Where buyers now ask.
Senior-led advertising in ChatGPT, OpenAI's new ad placements, tested carefully and measured against the same profit standard as Google and Meta.
A new channel needs a test plan.
OpenAI now shows ads in ChatGPT to some of its users, in markets that include the UK. It is a young channel: the formats, targeting and reporting are still changing, and there is little shared experience of what works. That makes it a channel to test with a set budget and a clear measure of success.
OpenAI states that ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives. The paid placement and the answer itself are therefore separate jobs. The ad is bought and tested here; being named in the answer is AI search work, which the same practice does, and the two are planned together.
What a ChatGPT Ads engagement covers.
- Account setup and test design
- Campaigns and creative for ChatGPT placements
- A set test budget with a success measure agreed first
- Landing pages for people arriving from a conversation
- Conversion tracking and CRM follow-through
- Cost per customer compared with Google and Microsoft search
- AI search work, so you can also be named in the answers
Tested like any new channel.
ChatGPT Ads are tested the way any new channel should be: a set budget, a success measure agreed before launch, and a decision at the end on whether to scale, change or stop. The test is run by the same senior operator who runs your search accounts, so the comparison with Google and Microsoft is like for like.
Because the formats and reporting are still changing, every result is dated and nothing is assumed to hold from one quarter to the next. Where the platform's own reporting is thin, results are read from your own analytics and CRM.
Planned alongside the AI search practice behind the Crane Index, so the paid placement and the answer itself are worked on together.
ChatGPT Ads questions.
Can UK businesses advertise in ChatGPT?
Yes. OpenAI shows ads to some ChatGPT users in markets that include the UK, and its self-serve advertising tools are still being rolled out. Eligibility and formats are checked for your account at the start, because both are still changing.
Will an ad make ChatGPT recommend us?
No. OpenAI states that ads do not influence ChatGPT's answers. Being recommended in the answer depends on how well AI systems can read and trust your website and what others publish about you, which is AI search work.
How much should we spend on a first test?
Enough to reach a readable result and no more. The budget is set from your cost per customer on search, so the test can show whether ChatGPT beats, matches or trails what you already buy, and the decision after it is made on that evidence.
One budget, every platform.
Each platform is run inside one paid media plan, held by the same senior practitioner, so budget moves to wherever a customer is won most profitably. How the paid media practice works.
Start with a conversation.
A proper conversation with the person who would do the work. Tell me what you run on ChatGPT Ads today, or are thinking of starting, and you will get an honest read on what I would change, what I would leave alone, and where the real upside is.
Speak with NicThe senior read,
once a week.
Most marketing newsletters are noise on a schedule. This is not that. Once a week I send a short, considered read on the shifts that actually change what you should do, across the AI shift, PPC, technical SEO and analytics. Filtered, weighted and signed off by me before it goes out. The judgement is mine, and now you can hear every edition in my own voice.
Nic CraneFounder, The Crane Consultancy
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