There is a lot of noise right now as ChatGPT has started testing ads the day after Anthropic teased the idea of those ads in a series of Super Bowl spots. Undoubtedly, brands ask the question: should we be testing this, or not?
The honest answer is not yes or no. It depends on how the product gets to the market and not just what it is talked about.
Here’s how we think.
What we know so far
Early data suggests that ChatGPT ads will enter the paid market. The first CPMs are expected to start around $60with little money spent on $200,000 scope and reporting is limited to views and clicks.
That price point just stands out. Premium CTV listings on platforms like Hulu, Disney +, and Netflix typically sit around the $30–35 CPM range, while Meta tends to be lower than that. Even Google Search can successfully exceed $60 CPMs in competitive categories, but marketers don’t often think about it that way because it’s measured in CPCs and tied directly to conversion intent.
So the price point is a premium without measuring the maturity that marketers tend to do.
Advertisements will be clearly labeled and ChatGPT maintains that advertisements do not affect the responses that ChatGPT will provide. Advertisers will not see personal information or conversations with ChatGPT. Although OpenAI initially said it would not “sell user data to advertisers”, it seems to mean that in the literal sense of not profiting directly from the sale of data. See the will enable targeting based on that data: what you say and discuss, and past conversations.
The Case of the Bear
The bear case for ChatGPT ads is straightforward: price and maturity do not go hand in hand.
Charging some of the highest CPMs on the web without seeing any clear conversions is a bold start. Significant reporting limitations raise questions about product maturity. While there’s talk of advertisers already participating in beta programs, there’s limited visibility into who those advertisers are, how risky the startup is, or how quickly brands can go live. This release feels rushed, and in some ways it’s a response to the growing momentum of competitors like Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini.
Pointing to another open question. If early ChatGPT ads rely on broad, topical targeting at the prompt- or keyword-level intent, many of the platform’s theoretical benefits are undermined. Reaching users within LLM is only important if marketers can be closely aligned context and purposenot just the usual categories. Higher conversion rates, and the higher CPMs those conversion rates deserve, will come from being able to show the ad to the person you’re looking for. line of running shoes that come in size 14 for runners with poor arch supportnot all are included in the article sports wear.
Bull’s Case
The bull case is that ChatGPT ads can stand up a logical evolution of targeted advertising.
Online advertising changed dramatically when Google enabled brands to reach users who expressed intent at the time they expressed it. If ChatGPT finally supports it granular level guidancecan take that model further by combining purpose with an unusually rich context.
There are strong reasons to believe this would be important. ChatGPT’s audience turns out to be highly engaged, high-value users. Early data suggests that traffic from major language models is already converting at higher than average rates. And today, understanding the demand at an immediate level is very difficult with 3P measurement partners – even the data of the directional opinions can help brands to better size the real AI search opportunity in their category.
There are also arguments for early learning strategies. ChatGPT has hired experienced leaders from companies like Meta and Instacart, and history suggests that once ad products go live, they tend to go live. Brands that engage early – thoughtfully – often learn faster than those that wait for perfection.
So, should your product be advertised on ChatGPT?
Right now, the decision comes down to risk tolerance and objectives.
If direction remains broad, budgets have a tightly bound ROI, or clear measurement of conversion is non-negotiable, it probably makes sense to wait. If, however, targeting is granular, your product is in growth mode, or you’re trying to understand the size and shape of AI-driven demand, intentional testing can help.
The keyword exists on purpose.
Bottom line
You don’t have to buy ChatGPT ads today. But they also shouldn’t be taken as mere hype.
Many brands can get instant value by focusing on it an organic AI strategy for visibilitywhere the impact is already being felt in many arenas without paying less.
This is probably the beginning of a new advertising space, not a finished channel. The brands that benefit the most won’t be the ones that jump in blindly – they’ll be the ones that purposefully explore, understand the trade-offs, and stay abreast as the product evolves.
For now, it’s the smartest position of all informed curiosity: it is not hype-driven and it is not hidden.
