I've been thinking about this since the announcement dropped, and I wanted to share my honest take as someone who works in this space every day and has real skin in the game.
ChatGPT is rolling out ads.
Sponsored placements will appear at the bottom of responses for free and Go tier users in the US. Paid tier users won't see them.
The CPM is sitting around $60 with minimum commitments starting at $200K for early advertisers.
This isn't JUST a new ad platform.
This is a fundamental shift in WHERE purchase decisions get made.
Think about the last time you Googled "best protein powder" or "which CRM should I use."
Now imagine millions of consumers asking ChatGPT those exact questions instead and getting a sponsored answer alongside the organic one.
That's the behavior shift that's already happening.
The ads just monetize what's already true.
For brands willing to move fast, this is a genuine opportunity.
Someone asking ChatGPT, "What's the best collagen supplement for joint pain?" isn't browsing.
They're actively researching with purchase intent already activated. That's a fundamentally different consumer than someone scrolling past a Meta ad.
The targeting is also contextual rather than behavioral.
Less privacy friction, less iOS update drama, and a cleaner signal between ad and conversion.
The challenge right now is cost. $200K minimums shut out most small and mid-sized DTC brands early on.
But that won't last forever.
The brands that have already figured out their messaging and conversion sequence will scale faster than those figuring it out from scratch.
A 3-Step Process For Brands To Prepare Right Now
First, audit your consideration-phase content. Map out the questions your customers ask before buying. These are the queries that will trigger ChatGPT ad placements. If your messaging doesn't directly answer those questions, your ads won't convert even if they show up.
Second, tighten your offer sequence. ChatGPT users are sophisticated. Design a landing experience specifically for high-intent AI-referred traffic; shorter path to purchase, clear differentiation, strong social proof above the fold.
Third, track incrementally from day one. Don't let ChatGPT's ad revenue cannibalize your affiliate attribution. Set up separate UTMs, separate landing pages if possible, and measure lift independently.
This is where I want to be direct with you.
Blog content, SEO-driven comparison posts, "best of" roundups; these are the engine of most affiliate programs.
If consumers increasingly get those answers inside ChatGPT rather than clicking through to a blog, organic affiliate traffic takes a structural hit.
But here's the flip side: this actually increases the value of affiliates with owned audiences.
Email lists, YouTube channels, podcasts, and loyal Instagram followings; these can't be disrupted by an AI ad placement.
If you're building your affiliate programs around owned-audience creators right now, you're in a stronger position than agencies relying purely on SEO affiliates.
But here's my concern…
The measurement problem is real, and nobody is addressing it honestly.
When a consumer sees a ChatGPT ad, then searches Google, then clicks an affiliate link, then converts…Who gets credit?
OpenAI has confirmed advertisers won't have access to conversation data for privacy reasons, which creates a measurement black box that performance marketers have never dealt with at this scale.
Brands will undervalue ChatGPT's impact when it works and overspend when it doesn't, simply because the data won't be clean enough to know the difference.
And then there's the trust problem.
ChatGPT built its entire user base on one thing: people trust its answers.
The moment users start questioning whether a recommendation is organic or paid, that trust erodes.
A bad experience with a ChatGPT-referred purchase doesn't just lose you a customer; it poisons the channel for everyone.
ChatGPT ads are the beginning of a new layer in the consumer journey.
The brands that understand, adapt, and get ahead now will be in a very different position 12 months from now.
That’s it for this issue.
What do you think about this whole scene? Do share your POV on LinkedIn and tag me. I would love to hear your POV.