Major retailers – Target in the US is one of them – are experimenting with paid placements woven directly into user interactions on ChatGPT.

With the AI platform drawing in the neighborhood of 700 million monthly visits (and expanding at an aggressive pace), this represents the emergence of a commerce surface that didn’t exist a few weeks ago; what makes it radically different isn’t just the audience size, it’s the ‘trigger’.

How does it work?

Instead of interrupting scrolling behavior, these placements respond to intent expressed in natural language, while the user is interacting with ChatGPT – in other words, the ads appear because of what the user is discussing with the AI.

For Retailers, conversational AI is not replacing search, social, or retail media networks, but…

… but, as a matter of fact, is carving out adjacent territory – a new layer in the media mix, one rooted in dialogue rather than clicks.

The question is, will ChatGPT ads become a primary gateway for product discovery?

And, above all, a credible one?

OpenAI has publicly stated that paid placements do not shape or bias the assistant’s responses. Even so, Consumers remain VERY wary of what’s organic and what’s paid.

Andy Cavallini