry has slowly moved from targeting people by age or gender to more advanced methods that look at what people are interested in and what they are searching for.
First, we asked:
“Who is this person?”
“What are they interested in?”
Then:
“What are they looking for?”
AI adds a new question:
“What problem are they trying to solve now?”
That could be very valuable.
A person searching for “running shoes” is interesting.
A person talking to an AI:
“I have started running three times a week and need shoes for long-distance running but my budget is €150.”
is more valuable for business.
The second situation has more information. Information is becoming one of the most important things in online advertising.
ChatGPT Ads Compared to Google, Meta and TikTok
It would be wrong to see ChatGPT Ads as a replacement for advertising platforms. Each one captures moments in the journey a customer goes through.
| Platform | Main Strength | Typical User Mindset |
| Search and existing demand | “I am looking for something.” | |
| Meta | Discovery and audience targeting | “Show me something interesting.” |
| TikTok | Attention and discovery | “Entertain or inspire me.” |
| ChatGPT | Research and decision-making | “Help me figure this out.” |
This is a difference.
Google is very good when people already know what they want. Meta and TikTok are great for creating interest. ChatGPT could be useful in another part of the journey:
Research → Evaluation → Decision
That could make it very useful for products that need a lot of thinking.
Where ChatGPT Ads Could Work Best?
Not every product is a fit for ads that are part of a conversation. The best places are categories where people already spend time looking for information comparing options and asking questions.
1. SaaS and B2B Software
This is one of the obvious choices.
Imagine someone asking:
“What is the best CRM for a team?”
“Which project management software should I use if I have a remote team of 20 people?”
These users are already looking for information.
SaaS companies can place themselves right at this moment. Relevant areas include:
- CRM
- Marketing automation
- Project management
- Accounting software
- HR platforms
- Analytics tools
- AI software
- Cybersecurity
- Collaboration tools
For SaaS companies the mix of “consideration and clear results” makes this channel very appealing.
2. E-commerce
E-commerce is another chance. Traditional social ads often work by showing people products they may not have been looking for. ChatGPT offers a way.
A person might say:
“I need a birthday gift for my brother. He likes coffee already has an espresso machine and I have a budget of around €100.”
This is very different from product ads. The person has a problem. They have given details, budget and they are looking for a solution.
This is the kind of situation where conversational advertising can be very strong.
3. Travel
Travel is naturally good for AI research. People often ask questions like:
“Where should I go for a five-day trip in October?”
“Find me a family- hotel in Spain under €1,500.”
“Which is better for a couple’s holiday: Mallorca or Tenerife?”
Travel decisions involve choices, which makes AI very helpful. For travel companies, hotels, airlines, booking sites and experience providers appearing during the research phase could be very valuable.
4. Education
Education is another area. People rarely decide on education based on one ad. They research, compare and ask questions.
For example:
“I want to switch to data analytics. What should I learn?”
That person might eventually become a customer of a course a university or a certification provider. ChatGPT could be a part of that journey.
5. Financial and Professional Services
Financial products, insurance, consulting, legal services and other professional services are also very research-heavy. However, these areas need a lot of care when it comes to rules and advertising policies.
For these industries the chance could be big. Compliance should come first.
Where ChatGPT Ads May Not Be Effective
ChatGPT should not be part of every plan. Products that rely on decisions, visual discovery or entertainment may still do better on platforms like Meta or TikTok.
For example, a fashion brand with a collection may get more value from Instagram or TikTok, where looking at pictures and videos is important.
Also, a brand looking for a lot of people to see the ad may find ad methods or social ads more useful.
The main question is not:
“Can I advertise on ChatGPT?”**
It is:
“Do my customers use AI when deciding to buy my product?”
If the answer is yes, the channel is more interesting.
The Performance Marketing Chance
This is where things get really interesting. ChatGPT Ads are not just about making people aware. OpenAI is building the platform with tracking, conversions and performance in mind including tools like the OpenAI Pixel and the Conversions API. This means companies can go beyond measuring:
Impressions → Clicks
Look at:
Impressions → Clicks → Conversions → Revenue
For Performance Marketers this is very important.
A new ad channel is more valuable when it connects with real business results.
