ChatGPT Ads for businesses: how to appear in AI-powered searches
August 21, 2026
For many years, companies learned how to compete in a digital environment where the main question was simple: how can we appear when someone searches for what we sell?
This question gave rise to an entire industry built around SEO, Google Ads, content marketing and website optimisation. Brands realised that simply creating a website or being present on social media was no longer enough. They needed to appear at the right moment, in front of the right person, with a message capable of building trust.
For a long time, that moment happened mainly on Google.
A person needed a service, product or piece of information, typed a search query, analysed the results presented and moved towards a decision. Google became the centre of digital discovery and Google Ads became one of the most important advertising tools in the world precisely because it managed to connect companies with consumers who had a clear intention.
But the way people search is changing.
Generative Artificial Intelligence is creating a new digital behaviour where users are moving away from searching only through keywords and are starting to ask complete questions, explain problems, compare alternatives and request recommendations. Instead of opening dozens of pages to find an answer, many people are beginning to use tools such as ChatGPT to obtain personalised information and support throughout the decision-making process.
This is the new scenario where ChatGPT Ads are emerging.
Advertising on ChatGPT represents a new phase of digital marketing, where companies are no longer competing only for positions in search results, but also for relevance within the answers generated by Artificial Intelligence.
For brands, this change creates a new opportunity: appearing when a potential customer is looking for a solution through a conversation with an AI tool.
The question that many companies are now starting to ask is inevitable: how can a brand appear on ChatGPT? How can companies ensure that they are considered when someone searches through Artificial Intelligence? And how can businesses prepare for a reality where generative engines are increasingly influencing purchasing decisions?
The growth of ChatGPT is creating a new discovery channel for businesses
The growth of ChatGPT has rapidly changed the way many people use the internet. Since its public launch in November 2022, the platform has become one of the fastest-growing technologies in history, currently being used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide for professional tasks, learning, information research and decision-making.
Initially, many companies viewed ChatGPT mainly as a productivity tool. It was used to create content, summarise information, support teams, automate tasks and accelerate internal processes. Over time, the use of Artificial Intelligence evolved into a new area: discovery.
Today, many people use ChatGPT to compare products, find services, analyse suppliers and search for recommendations before moving forward with a purchase. This change is extremely relevant for companies because it changes where decisions begin to be formed.
For years, the consumer journey was relatively predictable: a person searched on Google, analysed results, visited websites, compared proposals and made a decision.
Now, a new behaviour is emerging: consumers are asking Artificial Intelligence directly.
A person may ask:
“What is the best email marketing platform for a small business?”
“Which digital marketing agency should I choose to improve my online presence?”
“What are the best Artificial Intelligence automation solutions for companies?”
These questions have a different characteristic from traditional searches: they reveal context.
Artificial Intelligence can understand objectives, limitations, preferences and specific needs. Instead of working only with a keyword, it works with a complete intention.
It is precisely this evolution that makes ChatGPT Ads a strategic opportunity for companies that want to be present in the next generation of digital search.
What are OpenAI Ads on ChatGPT and why are they important for businesses?
ChatGPT Ads are the advertising system developed by OpenAI to display ads within the ChatGPT experience. The logic behind this new format is different from traditional digital advertising because the ad appears integrated into a conversational environment, where the user is already exploring a topic, comparing options or searching for a solution.
The biggest difference is context.
In traditional digital advertising models, a company tries to appear when someone searches for a specific keyword or when a user demonstrates a certain online behaviour. With ChatGPT Ads, the opportunity appears during a conversation where there is a deeper intention and a more clearly defined need.
A person can explain their problem, identify objectives, present limitations and request a recommendation. Artificial Intelligence can interpret that information and understand what the user is actually looking for.
For companies, this change is extremely relevant because it brings advertising closer to the decision-making moment.
Imagine someone asking ChatGPT:
“I have a company and I want to increase the number of customers through digital marketing. What strategies should I implement?”
At this moment, there is an opportunity for a brand to appear.
Not because it bought a keyword.
But because there is a relationship between the need presented and the available solution.
This is the major difference between traditional search-based advertising and advertising within generative engines.
ChatGPT Ads represent a paradigm shift because competition is no longer only about attention. It is increasingly about relevance.
