ChatGPT ads vs being recommended: which one wins your store more sales?
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Should my store pay for ChatGPT ads, or work on getting recommended?
Work on getting recommended first. It costs a store less over a year, shoppers trust it more, it keeps working after you stop, and it’s more likely to end in a sale. Once AI already recommends you, ads can double down on that. Until then, they’re a test budget.
How this works
Four rounds. In each one, ads and being recommended go head to head, and I call the winner. Then my verdict for three types of store.
Round 1: Which costs a store less over a year?
Winner: being recommended.
Most definitely, being recommended costs a store less over a year.
Ads charge you for as long as they run. The work that gets you recommended, your product data, your SEO and your AEO, is done once and then kept up to date. And ChatGPT’s shopping ads are built from that same product data (source: Digiday), so getting it right pays twice.
Round 2: Which does a shopper trust more?
Winner: being recommended.
A shopper is always going to trust the conclusion they believe they helped come to. They’ll always trust the suggestion that was based on their own questions more. So, definitely being recommended.
The ad sits under the answer, labeled as sponsored. The recommendation is the answer. OpenAI says ads won’t influence what ChatGPT recommends (source: PPC Land). And trust is what turns a click into a sale.
Round 3: Which is still working six months after you stop?
Winner: being recommended.
Definitely being recommended.
An ad stops the day the budget stops. Being recommended keeps sending shoppers your way after the work is done, as long as you keep your facts up to date.
Round 4: Which is more likely to end in a sale?
Winner: being recommended.
When it comes to LLMs, I would definitely say being recommended.
I haven’t run ads on ChatGPT. But I’ve paid for ads on Meta that got clicks and no sales. Usually that’s because trust was lost somewhere in the funnel. Someone sees a great ad that makes them click. But when they get to the page where they’d buy, things are missing.
In my case, the trust my ads built didn’t carry through to the website. That’s most likely why people didn’t convert at the level I wanted. Ads are a great shop window. But the shop itself has to have the ingredients that let someone follow through. In the early days, some of my products were missing those.
Final scoreBeing recommended 4Ads 0
| Round | Winner |
|---|---|
| Cost | Being recommended |
| Trust | Being recommended |
| Still working after you stop | Being recommended |
| Ends in a sale | Being recommended |
Final score: being recommended 4, ads 0. That doesn’t make ads useless. It means they work best on top of being recommended, not instead of it.
The biggest myth about ChatGPT ads
The biggest myth is how much control you have. On most ad platforms, you pick keywords and decide where your ad shows up, using whatever data you’ve plugged in. With ChatGPT, they place the ad for you. They place it based on what you’re selling and where they believe it’ll be most effective for that customer.
So you have less control over where your ad goes. You’re trusting their algorithm to find the best place for it, and you get very little visibility on that. It’s a different way of targeting, and a different level of insight than the paid ads you’re probably used to.
It’s also very early days. Fewer people are advertising there, which could be to your advantage. ChatGPT ads are bringing in around $1 billion a year (source: AdExchanger), compared to about $265 billion on Google in 2024. So you’re early if you advertise there, but you get less visibility. I’m sure the platform will grow. It’s growing faster right now than Google did when it first launched (source: PYMNTS).
ChatGPT ads right now
The facts, as of October 2026:
- Ads show to free and Go users. Paying subscribers and under-18s don’t see them.
- They sit below the answer and are labeled as sponsored.
- Stores can build ads from their product catalog, much like Google Shopping.
- Gambling, alcohol, tobacco and adult products are banned, and only some shopping categories are allowed so far (source: AdTechRadar).
- There’s no keyword targeting. You describe the context, and ChatGPT decides where your ad shows.
My verdict for three types of store
A new brand nobody has heard of, with $2,000 a month to spend.
The first thing I’d do is get my message across organically on the LLMs, making sure my SEO and my AEO are correct. I’d make sure I’m being considered in all the potential shopping questions, so the LLMs start to suggest me organically. $2,000 a month is a decent amount of money to get that going.
A brand AI already recommends.
Yes, buy ads too. If AI already recommends you, you’re in a great space. Ads can double down on the real estate you have. The LLM places your ad in the most relevant place, and that might be a buying question you’ve overlooked, where the algorithm can see your product fits. You’ve got nothing to lose by having a test budget there.
A brand that ranks #1 on Google, but AI never mentions it.
100%, you need to concentrate on AEO, exclusively. If you’re really number one on Google, you have great citations. Now you need to turn those citations into answers to shopping questions, so AI links you back to them. Then you’ll get recommended by the LLMs, and make more money.
FAQ
Do ChatGPT ads change what ChatGPT recommends?
OpenAI says no. Ads sit below the answer, labeled as sponsored, and don’t influence it.
Can any store run ChatGPT ads?
Not yet. Some categories are banned, only some are allowed so far, and ads are still rolling out market by market.
Do I need a product feed?
For ads built from your catalog, yes. It’s the same product data that helps AI recommend you, so it’s worth getting right either way.
How do I know if AI recommends my store?
Ask it the questions your customers would ask, and see who comes up. Or run a free check at mercenta.ai.
About me
I’m Nick Acquah, founder of Mercenta. We only work with e-com brands, and we do one job: get your products recommended by AI over your competitors’, so you make more sales.
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