OpenAI has begun testing advertising through sponsored citations in free ChatGPT and the new GPT Go tier, and the mechanics are more constrained than the hype suggests. Ads are clearly labeled, appear below the AI’s response, and cannot influence the generated answer itself. Targeting is contextual rather than profile based, with OpenAI stating it does not sell conversation history or build user profiles.
For marketers, the real shift is structural. Without keyword bidding or audience targeting, relevance depends on how well the model understands a brand. That puts schema, structured data, and consistent entity signals at the center of paid visibility. Ads act as reinforcement of the organic answer, not an override, meaning weak positioning or vague product data cannot be fixed with spend. So, going forward, answer inclusion and machine readable clarity may now underpin both organic and paid performance.
