Google Ads has been one of the most established ways for businesses to reach people who are actively searching for products and services. Now, ChatGPT is emerging as a new advertising channel—and from a marketer’s perspective, it feels quite different.
After years of working with Google Ads, one thing that stands out about ChatGPT Ads is how easy the platform is to use.
The interface is relatively straightforward, AI can help create ad content, and features such as product feeds make it particularly interesting for ecommerce businesses. Instead of spending significant time learning a complicated advertising platform, marketers can get campaigns up and running with less effort.
But the bigger opportunity may be the way ChatGPT understands what customers are actually looking for.
ChatGPT Ads vs Google Ads
Google Ads is built around search. A customer types something like:
“best running shoes for beginners”
Google can match that search with relevant ads based on keywords, audiences and other signals.
With ChatGPT, the customer might instead say:
“I need comfortable running shoes for someone who has just started running and plans to run three times a week.”
That’s a very different type of intent.
The customer is describing a need, situation and preference, rather than simply entering a keyword.
This gives ChatGPT a richer understanding of what the potential buyer is actually trying to find.
For advertisers, that creates an interesting opportunity: instead of thinking only about keywords, we can think about the language customers naturally use when explaining their needs.
Why ChatGPT Ads feel easier to use
As someone familiar with Google Ads, I find one of the biggest advantages of ChatGPT Ads is the reduced workload.
AI-assisted ad creation
Creating ad copy and creative can take considerable time. ChatGPT’s AI capabilities can help generate advertising content, making it easier to create and test different messages.
Instead of starting from a blank screen, advertisers can use AI to speed up the creative process.
Product feeds for ecommerce
The product feed feature is particularly interesting for ecommerce.
Rather than manually creating individual product information for every advertisement, businesses can provide their product catalogue and use that information as part of their advertising setup.
For stores with hundreds or thousands of products, this can potentially save a significant amount of time.
Less time learning the platform
Google Ads is powerful, but it can also be complicated. There are campaigns, ad groups, keywords, match types, bidding strategies, audiences, assets, conversion settings and many other options to understand.
ChatGPT Ads feels more approachable.
For an experienced Google Ads advertiser, the learning curve can feel shorter, which means more time can be spent on the things that actually matter: understanding customers, creating good offers and improving performance.
The real opportunity: understanding customer language
Perhaps the most interesting difference isn’t the advertising interface—it’s the customer data behind the interaction.
People don’t always describe what they want using marketing terminology.
They might say:
- “I need something that won’t take hours to set up.”
- “What’s a good option for a small apartment?”
- “I need a laptop for video editing but don’t want to spend too much.”
- “Which software would work for a team that is growing quickly?”
These conversations reveal why someone wants to buy, not just what they searched for.
For marketers, this can be extremely valuable.
The language customers use in ChatGPT conversations can help businesses understand their needs, concerns, preferences and purchase motivations. Those insights can then influence not only advertising, but also product positioning, landing pages, content and overall marketing strategy.
How ChatGPT Ads work
The basic process is relatively simple:
- Choose your campaign objective — such as views, clicks or conversions.
- Set your budget and targeting.
- Create your ad using text and creative assets.
- Add relevant context or product information.
- Connect your landing page or product feed.
- Launch and measure performance.
ChatGPT Ads supports different buying models, including CPM and CPC, with conversion optimisation available for eligible campaigns.
The minimum daily budget currently starts at around US$25 per day, with the equivalent minimum varying by currency. For CPC campaigns, OpenAI currently recommends starting maximum bids in the range of US$3–$5 per click, although actual costs vary depending on competition and campaign performance.
For most businesses, the sensible approach is to start small, collect data and scale based on results.
Best practices
The fundamentals of good advertising still apply.
Understand the customer first.
Don’t start with the product. Start with the problem the customer is trying to solve.
Use customer language.
Think about how people naturally describe their needs rather than relying only on industry terminology.
Create multiple versions of your ads.
Test different messages, benefits and creative approaches.
Match the landing page to the ad.
If your ad addresses a specific problem, the landing page should continue that conversation.
Measure conversions, not just clicks.
Traffic and CTR are useful, but sales and revenue ultimately matter more.
Use product feeds where appropriate.
For ecommerce businesses with large product catalogues, feeds can simplify campaign management and reduce manual work.
How much should you spend?
There is no universal “right” budget.
A small business might start with a few hundred dollars for an initial test, while a larger advertiser may allocate thousands.
The important thing is to treat the first campaign as a test rather than a commitment.
For example, you could start with A$25–A$50 per day for 30 days, then evaluate:
- Cost per click
- Conversion rate
- Cost per acquisition
- Lead quality
- Revenue
- Return on advertising spend
If the results are positive, increase the budget. If not, adjust the targeting, creative, offer or landing page before spending more.
Is ChatGPT Ads worth testing?
For businesses already familiar with Google Ads, ChatGPT Ads is an interesting new channel to test—not necessarily because it replaces Google, but because it offers a different way of connecting with potential customers.
Google is very good at capturing what people search for.
ChatGPT can potentially provide a deeper understanding of what people actually need.
And from an advertiser’s perspective, the combination of AI-assisted creative, product feeds and a relatively simple campaign setup could make advertising less time-consuming.
The biggest opportunity may therefore be more than simply getting another source of clicks.
It is the possibility of getting closer to the customer’s own language—and using that understanding to create advertising that is more relevant, while spending less time managing the advertising platform itself.
For marketers, that’s something worth watching—and testing.
Check out this helpful video: https://webinar.openai.com/on-demand/067e119c-9315-4087-8006-8f4dfb236b65
