The results are in! And they... aren't great.
The marketplace has been watching ChatGPT's trial period for paid ads, and so far, the reality for early advertisers is a slow-motion cautionary tale of technical hurdles and less-than-impressive engagement metrics.
There's internal friction too; in February, OpenAI researcher Zoë Hitzig resigned in protest, warning in a New York Times essay that an advertising model built on a "precedent-free archive of human candor" risks psychologically manipulating users who believe they are speaking to a neutral entity.
The Conversational Difference: High Intent vs. Low Engagement
ChatGPT Ads differ from Google Search Results because of users' active intent. ChatGPT users are typically trying to solve a problem through a high-touch, multi-turn dialogue.
Unlike early predictions that ads would only appear after several turns, research from Adthena shows that high-intent modifiers (like "best," "new," or "buy") often trigger "Sponsored" cards in the first response.
Despite this seemingly aggressive approach, the results have been underwhelming. Reports indicate that click-through rates for some brands have hovered around 0.91%, which is nearly seven times lower than the 6.4% benchmark for traditional Google Search in the same sectors.
This suggests that while users are engaged with the AI, they may not yet be ready to treat it as a shopping channel — especially when they didn't set out to start shopping in the first place.
Who’s Leading the Chat GPT Ads Charge?
Major enterprise agencies have committed significant budgets to this experiment, and confirmed active brands include Best Buy, Expedia, AT&T, Qualcomm, and Canva.
While these well-known early adopters might make placements appear appealing, there is a notable flaw in the framework. Currently, ads are only visible to logged-in adults on the Free and "Go" ($8/mo) tiers in the U.S. All Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise subscribers remain ad-free.
This means that the platform's most valuable, high-spending users can't be reached by advertisers, limiting the potential ROI for luxury and high-ticket brands.
The Tracking Trap: Measurement Issues
While the potential for "transcript-level" market intelligence is high, the actual infrastructure isn't delivering — literally, in some cases.
Advertisers have reported that a major reporting glitch in OpenAI's Ad Manager interface is preventing them from seeing their own campaign data. Without this visibility, calculating ROI or optimizing campaigns in real-time is nearly impossible.
Furthermore, the "spend at scale" problem is real. Because ads are only served to a fraction of the user base and only for specific commercial queries, some brands have struggled to even spend their allocated budgets.
One enterprise advertiser reportedly spent only 3% of a $250,000 budget after several weeks, indicating that the platform is not yet delivering the volume necessary for massive campaigns.
The Bottom Line
ChatGPT ads represent the first true application of conversational AI at scale, but the pilot has been a "slow, conservative rollout" marred by technical friction and questionable ethics.
Hitzig’s departure highlights fears that the company is repeating the "Facebook playbook" — prioritizing engagement and revenue over the safety of the intimate, private data users share with chatbots.
Until OpenAI fixes the measurement gap and addresses the exclusion of premium users, ChatGPT Ads will remain an experimental playground rather than a reliable performance channel for most ad buyers.
The brands testing now are building a learning curve that their competitors will eventually have to pay to close, but for now, they are largely flying blind in a format that is still finding its feet.
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