Search & social · also called AI search ads, chatbot ads, conversational ads
Ads in AI assistants and AI search
Ads in AI assistants and AI search are paid placements that appear within or beside AI-generated answers, such as in Google's AI Overviews or ChatGPT, often matched to the conversation's context.
As people ask AI assistants questions instead of typing keywords into search boxes, advertising is following. Google began showing ads within and around AI Overviews in 2024 and extended ads to AI Mode; Microsoft shows ads in Copilot; Perplexity has experimented with sponsored follow-up questions; and OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT for logged-in adult users on its Free and Go tiers in the US in early 2026, labelled as sponsored and shown separately from answers.
Mechanically, these ads are usually contextual: the system looks at the question or conversation and chooses relevant ads, much like contextual targeting or keyword bidding but on meaning rather than exact words. Formats include sponsored product cards, links and suggested follow-up questions.
The open questions are big: how to keep ads clearly separate from the AI's answer, how to measure value when users click less, how publishers whose content trains or grounds the answers get paid, and how privacy rules apply to conversational data. Expect standards bodies such as the IAB Tech Lab to keep working on this.
Think of it like this
Ads in AI assistants are like a knowledgeable shop assistant answering your question and then pointing to a clearly labelled display stand sponsored by a brand.
An example
A user asks an assistant for "a good lightweight tent for a trek in Himachal"; the answer lists options, and below it a card marked "Sponsored" shows a tent from an outdoor retailer.
Related terms
Search advertising
Search advertising is placing paid ads alongside search engine results, triggered by the words people search for and usually charged per click.
Contextual targeting
Contextual targeting places ads based on the content being viewed, such as the topic, keywords or sentiment of a page, video or app, rather than on data about the individual viewer.
Generative AI in advertising
Generative AI in advertising is the use of AI models that create text, images, video, audio or code to produce ads, variations, targeting and campaign setups, often automatically at scale.
Keyword bidding
Keyword bidding is choosing search terms your ads should appear for and setting how much you are willing to pay per click when someone searches for them.
CPC (cost per click)
CPC (cost per click) is a pricing model where the advertiser pays only when someone clicks the ad, and also the average amount paid per click.
Sources: OpenAI: Testing ads in ChatGPT