CPC Is Not the Whole Story
One of the biggest mistakes advertisers can make with a platform is only looking at CPC. A cost of €0.20 per click is not always better than a cost of €1.50 per click. What matters is what is happening after the click.
Imagine two channels:
- Channel A: CPC: €0.30, Conversion Rate: 1%, CPA: €30
- Channel B: CPC: €1.20, Conversion Rate: 10%, CPA: €12
The second channel is clearly better even though it costs more per click. The same will apply to ChatGPT Ads. The real question is:
Can ChatGPT bring in customers who’re valuable, at a cost that works?
That is what advertisers should check.
The New Measure: Intent Quality
One metric I would pay attention to is something that traditional advertising platforms do not always capture particularly well:
“Intent quality.”
Two users can click the advertisement. Their underlying intent can be completely different. One might simply be curious. The other might already be comparing suppliers and preparing to buy.
Conversational environments have the potential to provide richer signals around this distinction. For Performance Marketing this could become extremely important.
ChatGPT Ads and the Future of AI Search
There is a bigger trend behind all of this. People are increasingly using AI to discover information. That creates a concept for marketers:
AI Visibility:
Historically brands focused heavily on:
SEO → Google rankings → Organic traffic
Now we are moving toward:
SEO + GEO + AI visibility
GEO. Generative Engine Optimization. Focuses on improving the likelihood that a brand, product or company is surfaced within AI-generated answers and recommendations. This creates two opportunities for brands.
- Paid AI visibility – Advertising inside AI environments.
- Organic AI visibility – Building the authority and digital footprint that causes AI systems to recognize and mention a company organically.
These two disciplines are likely to become increasingly connected.
The Rise of Conversational Advertising
The biggest change may not actually be the advertisement itself. It is the environment in which the advertisement appears. Traditional digital advertising is built around:
Content → Advertisement → Click
Conversational advertising is potentially built around:
Question → Context → Intent → Recommendation → Action**
That is a different customer journey where the user is already engaged. They are already thinking about a problem and may already be evaluating solutions.
From an advertiser’s perspective that can be a valuable moment.
What Should Performance Marketers Do Now?
The answer is not to move 50% of your advertising budget to ChatGPT. The smarter approach is to test it.
- Start with a controlled budget.
- Choose one or two verticals where conversational intent’s naturally strong.
For example:
– SaaS
– E-commerce
– Travel
– Education
– Lead Generation
Then compare ChatGPT against existing acquisition channels. Measure:
– CPM
– CPC
– CTR
– Conversion Rate
– CPA
– CPL
– Revenue
– ROAS
– Customer Acquisition Cost
– Customer Quality
– LTV
And most importantly – Compare the quality of the customers not the cost of the traffic.
ChatGPT Ads Should Be Part of the Media Mix. Not the Media Strategy
The future of advertising is unlikely to be:
ChatGPT replaces Google.
It is more likely to be:
Google + Meta + TikTok + Programmatic + ChatGPT + AI-driven discovery.
Each channel will capture a type of user intent. Google will remain powerful for search. Meta and TikTok will continue to dominate scale social discovery. Programmatic will remain important for reach and automation. AI platforms may become increasingly important for research and decision-making.
The strongest advertisers will be the ones that understand how these channels work together.
Final Thoughts
ChatGPT Ads are important not simply because OpenAI has entered the advertising market. They are important because they represent something – “the beginning of advertising inside conversational interfaces.”
For decades advertising has been built around pages feeds, search results and apps. AI introduces an environment. A place where users don’t simply consume content.
- They ask.
- They explain.
- They compare.
- They evaluate.
- They make decisions.
That makes AI a powerful environment for Performance Marketing. The winners will not necessarily be the brands that spend the most money. They will be the brands that understand “intent” the best. Because, in the generation of digital advertising the most valuable question may no longer be:
“Who is this user?”
It may be:
“What is this user trying to accomplish right now?”
And that is exactly where ChatGPT Ads could become very interesting.
Should ChatGPT Ads be in your 2026 advertising channel mix? Send us an email at adcorrelation@gmail.com or fulfill our contact form and we will map out where it fits your funnel.