The first ChatGPT Ads data shows the potential of this new market
Although it is still a recent area, the first results from ChatGPT ads show strong interest from brands and advertisers.
The introduction of advertising into generative engines represents a completely new opportunity for companies looking to reach consumers at a moment of discovery and decision. The initial interest shows that many brands have already understood that Artificial Intelligence could become a new point of contact between companies and customers.
The first tests carried out by OpenAI attracted hundreds of advertisers interested in exploring this new advertising format. The initial programme surpassed 600 participating advertisers and reached more than 100 million dollars in annualised revenue just weeks after the launch of the pilot programme in the United States, demonstrating significant demand for advertising within Artificial Intelligence environments.
- ChatGPT has already surpassed 1 billion monthly users on the app.
- In Portugal, 45.1% of surveyed consumers say they already use ChatGPT regularly.
- 23.6% of Portuguese consumers are already beginning their searches directly through AI assistants.
- The US pilot surpassed 100 million dollars in annualised revenue in just six weeks.
- Similarweb data indicates an average CTR of 0.68%, almost double the average reported for display advertising, with the best advertisers performing significantly above this level.
- Between April and July, Sensor Tower data shows that the number of advertisers increased from around 300 to more than 820, with brands such as Booking, Home Depot and Intuit already testing this new territory.
The evolution of this platform has been followed by major international advertising groups and brands from different sectors, including companies connected to retail, technology, software, travel and financial services. This interest demonstrates that Artificial Intelligence advertising has moved beyond being just a future possibility and has already started being tested by companies looking to anticipate the next phase of digital marketing.
These numbers are still far from the scale of Google Ads or Meta advertising, platforms that have decades of development and billions of dollars in advertising investment behind them. However, the importance of ChatGPT Ads is not only related to current investment volume.
It lies in the behavioural change that this technology can create.
The history of digital marketing shows that major changes often begin with new forms of interaction between people and technology. Google changed the way we search for information. Social networks changed the way we discover brands. Artificial Intelligence is now changing the way we ask questions, seek recommendations and make decisions.
For companies, this evolution means that the future of digital visibility will increasingly depend on the ability to appear at the right moment, in the right context and with the right intent.
How to appear on ChatGPT? The importance of SEO and GEO for businesses
Although ChatGPT Ads represent an opportunity through paid advertising, the visibility of companies within Artificial Intelligence will not depend only on ads.
There is another equally important dimension: the ability of a brand to be recognised by generative engines as a reference within a specific topic.
This is where GEO, Generative Engine Optimization, comes into play.
GEO represents an evolution of traditional SEO into a new reality where search engines no longer only display pages of results but begin to create complete answers through Artificial Intelligence.
For years, companies worked on SEO with one main question:
“How can we appear on Google?”
Now a new question is emerging:
“How can we appear on ChatGPT?”
This change is transforming the way brands need to think about their digital presence.
Artificial Intelligence systems need to understand who a company is, what its areas of expertise are, what problems it solves and why it should be considered a relevant source.
A company that wants to appear in AI-powered searches needs to build digital authority. This means creating useful content, answering customer questions, demonstrating expertise and ensuring that the information available online is clear, consistent and relevant.
Generative engines do not analyse only keywords.
They analyse context.
They evaluate relationships between information.
They look for signals of experience, trust and authority.
Therefore, an SEO strategy prepared for Artificial Intelligence needs to go beyond the technical optimisation of a website. It needs to create a digital presence capable of clearly communicating what a company does and why it should be considered a reference.
A brand that only presents products or services will find it harder to stand out.
A brand that educates the market, creates specialised content and answers the needs of its potential customers will have greater chances of being recognised by Artificial Intelligence systems.
Artificial Intelligence needs context in order to recommend.
And this context is built through a company’s digital presence.
ChatGPT Ads and Google Ads: two different ways to win customers
The comparison between ChatGPT Ads and Google Ads is inevitable, but it should be analysed as an evolution of digital advertising rather than a direct replacement between platforms.
Google Ads continues to be one of the most relevant tools for companies looking to attract customers through searches with clearly defined intent because it allows solutions to be presented exactly when someone shows interest in a specific product or service.
