ChatGPT Ads are now available in the UK, giving businesses a new way to reach potential customers while they research products, compare services and make purchasing decisions. For businesses already investing in Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn or other paid media, this raises an obvious question: should ChatGPT Ads now be part of the media plan?
At this stage, we see ChatGPT Ads as an additional channel to test, not a replacement for established advertising platforms. But for the right businesses, the way ChatGPT understands conversational intent makes it an interesting opportunity.
How do ChatGPT Ads work?
ChatGPT Ads are sponsored placements shown alongside relevant conversations. Ads are clearly labelled and remain separate from ChatGPT’s answers. Advertising does not influence the answers ChatGPT provides, and advertisers do not receive access to users’ private conversations. (OpenAI)
What makes the platform different is the context surrounding the advert?
Google Search advertising is primarily built around what someone searches for. ChatGPT can understand more about what someone is trying to achieve through their conversation.
For example, someone could search Google for: “best CRM for small business”
On ChatGPT, the same person might ask: “We’re a team of 15 and currently manage our sales pipeline through spreadsheets. What’s a simple CRM we could move to?”
Both demonstrate potential buying intent, but the ChatGPT conversation provides much more context around the customer’s situation. This is the key opportunity behind conversational advertising.
Where does ChatGPT fit alongside Google Ads?
For most businesses, ChatGPT shouldn’t replace Google Search.
Google remains extremely effective at capturing people who are actively looking for a particular product or service. ChatGPT can potentially reach people earlier or differently in that decision-making process.
Someone might not yet be searching for a specific product. Instead, they could be asking questions, researching a problem or comparing different ways to solve it.
That creates a slightly different role within the media mix:
- Google Search captures explicit search demand.
- Meta and Instagram can build awareness and reach relevant consumer audiences.
- LinkedIn can reach specific professional and B2B audiences.
- ChatGPT Ads can reach people during relevant research, comparison and decision-making conversations.
For businesses already achieving strong results through Google Ads or paid social, we wouldn’t recommend moving large amounts of budget away from those channels simply to try ChatGPT.
A better approach is to test ChatGPT alongside existing activity and assess whether it adds incremental value.
Which businesses could benefit?
ChatGPT Ads could be particularly interesting for businesses where customers typically spend time researching or comparing their options before making a decision. This could include:
- Travel and experiences
- Home and garden
- Ecommerce
- Technology and software
- Education and training
- Professional services
- B2B products and services
- Higher-value or considered purchases
A useful question for businesses to ask is: Would our potential customers naturally ask ChatGPT questions about the problems our products or services solve?
If the answer is yes, there may be an opportunity. There are restrictions around certain sensitive and regulated sectors, so businesses should check advertising eligibility before planning a campaign.
How should businesses test ChatGPT Ads?
ChatGPT Ads are still a relatively new advertising channel, so we recommend starting with a controlled pilot rather than a significant shift in media budget. Choose a priority product, service or market and establish what you want the test to achieve. This could be generating enquiries, eCommerce sales, demo requests or another meaningful business action.
Campaign messaging should also reflect how people use ChatGPT. Instead of only thinking about traditional advertising keywords, consider the questions, situations and problems that might lead someone towards your business. For example, a company selling outdoor kitchens could target the broader context of someone planning an outdoor entertaining space, rather than focusing entirely on people already searching for “outdoor kitchens”.
This allows businesses to potentially reach customers at a different point in their buying journey.
How do you measure whether it’s working?
This is particularly important with a new advertising platform. OpenAI provides conversion measurement capabilities, while tracking can also be used to analyse ChatGPT traffic within analytics platforms such as GA4. However, businesses shouldn’t judge success purely on impressions or clicks.
For ecommerce, the key measures should include sales, cost per sale and return on ad spend. For lead generation, focus on enquiries, cost per enquiry and lead quality. Where CRM data is available, go further.
A low-cost enquiry isn’t valuable if it never becomes a genuine prospect. Similarly, a higher cost per click could still be worthwhile if those visitors are significantly more likely to become customers.
OpenAI has also stated that there aren’t yet established performance benchmarks across industries and campaign types. That means businesses should avoid judging ChatGPT against assumptions taken directly from Google or Meta. Your own commercial results should determine whether the platform deserves further investment.
Should ChatGPT Ads be in your media plan?
For UK businesses already investing in digital advertising, ChatGPT Ads are worth considering as a test – particularly if customers research, compare or ask questions before buying.
The opportunity isn’t about abandoning Google Ads or paid social. It is about adding another way to reach potential customers as online research behaviour evolves.
Start with a defined budget, choose a clear product or service, implement robust conversion tracking and assess the quality of the customers the campaign generates. If ChatGPT delivers commercially valuable enquiries or sales, there is a case for increasing investment. If it doesn’t, the controlled test has provided the evidence needed to make that decision.
At ExtraDigital, we help UK businesses plan, launch and measure ChatGPT Ads alongside Google Ads and paid social. From campaign strategy and setup through to conversion tracking and optimisation, we can help determine whether ChatGPT Ads should become part of your wider media strategy.
Interested in testing ChatGPT Ads for your business? Get in touch with ExtraDigital to discuss the opportunity.
