Do ChatGPT Ads Pay Off for Advertisers?

What did the study measure?

The authors followed 1,898 online shops, with about $16 billion in yearly sales, for 60 weeks from June 2025 to August 2026. ChatGPT switched ads on country by country, and the EU had none during that window, so it served as the comparison group. The paid-ad numbers come from 387 advertiser sites, 102 of them with full sales tracking. The figures come from the shops' own analytics, not from OpenAI.

How much is a ChatGPT ad click worth compared with search?

At paid search's rate of return, the authors value a ChatGPT click at about $0.26. The largest publicly known account paid $1.72 per click, more than six times that. PPC Land reports that OpenAI recommends starting bids of $3 to $5. The gap is not in traffic, it is in what each click returns for the price paid. Two limits apply. The comparison assumes similar profit margins in both channels, and it counts only the tracked visit, not purchases that happen later by another route. For what advertisers are reported to pay, see how much ChatGPT ads cost.

Is the result the same for every advertiser?

No, but it leans one way. Among 87 advertisers buying both channels in US traffic, 84 earned less per paid ChatGPT visit than per paid search visit. Seventy-three of the 87 recorded no paid ChatGPT purchase at all, and a single advertiser accounted for 76% of US paid ChatGPT revenue. The authors call the best-known public success story the exception, not the rule. Averages hide a few winners and many advertisers with no sale.

Did ads make ChatGPT worse for users?

Possibly a little. Organic ChatGPT referrals to shops fell about 6 to 8% after ads arrived, though the authors describe that as a range across assumptions and the first estimate is statistically uncertain. Visitors who still arrived converted at the same rate as before. Ads cost ChatGPT some traffic but did not change how the remaining visitors buy.

What should advertisers take from it?

Treat ChatGPT as a capped test, not a budget shift. Compare any click price with your own paid search numbers, tag your links, and judge the test on sales rather than clicks. The study does not explain why paid clicks return less, so it cannot say how your ad will do. One thing you can check before spending is whether your ad fits the questions your buyers actually ask. That is the subject of what advertisers can do about low-ROI AI chat ads. Test the fit first, then the budget.