Advertising in ChatGPT: what changes on Monday, and what I'd do
From Monday, you'll see ads at the bottom of your ChatGPT answers, here in the Netherlands too. I expect business owners to ask me this week whether they should put money into it straight away. I'd wait. Below I explain why, and what you can do in the meantime.
What changes on Monday
Emerce reports that European ChatGPT users will start seeing ads at the bottom of their AI chats from Monday. Sander Kwint of Omnicom says in that piece that around seventy international test campaigns have been run so far. That's where the first experiences come from.
We don't know much more than that yet. What such an ad looks like in practice, I'll only know once I see one. What a click costs, nobody knows today. Whether people actually tap them will become clear over the coming months.
Why I wouldn't start advertising in ChatGPT right away
Someone asking ChatGPT a question is in a different frame of mind than someone typing a search term into Google. You're asking something that feels like an adviser and you expect an honest answer. Put a paid tip underneath it and something happens to that feeling. Maybe nothing. Maybe some people back off.
I want to see that first before I move your budget. Let the big brands going in on Monday pay the tuition. They have room to test for three months without it hurting. You usually don't.
There's one more thing. Ads in ChatGPT are new and there are few advertisers in there right now. I expect prices to climb once everyone joins. That's how it went with every ad channel I've watched come into being. If all your customers arrive through bought space, you'll be paying more for the same customer a year from now.
Make sure you're found without an ad
Being visible in ChatGPT starts with what there is to find about you. A language model reads your site, your listings, your trade pages. If there's nothing useful there, it won't mention you. If there is, it mentions you without you paying a cent.
So keep it plain and clear. What you do, for whom, in which town. Roughly what it costs. How someone reaches you. Which questions you get on the phone every week, and what the answer is. Write that in ordinary sentences on your own site, without marketing language.
That's the base that stays yours. Your site is yours, even if OpenAI changes the rules or raises the rates tomorrow.
What you can do with this tomorrow
Three things, and you're done within an hour.
- Ask ChatGPT five questions your customer would ask. Something like: who can replace my boiler in Tilburg. See what comes back and whether you're in there.
- Put your frequently asked questions on your site. Literally the questions you get on the phone, with a short, honest answer under each one.
- Leave your ad budget where it is. Put a note in your calendar to look again in three months. By then there'll be something real to say about what it returns.
You don't have to figure this out on your own. I'm keeping an eye on it and I'll let you know as soon as the first Dutch numbers are worth anything. If you want to think through what should be on your site, mail me at info@mia-automation.com.
Frequently asked questions
Should I start advertising in ChatGPT right now?
No. Nothing is known yet about what it costs or what it returns for a small business. Wait a few months, see what others experience, and keep your money in channels you know work.
How do I get mentioned in ChatGPT without paying?
By putting clear, findable information on your own site: what you do, for whom, where and at what price. A language model draws on whatever exists about you. The more concrete that is, the better your odds of being named.
What do these ads mean for my customers' trust?
Nobody knows yet. People read an answer in a chat as advice, not as a search result. Over the coming months, listen to how your customers talk about it and whether they arrive differently than before.