When someone searches for “buy accounting software”, “construction company Lisbon” or “SEO agency Portugal”, there is a concrete need and an intention to find an answer. In this context, Google continues to play a fundamental role because it connects a specific search with companies capable of responding to that demand.
ChatGPT works at a different stage of the decision-making process.
Very often, the user does not yet have a completely defined solution. They are exploring possibilities, trying to understand which alternatives exist and looking for information that helps them make a more informed decision.
Instead of searching only for a keyword, they present a complete problem and expect to receive guidance adapted to their needs.
This is precisely the moment when Artificial Intelligence starts becoming increasingly relevant for brands.
A person may ask which solutions are available, what criteria they should analyse before choosing a provider or what common mistakes they should avoid. A company that manages to appear at this stage has the opportunity to influence the decision before there is even a direct commercial search.
The future of digital advertising will likely involve a combination of these two environments.
Google will continue to be essential for capturing existing demand, while ChatGPT and other generative engines will play an increasingly important role in the initial stages of discovery, comparison and consideration.
Brands that understand this evolution will be able to create more complete strategies, capable of accompanying consumers from the first question until the final decision.
Why should companies prepare for AI-powered search?
The arrival of ChatGPT Ads does not simply represent the emergence of a new platform where companies can invest advertising budgets.
It represents a much deeper change in the way brands need to build their digital presence and prepare for a new reality of search.
For years, many companies created websites essentially focused on presenting their products and services. Although this information remains important, the evolution of generative engines shows that brands need to go further.
Websites will need to answer users’ questions, explain concepts, demonstrate expertise and create content capable of building authority around the topics connected to their business.
A company that sells a product or service should no longer think only about what it wants to communicate.
It should also think about the questions potential customers ask before making a purchase.
What doubts do they have?
What problems need to be solved?
What information would help someone make a decision?
It is through these answers that a brand begins to build relevance within Artificial Intelligence engines.
Generative systems do not analyse only commercial information. They seek to understand which companies are most relevant within a specific area, which demonstrate experience, which provide useful content and which have enough trust signals to be considered in an answer.
This is why SEO, content marketing, GEO and Artificial Intelligence advertising strategies are increasingly working together.
The future visibility of a company will depend on its ability to be found through traditional search engines, but also on its ability to be understood and recommended by Artificial Intelligence systems.
A company prepared for this new reality will have more opportunities to appear when a potential customer searches for a solution through tools such as ChatGPT.
The new era of digital discovery through Artificial Intelligence
The evolution of ChatGPT Ads represents a profound change in the way companies need to think about digital marketing.
For many years, the priority was achieving positions in search engines. Brands invested in SEO to appear in the top results, created Google Ads campaigns to capture commercial searches and developed content strategies to increase online visibility.
Now a new phase is beginning.
The priority is becoming ensuring that a company is found, understood and considered relevant within the systems consumers use to search for answers.
Artificial Intelligence is creating a new layer between brands and customers. Before visiting a website or filling out a contact form, many people will increasingly ask an AI tool what the best solution is for their problem.
This change will impact practically every industry.
Service companies, online stores, local businesses, B2B brands and larger organisations will need to adapt their digital strategies to a reality where automated recommendations will have an increasingly important influence.
The future of digital marketing will not only be about generating traffic.
It will be about building enough trust to be chosen.
ONTAG helps companies prepare for the new era of AI-powered search
The evolution of ChatGPT Ads, OpenAI Ads and generative engines represents one of the biggest changes in digital marketing in recent years. Companies that start preparing their online presence now will be better positioned to compete in a reality where brand discovery will increasingly happen through Artificial Intelligence.
ONTAG has been following this transformation since the early stages of the evolution from SEO to GEO, AEO and new forms of AI-powered search. As one of the first agencies in Portugal working in this area, we help companies prepare their content, digital strategies and online positioning for this new reality.
The future of search has already started, and brands need to ensure they are found, understood and recommended by the systems their customers will use to make decisions.
ONTAG can help your company prepare for this new generation of digital marketing, where Artificial Intelligence, SEO and generative advertising work together to create new growth opportunities and ensure that your brand is present at the moments that truly influence decisions.
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