ChatGPT ads fit some businesses. Here is how to tell if yours is one.
Built from the advertisers who stayed on the platform longest, panel data on who sees the ads, and what Monday.com and Graphite shared about what works.
ChatGPT ads work for self-serve products that finish a task people already do in ChatGPT, with a landing page for each specific use. Only free and Go plan users see ads, about 43% of eligible US users on Similarweb's panel. Top advertisers so far are software companies, so local service businesses are better served getting named in AI answers first.
ChatGPT ads work for some businesses right now and not others. The difference is not budget. It is whether your buyer is doing something in ChatGPT that your product finishes.
This guide is built from the advertisers who have stayed on the platform the longest, Similarweb's panel data on who sees the ads, and what Monday.com and Graphite shared about what works. Read it before you spend a dollar.
Who actually sees the ads
Ads only show to people on ChatGPT's free and Go plans. The paid premium plans carry no ads. That still covers most users, because most people do not pay.
Not every eligible user sees one. Similarweb's panel puts it at about 43% of eligible users in the US, and around 40% in the other large markets.
If you sell to companies, do not write the channel off because your buyer's company pays for ChatGPT. Plenty of founders and managers also use a personal free account on their phone. Monday.com's growth lead made that bet and says the relevant buyers are there.
Who it works for
Products someone can start today
The advertisers who hold their place longest are self-serve: Over 20 weeks of tracking, JotForm and Resume.io held a top-ten spot longest, with Cursor and Monday.com in it for 15 of the 20. A person can click, sign up and use them in one sitting.
The test: can a stranger get value from your product in the same session they saw the ad?
Products that finish a task people already do in ChatGPT
People do not only search in ChatGPT. They write, plan, build and analyze there. The best ads meet that work directly: Resume.io ran "Turn your ChatGPT content into a resume." Monday.com ran "Track KPIs without the spreadsheet." Gamma pitches turning your notes into a deck.
The test: name the exact thing your buyer is typing into ChatGPT when your product would help.
Products with many specific uses
The top advertisers run a large number of different ads, one use case each, and send each one to its own page. A product with ten clear uses has ten chances to match a conversation. A product with one generic promise has one.
The test: can you list at least five specific jobs your product does, each with a page that shows it?
Who it does not work for, yet
One offer, one homepage
Most advertisers send every ad to their homepage. The ones that are winning send each ad to the page that delivers its promise. If you only have a homepage, you will pay for clicks from people who land, do not see what they came for, and leave.
Businesses that need last-click proof
Many people see the ad, then ask ChatGPT about your brand, then come back later through Google or by typing your name. A click report misses most of that. If every dollar has to show a direct sale this month, start somewhere else.
Small budgets spread wide
Loose targeting on a new channel burns money fast, the same way broad match does on Google. Spread a small budget across many ideas and you will not learn whether any of them worked.
Local service businesses, for now
The top advertisers are software, with travel and online stores starting to appear. We do not see local service businesses among them yet. If you are a contractor or a clinic, your AI time is better spent getting named in AI answers first.
Instead: see which local builders AI names.
If it fits, start like this
- One use case first. Two or three landing pages built for it, a handful of ads that each lead with what the person can do.
- Write tight context hints. They are the main targeting control you get. Describe the exact moment you want, and leave out the rest.
- Tag every link and send conversion events back. Without tags, ad clicks show up as organic and you will misread the result.
- Ask every new signup how they found you. Graphite reports people credit ChatGPT about ten times more often in that answer than click tracking does. Then ask a few of them what they were trying to do in ChatGPT.
- Start small and grow what works. Advertisers come and go fast. The ones who last widen slowly.
For how the ads themselves work and how we run them, see How OpenAI Ads work.
Where these numbers come from
Read this before quoting anything above.
Who sees ads, the top advertisers and how long they lasted come from Similarweb's opted-in user panel, presented in its recent ChatGPT ads webinar with Graphite and Monday.com. Similarweb sells ad intelligence software, and these are its numbers, not OpenAI's.
What works in creative, landing pages and measurement comes from Monday.com's growth team and Graphite, an agency that runs these campaigns. Treat it as experienced practice, not a controlled study.
OpenAI changes placements, targeting and formats every few weeks. Check the date on anything you read about this channel, including this page.
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Read the guide →Not sure if you fit?
Marquee Demand runs ad tests for founder-led companies. We will tell you on the first call if ChatGPT ads are the wrong place to start.
See Marquee Demand →