Ads are now being tested in ChatGPT in the U.S., appearing for some users across different account types. For the first time, advertising is entering an AI answer environment – and that changes the rules for marketers.
We’ve used AI as part of ad creation or planning for years across Google, LinkedIn, and paid social. But placing ads inside an AI system that people trust to help them think, decide, and act is fundamentally different. This is not just another channel to plug into an existing media plan.
The biggest question is not targeting. It’s psychology. If advertisers simply replicate what works in search or social, performance will disappoint, and trust may suffer.
To succeed, brands need to understand how and why people use ChatGPT in the first place and what that means for attention, relevance, and the customer journey.
ChatGPT is a task environment, not a feed
People open ChatGPT to do something. That might be:
- Solving a specific problem.
- Refining a shortlist.
- Planning a trip.
- Writing something.
- Making sense of a complex decision.Â
This is very different from feed-based platforms, where people expect to scroll, be interrupted, and discover content passively.
In task-based environments like ChatGPT, behavior changes:
- Goal shielding: Attention narrows to completing the task, filtering out anything that does not help progress.
- Interruption aversion: Unexpected distractions feel more irritating when someone is focused.
- Tunnel focus: Users prioritize clarity, speed, and momentum over exploration.
This is why clicks are likely to be harder to earn than many advertisers expect. If an ad does not help the user move forward with what they are trying to achieve, it will feel irrelevant, even if it is topically related.
Add to this the fact that trust in AI environments is still forming, and the tolerance for poor or interruptive advertising becomes even lower.
Dig deeper: OpenAI moves on ChatGPT ads with impression-based launch
When there are no search volumes, behavior becomes the strategy
For years, search volume has shaped how we plan.
Keywords told us what people wanted, how often they wanted it, and how competitive demand was. That logic underpinned both SEO and paid media strategy.
ChatGPT changes that.
People are not searching for keywords. They are outsourcing thinking. They describe situations, ask layered questions, and seek outcomes rather than information alone.
There is no query data to optimize against. Instead, success depends on understanding:
- What job the user is trying to get done.
- Which part of the journey they are choosing to outsource to AI.
- What kind of help they need in that moment.
This is where behavioral insight replaces keyword demand as the strategic foundation.
From keyword intent to behavior mode targeting
Rather than planning around queries, advertisers need to plan around behavior modes, the mindset a user is…
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