ChatGPT Is Selling Ads Now. Here's What That Means for Your Business.

If you've used ChatGPT recently, you might have noticed something new tucked into your responses: ads. Actual, paid advertisements from brands like Expedia, Best Buy, Qualcomm, and Enterprise Mobility — sitting right there alongside the AI's answers.

This isn't a rumor. OpenAI confirmed it to Adweek. And if you're a small business owner trying to figure out what this means for you, I have thoughts.

What's Actually Happening

OpenAI started rolling out ads inside ChatGPT on February 9th, targeting free-tier and ChatGPT Go users. The ad placements are early, limited, and deliberate. According to research from Adthena, a search intelligence platform that analyzed over 500 prompts on ChatGPT, ads appeared in roughly 0.8% of responses. That's a tiny fraction — but it's a fraction that didn't exist a month ago.

The brands showing up first are big names: Expedia, Best Buy, Enterprise Mobility, Qualcomm, The Knot Worldwide. Major holding companies like Dentsu, Omnicom, and WPP have lined up to test placements, bringing brands like Adobe, Ford, Mazda, and Audible into the mix.

And here's the kicker: OpenAI is reportedly asking advertisers to commit at least $200,000 for early ad tests.

Two hundred thousand dollars. That's the entry ticket.

Why This Matters (Even If You Can't Afford It)

I know what you're thinking: "I'm not dropping $200K on ChatGPT ads, TJ. Why should I care?"

Fair question. Here's why.

1. This Changes How People Find Businesses

ChatGPT already handles hundreds of millions of queries. People are using it to plan trips, compare products, find services, and make purchasing decisions. When ads start appearing in those conversations, it fundamentally changes the discovery landscape.

Right now, if someone asks ChatGPT "What's the best project management tool for a small team?" they get an organic answer. Soon, that answer might come with a sponsored recommendation from Monday.com or Asana sitting right above it. Sound familiar? It should — it's the same thing Google did to search results 20 years ago.

2. The "Google-ification" of AI Is Inevitable

I've been telling my clients for a while now: AI tools are going to follow the same monetization playbook as every other tech platform. Free product, massive user base, then ads. It happened with Google. It happened with Facebook. It happened with Instagram. And now it's happening with ChatGPT.

OpenAI's own ad lead, Asad Awan, told Adweek they believe "ads play an important role in continuing to support broad access to AI." Translation: they need revenue beyond subscriptions, and advertising is the obvious path.

This means the AI answers people trust today will increasingly be influenced by who's paying for placement. That's not necessarily evil — Google Ads can be genuinely useful — but it does mean the landscape is shifting, and businesses that aren't paying attention will get left behind.

3. The Window Is Wide Open for Small Businesses — Just Not on ChatGPT (Yet)

Here's the thing I actually want you to take away from this: while the big brands are spending $200K to test ChatGPT ads, you have an opportunity they're ignoring.

AI optimization is the new SEO. The businesses that show up in ChatGPT's organic answers — the ones it recommends without being paid — are the ones with strong online presence, clear service descriptions, genuine reviews, and well-structured content.

I work with small businesses every day, and the ones who invest in their websites, their content, and their local visibility right now are going to be the ones ChatGPT recommends organically. That's worth more than any ad placement.

Should You Advertise on ChatGPT?

Not yet. And maybe not for a while. Here's my honest take:

The price is prohibitive. A $200,000 minimum commitment isn't built for small businesses. It's built for enterprise brands testing a new channel. That will change eventually — Google Ads started expensive too — but we're not there yet.

The inventory is tiny. Ads showing up in less than 1% of responses means there's barely any reach to buy right now. OpenAI is clearly prioritizing restraint over scale, which is smart for them but means limited value for advertisers.

The targeting is unproven. We don't know yet how well ChatGPT can match ads to user intent. Google spent decades refining that. OpenAI is at day one.

Watch it, but don't chase it. When self-serve ad tools launch at reasonable price points with proven targeting — that's when small businesses should pay attention. My guess? We're 12 to 18 months away from that.

What You Should Do Instead

Here's my actual advice for small business owners right now:

1. Get your website in order. AI tools pull from the web. If your site is outdated, slow, or unclear about what you do, you're invisible to both Google and ChatGPT.

2. Create genuinely helpful content. Blog posts, FAQs, guides — the kind of content that answers real questions. AI models love clear, authoritative, helpful content. Be the source they cite.

3. Build your reviews and reputation. AI recommendations are influenced by what the internet says about you. More positive reviews, more mentions, more visibility means more organic AI recommendations.

4. Stay informed, not reactive. The AI advertising landscape is going to change fast. Follow it, understand it, but don't throw money at it until the economics make sense for your budget.

The Bottom Line

ChatGPT running ads is a big deal — not because you should be buying them today, but because it signals where digital marketing is heading. The line between organic AI answers and paid placements is going to blur, just like it did with Google search.

The businesses that win in this new landscape will be the ones that built a strong foundation before everyone else showed up. That means investing in your brand, your content, and your online presence right now.

If you're not sure where to start, or you want help making sure your business shows up when AI tools are recommending solutions — let's talk. This is exactly the kind of thing I help small businesses figure out every day.