Ads in AI answers: what we know about ChatGPT and Google

When an AI answers instead of a results page, advertising follows the answer. In October 2026, two platforms do it at scale: Google in its AI Overviews, OpenAI in ChatGPT. Both promise the ad stays separate from the answer; both leave the advertiser with fewer settings and reports than a classic campaign. Here is what we know, with sources, and what it changes for a business that buys advertising; the article is part of our online advertising guides.

Where things stand in October 2026

1. February 2026

   OpenAI starts testing ads in ChatGPT in the United States.

2. 18 August 2026

   OpenAI announces ads in 31 European markets, including France, from the following week.

3. 16 October 2026

   List-based targeting (emails, phone numbers) exists in the United States, not yet in Europe.

4. 19 October 2026

   Google Ads Help lists twelve countries where ads show inside AI Overviews, all in English.

Ads in answers are therefore no longer a marginal test. They are still young, though: both platforms document what they show, much less what they measure.

At Google: your campaigns, with no switch

Google distinguishes two placements. Ads above and below AI Overviews are possible in every market where the overviews exist. Ads inside the AI Overview are more limited:

support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16297775?hl=fr

The rest of that help page says what matters to an advertiser:

• ads come from your existing campaigns (Search, Shopping, Performance Max); Google considers both the query and the content of the AI Overview when choosing them;
• Google recommends broad targeting to appear there: broad match, AI Max, Performance Max or Dynamic Search Ads, because these overviews trigger on complex questions few advertisers target with keywords;
• you can neither target this placement alone nor opt out of it;
• there is no separate report: these ads are counted as top ads.

For a small business, the consequence is concrete. You do not buy “AI Overviews”: you broaden your targeting, and part of the budget goes to questions further from purchase, with no way to isolate what they bring in. It is the same logic as Performance Max, and the same discipline applies: negative keywords every week, and a test long enough to give a signal.

At ChatGPT: a new ad platform

OpenAI set out its principles when the test launched, in its February 2026 announcement:

• answer independence: ads do not influence what ChatGPT answers, and they are labelled as sponsored and visually separated from the answer;
• no ads for users under 18, whether declared or predicted;
• no ads near sensitive or regulated topics, such as health, mental health or politics;
• conversations stay private: advertisers only receive aggregate data, such as the number of views or clicks;
• only the Free and Go plans show ads; Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education do not.

The expansion to Europe was announced on 18 August 2026: according to The Next Web, 31 markets, including France, Germany, Spain and Italy, with buying first through OpenAI’s sales team and its partner agencies.

Targeting is different from a keyword. According to Next, the advertiser describes the conversations or topics relevant to its offer, hints that are not exact-match rules. Audiences built from lists of emails or phone numbers exist in the United States, but not yet in France or the rest of Europe.

What it changes for an advertiser

Measurement goes through your site

Neither platform shows you the conversation. What you can measure is what happens on your side: the landing page, the campaign parameters, the enquiry sent, then the sale.

That is what lets you compare these placements with others on the only figure that counts, customer acquisition cost, rather than on views. Sales sent back from the CRM, described in our offline conversions guide, also work for Google; OpenAI has announced its own measurement tools, to be assessed once they are available to you.

The ad must keep the answer’s promise

An ad that appears below a detailed answer is read by someone who has just compared. The landing page must answer with the same precision: prices, lead times, proof. Our article on the landing page details what it should contain. And if the copy is generated, it gets reviewed: what works with AI-generated ads applies here more than anywhere, as does the question of trust raised in our article on AI and disinformation.

Being cited remains distinct from being advertised

Advertising does not buy a place in the answer itself. Being cited as a source is a matter of search optimisation: see how to get cited by ChatGPT and what AI Overviews do to your traffic. The two complement each other: the ad buys immediate visibility, the citation is built over time.

Should you go now?

For most B2B small businesses, there is no separate decision to make at Google: your search and Performance Max campaigns are already eligible if you target broadly, and the real choice is about broadening your targeting. At ChatGPT, it is one more platform to test, with a dedicated test budget and measurement in place before the first spend, as for any new channel: the method in our Google Ads or Meta comparison applies, and LinkedIn Ads remains more direct if your buyers are defined by their job title.

Two last precautions. The customer lists you hand to a platform fall under the same consent rules as retargeting without third-party cookies. And if an agency buys these placements for you, its contract should say how it reports on them. To decide whether these placements deserve a share of your budget, our digital marketing offer starts by measuring your current enquiries.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Google Ads Help, about ads and AI Overviews (new tab)support.google.com
2. OpenAI, Testing ads in ChatGPT (new tab)openai.com
3. The Next Web, OpenAI is bringing ChatGPT ads to 31 European countries, 20 August 2026 (new tab)thenextweb.com
4. Next, La publicité ciblée de ChatGPT peut utiliser prompts, emails et numéros de téléphone, 16 October 2026 (new tab)next.ink