How to Advertise in ChatGPT and Google AI Mode: A 2027 Planning Guide

For most of the last two decades, a search ad sat next to the answer. In 2026 it moved inside it. ChatGPT now sells sponsored placements to more than 100,000 advertisers, Google is running ads in the middle of AI Mode responses, and Microsoft quietly folds existing search ads into Copilot.

The timing matters. In the last two weeks of October alone, OpenAI expanded ChatGPT Ads to 115 countries, and Google brought AI Mode ads to ten new markets including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India. If you are building a 2027 media plan, these placements are no longer a test you can ignore.

This guide covers what you can actually buy today, how each platform picks which ad to show, what it costs, how to write for it, and how much budget it deserves next year.

Key Takeaways

• ChatGPT and Google are the two places to buy ads inside AI answers right now. Copilot runs automatically off Microsoft Advertising campaigns. Perplexity and Claude sell no ads.
• ChatGPT ads are bought through OpenAI’s own Ads Manager and only reach Free and Go users. Paying subscribers never see them.
• Google AI Mode ads need no new campaign. If you run Performance Max, Shopping, or Search with broad match or AI Max, you are probably already eligible, and you cannot opt out separately.
• Reporting on both platforms is thin. Treat 2027 spend as a measured test, not a standing channel.
• Paid placement does not make an AI recommend you. Organic mentions in the sources AI tools cite still decide most of the answer.

Where You Can Buy Ads Inside AI Answers Today

Platform	Status (November 2026)	How you buy	Who sees the ads
ChatGPT	Live, self-serve, 115 countries	OpenAI Ads Manager, or agency and ad tech partners	Logged-in adults on the Free and Go plans
Google AI Mode and AI Overviews	Live in the US plus 10 more markets; Brazil, Mexico and the UK due later in Q4	Existing Google Ads campaigns (Performance Max, Shopping, Search with broad match or AI Max)	Users of AI Mode and AI Overviews in supported markets
Microsoft Copilot	Live	Existing Microsoft Advertising campaigns, opted in by default	Copilot users
Perplexity	No longer selling ads	Not buyable	Organic citations only
Claude	Ad-free by policy	Not buyable	Organic mentions only

How ChatGPT Ads Work

The timeline so far

OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT in the US on February 9, 2026. Early pilot buyers reportedly faced six-figure minimum commitments. On May 5, OpenAI opened a self-serve Ads Manager with cost-per-click bidding, a measurement pixel and a Conversions API, and broad self-serve access followed in July.

Since then the pace has picked up. On October 21, OpenAI added 26 countries for a total of 89, and the platform reached 115 countries by October 30. A multi-image ad format entered open beta on October 26, and OpenAI also began testing visual ads shown during image generation for Free and Go users in the US.

Who sees them

Ads appear only for logged-in adults on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu subscribers do not see ads, and OpenAI does not serve them to users it believes are under 18. Ads are also kept away from sensitive topics such as personal health, mental health and politics.

That last point about paid tiers matters for B2B advertisers. If your buyers are the kind of people whose company pays for ChatGPT Enterprise, a ChatGPT ad may never reach them at work.

How an ad gets chosen

There are no keywords. According to OpenAI’s advertiser guidance, the system matches ads to the intent of the conversation, plus select signals from a user’s wider ChatGPT history when they have turned on ad personalization. OpenAI states that ads do not change the answers ChatGPT gives and that advertisers never see conversation content.

In practice you are feeding a matching engine rather than bidding on a term. OpenAI recommends loading many title and copy variations for each offering so the system has more chances to find a relevant moment.

What it costs

OpenAI does not publish a rate card. Industry reporting from the summer cited CPMs of roughly $25 to $60 and recommended starting CPC bids of about $3 to $5. Treat those as directional figures from early buyers. Real costs vary by category, market and auction pressure, and they will move as more of the 100,000+ advertisers compete for the same conversations.

