A Tell-All Interview on the Future of ChatGPT Ads and What It Means for Everyone

There’s been buzz for months about ChatGPT launching ads, and now the time has finally come.

ChatGPT officially announced they’ll be launching ads. It’ll only be for Free and Go users. Plus and above won’t see ads.

We sat down with Senior Strategy Consultant and advertising expert, Colton Wilkinson, to get the inside scoop on what this means for businesses and users:

• Q: How Are ChatGPT Ads Different from Other Advertising Options?
• Q: Who Do You Think Will Benefit from This Initial Launch More, B2B or B2C?
• Q: What Do You Think the Reporting Will Look Like for ChatGPT Ads?
• Q: Do You Think ChatGPT Ads Will Influence ChatGPT’s Responses?
• Q: What Are Some of the Gray Areas with ChatGPT Ads for Users of the Platform?

Q: How are ChatGPT ads different from other advertising options?

A: The biggest game changer with ChatGPT ads is the ability to have a conversation with a particular ad. This is truly revolutionary and not something we’ve seen, to this level, in the digital space before.

You can get someone interested in your brand and then have them have an entire conversation with AI about it, all because they saw an ad from you on ChatGPT.

It’s going to make a huge difference in purchasing decisions, both short- and long-term.

Q: Who do you think will benefit from this initial launch more, B2B or B2C?

A: Since ads are only slated to appear for Go and Free users, this model is more likely to benefit B2C.

Most B2B-based users are on Plus or above subscriptions, which don’t have ads. That’s not to say there won’t be any B2B audiences on the Go or Free tiers, but it’s less likely to be the case, especially during working hours.

So, this initial launch of ads will benefit B2C companies more because their audience is more likely to be on Free or Go tiers.

Q: What do you think the reporting will look like for ChatGPT ads?

A: This is a really great question. And honestly, I don’t really have a direct answer.

ChatGPT states that the data will never be sold to advertisers. But without the data, how can you control who’s seeing ads? How can you precisely measure your performance on these platforms? This is challenging to do without the data.

OpenAI didn’t really address reporting in their press release, but I imagine there is going to be some level of trade-off with what we see as advertisers and what users are being told in terms of what’s being delivered to advertisers.

Q: Do you think ChatGPT ads will influence ChatGPT’s responses?

A: Okay, this is a big question, and the answer probably has far-reaching implications for everyone.

So OpenAI claims, out the gate, that ads won’t influence the answers and responses you get from ChatGPT.

But I’m skeptical about that, even if it’s 100% their intention not to let ads influence answers.

Look at the evolution of Google Ads. A big data leak from Google in 2024 showed that businesses who advertised on Google often received better organic placements. It kind of indicated that there is at least some symbiotic relationship between advertising and organic visibility with at least the way that Google has designed their algorithm.

I don’t think ChatGPT functions so wildly different from Google that the same wouldn’t necessarily be true here.  Truthfully, it’s just the nature of the system. If you show an interest in a particular product or brand, AI may be more likely to recommend it to you organically because you showed an interest.

This comes into play even more with ChatGPT’s “Memory” feature (if you have an account), because it knows the conversations you had prior. So if you previously engaged with an ad for X brand, I think there is a strong possibility it may mention that brand to you when you continue your search, maybe even in an entirely different chat months after you initially engaged.

If ChatGPT ads do end up influencing organic results, it’s great news for brands! It means you can optimize your ads in a way that gets your brand in front of as many people as possible. So, if more people engage with your brand, you have a better chance of appearing in their chats in the future.

Q: What are some of the gray areas with ChatGPT ads for users of the platform?

A: I think anytime something big like this launches, we have to look at it objectively and from all angles, especially when it comes to an AI-based platform.

It’s a slam dunk for businesses, by and large. They’ll be able to tap into this network of users and increase brand influence through ChatGPT, which ultimately helps drive conversions.

From the user side of things, there are a few overarching issues with the implementation of ads:

Economic disparities

One thing ChatGPT said in their press release is that they want to make information more accessible in more economically marginalized communities. But, that begs the question: What kind of information will those communities get compared to economically advantaged communities?

Wealthier communities are more likely to pay for higher tier plans, which means they aren’t being influenced by ads. Poorer communities are more likely to use the Free and Go plans, which will now have ads. So, if ads do end up influencing organic results, there would theoretically be a disparity in the breadth and diversity of information provided to these less well-off communities.

So, it raises a moral question of how that information diet will differ and what it means for different types of users depending on their selected ChatGPT plan.

Pigeonholing

The addition of ads may further pigeonhole people into silos of information. If you’re engaging with certain ads, the system will may learn what you like from those interactions, and therefore alter your organic responses.

If you aren’t a skilled AI user that knows how to avoid these pitfalls (which, it would be safe to assume, most people would fall in — especially those who are not economically advantaged enough to have access to good tech literacy education), you might not even know that the information you’re seeing is skewed and not totally objective.

Loss of trust in truth

We already know that AI platforms don’t get it right all the time. They can hallucinate information or share the wrong thing, and if users aren’t vigilant enough, they may unknowingly consume and spread incorrect information.

And considering how “confidently” AI platforms present these answers, many users just assume the response is right.

Now, add advertisements on top of that. For AI platforms moving forward, the financial incentives from ads will greatly outweigh the need for truth — it is an unfortunate side-effect of the way humans tend to function, and after all, humans are setting the direction of AI companies.

So now, for platforms like ChatGPT, the focus becomes monetization long-term vs. ensuring the information is accurate.

That can lead society as a whole down a very dangerous path if not held in check.

The bottom line

I do think that ChatGPT ads will be a game-changer, but “for whom?” is the question. OpenAI claims these ads can be revolutionary for small businesses trying to gain brand awareness, but it’s going to depend entirely on the ad system itself.

If it ends up being an auction system like Google, it’s not going to be about small brands, but rather, the highest bidder.

But that just means we have to wait and see once more information comes out about the ChatGPT ad ecosystem, so we can really determine who the winners will be.

Regardless of the current unknowns and larger societal implications, I do think that these ads will have better-qualified traffic for advertisers than we have seen on other platforms. Users can have a conversation about what they’re looking for and get ads that are a match to what they actually want in a more descriptive and detailed way than typical search ads that you would find on Google or Bing.

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