One recent change to watch: as of late October, ChatGPT Ads switched on automatic creative changes by default. Review that setting before launch if your brand or compliance team needs approved copy to run exactly as written.

How Google AI Mode Ads Work

You are probably already serving there

Google has no separate AI Mode ads manager and no opt-in box. Search campaigns using broad match or AI Max, Shopping campaigns, and Performance Max are all eligible to serve inside AI Overviews and AI Mode through the normal auction. Bidding and pricing are the same as standard search ads, with no surcharge. The catch is that you cannot target AI Mode on its own, and you cannot opt out of it separately from Search.

Google matches these ads against both the user’s query and the content of the AI response. Exact match keywords can serve above or below an AI Overview but not inside it, so a tightly controlled exact-match account can be close to invisible inside AI answers while a broad-match account shows up often.

The new formats

At Google Marketing Live 2026 on May 20, Google introduced several formats built for AI Mode:

• Conversational Discovery ads, where Gemini writes creative tailored to the specific question asked.
• Highlighted Answers, where a qualifying ad can appear inside a list of recommendations the AI generates.
• AI-powered Shopping ads, built from Merchant Center product data.
• Business Agent for Leads, a chat-based lead capture flow for service businesses.

All of them carry a Sponsored label. Rollout is staged by format, market and account, so check availability with your Google rep before planning around a specific unit.

The October expansion

On October 28, Google brought AI Mode ads to Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore, with Brazil, Mexico and the UK scheduled for later in the quarter. At the same time it launched multiturn ads in the US, which can appear in follow-up questions rather than only the first query. Google says AI Mode queries run about three times longer than traditional searches, which tells you what kind of copy wins there.

Google is also testing ads for AI Mode users who connect their Google apps through Personal Intelligence, using summaries from those apps to personalize the ads. Google says advertisers cannot access the connected data and that ads are not based directly on a user’s Gmail inbox or photo library.

Copilot, Perplexity and Claude

Microsoft Copilot generates ads from assets you already run in Microsoft Advertising, including responsive search ads, product ads and Performance Max. Eligible campaigns are opted in by default. Microsoft has also added commerce formats such as Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents. If you advertise on Bing, review what is serving and make sure nothing reads badly when lifted into an AI answer.

Perplexity tested sponsored follow-up questions but, according to WIRED, stepped back from advertising in February 2026 to focus on subscriptions and enterprise.

Claude is ad-free under Anthropic’s published policy. On both platforms, the only way into an answer is to be cited or recommended organically.

ChatGPT Ads vs Google AI Mode Ads at a Glance

	ChatGPT Ads	Google AI Mode ads
Setup	New account in OpenAI Ads Manager	Existing Google Ads campaigns
Targeting	Conversational intent, no keywords	Query plus AI response content; broad match, AI Max, Shopping, PMax
Bidding	CPM or CPC	Standard Google Ads auction
Opt out	Not applicable (you choose to run it)	Not possible separately from Search
Audience limit	Free and Go users only	AI Mode and AI Overviews users in supported markets
Reporting	Spend, impressions, clicks, CPC, pixel and Conversions API	Blended into Search totals, not broken out
Markets	115 countries	US plus 10 markets, 3 more due in Q4

How to Write Ads for an AI Answer

An ad that sits under a paragraph the user just read and trusted has to read like the next sentence of that answer. Hype and vague slogans look out of place.

1. Answer the situation, not the keyword. AI queries are long and specific. “Payroll for a 20-person team in three states” beats “Leading payroll software.”
2. Load volume and variety. On ChatGPT especially, more distinct angles per product means more conversations where your ad fits.
3. Send clicks to the page that finishes the thought. Use a product or use-case page that matches the ad, not your homepage.
4. Let the crawlers in. OpenAI requires that landing pages do not block its OAI-AdsBot and OAI-SearchBot user agents. Google’s Gemini formats also pull context from your site and feed. Check your robots.txt and bot protection.
5. Clean your product data. Google’s AI Shopping formats and explainers are only as accurate as your Merchant Center attributes.
6. Tag everything by hand. ChatGPT Ads does not auto-tag, so add UTM parameters to every creative.

How to Measure It Without Fooling Yourself

Neither platform gives you clean attribution yet, so build measurement that does not depend on theirs.

• On Google, keep an exact-match control campaign on the same products so you can see what broad match and AI Max add. Ask your rep for any AI Overview or AI Mode impression data they can pull.
• On ChatGPT, install the pixel, connect the Conversions API, and reconcile reported clicks against your own analytics every week. Agencies have reported gaps between the two.
• Track AI referrals as their own channel. Separate chatgpt.com, copilot.microsoft.com and Google AI traffic in GA4 so a lift from organic citations is not credited to paid, or the reverse.
• Read platform-funded studies carefully. Lift figures published by the platforms or their ad partners are useful signals, not neutral benchmarks.

What to Put in Your 2027 Plan

1. Audit Google first. Find out how much of your current spend already serves in AI Mode and AI Overviews. For most accounts, the first job is rewriting copy and fixing feeds, not adding budget.
2. Run a bounded ChatGPT pilot in Q1. One market, one conversion goal, a fixed budget, a 60 to 90 day window, and full UTM and pixel setup from day one. Judge it on qualified leads or sales from tagged traffic, not platform-reported conversions.
3. Check Copilot, then leave it. It is already running off your Microsoft campaigns.
4. Put Perplexity and Claude in your organic plan. There is no media line to buy. Effort there goes into being cited.
5. Add a compliance gate for regulated categories. Confirm which formats allow required disclaimers and what an AI-written explainer may say next to your brand before any spend.

Why Paid Placement Is Only Half the Answer

Both OpenAI and Google say ads do not influence the organic answer. That means a brand can buy the sponsored card under a ChatGPT response while a competitor is the one actually recommended in the answer above it.

The organic recommendation is shaped by the sources these models cite: industry lists, comparison articles, reviews and editorial roundups on trusted sites. As Google adds more source links to AI Mode and gives more prominence to timely articles, being mentioned in those sources is becoming as important as the ad itself. The strongest 2027 plans fund both: a measured paid test on ChatGPT and Google, and a program to earn mentions in the pages AI already cites.

If you are looking for help on the organic side, our roundups of the best generative engine optimization agencies and top answer engine optimization agencies are a good place to start.

Choosing a Partner for AI Answer Ads

Most AI ad buying today runs through existing paid search and paid social teams. When you evaluate an agency for this work, ask for:

• Live campaign experience on ChatGPT Ads, not just a waitlist signup.
• A clear method for separating AI Mode performance from standard Search results.
• A measurement plan that reconciles platform data with your own analytics.
• A view on organic AI visibility, since paid and earned placement now compete for the same answer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I buy ads in ChatGPT today?

Yes. OpenAI’s self-serve Ads Manager is open to advertisers in 115 countries, with CPM and CPC bidding. Ads only reach logged-in adults on the Free and Go plans.

Do I need a new campaign for Google AI Mode ads?

No. Performance Max, Shopping, and Search campaigns using broad match or AI Max are already eligible. You cannot create a campaign that targets AI Mode only.

Can I opt out of Google AI Mode ads?

Not separately from Search. In the ten markets added in October, existing eligible campaigns joined automatically.

How much do ChatGPT ads cost?

There is no official rate card. Early buyers reported CPMs around $25 to $60 and starting CPC bids around $3 to $5, but costs vary by category and market.

Do ads change what ChatGPT or Google AI Mode recommends?

Both companies say no. Ads are labeled Sponsored and kept separate from the organic answer, which is why earned mentions still matter.

Can I advertise in Perplexity or Claude?

No. Perplexity stepped back from ads in early 2026, and Claude is ad-free by policy. Visibility on both depends on organic citations.