Ads in AI Assistants 2026: ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Copilot
Where you can buy ads inside AI assistants as of October 2026: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Copilot, Amazon. Status, targeting, limits, checklist.
A year ago, “AI ads” mostly meant ads made with AI. Now it also means ads inside AI answers: a sponsored product under a ChatGPT reply, a Shopping ad inside a Google AI Overview, an offer highlighted in a Copilot conversation. For a small brand the questions are practical: which of these can I buy, do I need a new campaign, and what do I measure?
For 7+ years I’ve worked with Meta advertisers: first advising 150–280 businesses per quarter on campaigns, Pixel, Conversions API and catalog setups, then leading two teams of up to 27 Meta Marketing Pros serving ~4,500 advertiser accounts. For this article I read each platform’s official announcements and help pages and separated what is live from what is still a test. This is the state as of October 2026, and it changes fast.
The short version
| Platform | Where ads appear | How you buy | Status (Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | Below answers, clearly labeled, for Free and Go users | Self-serve Ads Manager or partners; CPM, CPC, conversion optimisation | Live in 89 countries; self-serve in the listed markets |
| Google AI Overviews | Above, below and inside the AI Overview | Existing Search (broad match or AI Max), Shopping, Performance Max | Above/below: 200+ markets. Inside: English, 12 countries |
| Google AI Mode | Below and integrated into AI Mode answers | Same campaigns as above | Testing in the US |
| Microsoft Copilot | Ads in Copilot answers; Offer Highlights | Microsoft Advertising Search, Shopping, Performance Max | Live; Offer Highlights for retail in English-speaking markets |
| Amazon (Alexa for Shopping, formerly Rufus) | Sponsored prompts in results and product pages | Existing Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands, CPC | Generally available in the US since March 2026 |
| Perplexity | None | None | Sponsored follow-ups phased out |
| Meta AI | No ad placement documented | Not applicable | AI chats used as an ad signal on Meta’s apps |
ChatGPT ads: the newest channel, and self-serve
OpenAI announced its approach to ads in January 2026 and started a US pilot in February. The rules still apply: ads show only to logged-in adults on the Free and Go plans (Plus, Pro and Enterprise stay ad-free), sit labeled at the bottom of an answer, don’t influence the answer, and advertisers never see conversations. OpenAI also said it would not show ads to users it predicts are under 18 or near sensitive or regulated topics such as politics.
Buying got much simpler. In May, OpenAI opened a beta self-serve Ads Manager and added CPC bidding next to CPM, shortly after launching a pixel and Conversions API. By August it had added conversion optimisation, geo-targeting and custom audiences. On 21 October 2026 it expanded to 26 more countries, 89 in total, and said more than 100,000 advertisers had run campaigns. The availability list shows self-serve access in markets including the US, UK, Germany and Turkey, provided the billed legal entity is based in a listed country.
Still limited: Sponsored Agents, where a user clicks an ad and chats with a business’s own agent, are being tested with select US advertisers, and the ChatGPT Ads app for Shopify is for US-based merchants. You can also opt into text customisation, which adapts your headlines and descriptions to the conversation and translates them. Check what is switched on before launch.
Google: AI Overviews are live, AI Mode is still a test
According to Google’s help page on ads and AI Overviews, the clearest official document here, ads can show above or below AI Overviews in all 200+ markets where AI Overviews exist. Ads inside the AI Overview are available in English on mobile and desktop in 12 countries: Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and the US. Germany and Turkey are not on that list.
What matters for setup:
- No new campaign type. Text and Shopping ads from existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns are eligible.
- Keyword-only accounts rarely match. AI Overviews trigger on complex questions advertisers seldom target, so Google requires broad match, AI Max for Search, Performance Max, Shopping or Dynamic Search Ads.
- No placement control. You can’t target or opt out of AI Overviews, and there is no segmented reporting; ads inside them count as top ads.
- Sensitive verticals are excluded, such as adult, alcohol, gambling, finance and politics.
AI Mode is a step behind. At Google Marketing Live in May 2026, Google said it is testing two new formats in AI Mode: Conversational Discovery ads, where Gemini builds the creative around a person’s specific question, and Highlighted Answers, where a relevant ad can appear inside a list of recommendations. Both include an independent AI explainer and keep the “Sponsored” label. Google also announced AI-powered Shopping ads for “the coming months” and an expanded Direct Offers pilot. Treat AI Mode ads as a US test, not a budget line for Europe yet.
Microsoft Copilot: ads from your existing campaigns
Ads in Copilot come from normal Microsoft Advertising campaigns; there is no separate Copilot buy. In April 2026 it introduced Offer Highlights, which bring product differentiators such as free shipping or in-store pickup into Copilot. They are available for retail in English-speaking markets, with the differentiators supplied in Microsoft Merchant Center. AI Max for Search, which Microsoft describes as an effective way to reach Copilot Search and Copilot Answers, became available to all advertisers in August and is on by default for new Search campaigns.
Copilot Checkout (people buy inside Copilot, you stay the merchant of record) is a commerce feature, not an ad. It began rolling out in the US in January 2026; Shopify merchants there were enrolled automatically after an opt-out window.
Amazon: sponsored prompts in Alexa for Shopping
If you advertise on Amazon in the US, you may already be in an AI ad format. Amazon made Sponsored Products prompts and Sponsored Brands prompts generally available in the US on 25 March 2026. Existing campaigns are enrolled automatically, prompts are built from your listings and campaign data, clicks cost your normal CPC, and a Prompts report shows sales and ROAS per prompt. In May 2026 Rufus was merged with Alexa+ into Alexa for Shopping. Amazon has announced Branded Conversations, multi-turn brand conversations built on Sponsored Brands prompts, starting January 2027 in the US.
Perplexity and Meta AI: what doesn’t exist
Perplexity tested sponsored follow-up questions in the US from November 2024. In February 2026 the Financial Times reported that it had phased them out and had no plans for more advertising.
Meta has not documented an ad placement inside Meta AI. What did change: since 16 December 2025, in most regions, people’s interactions with Meta AI are a signal for the content and ads they see on Facebook and Instagram. Chat about hiking, and hiking-boot ads may follow. Meta says topics such as religion, political views and health are not used for ads. Nothing changes in Ads Manager; it is one more signal in delivery.
Targeting: context, not keywords
You no longer pick the moment. You supply products, ads, landing pages and conversion data, and the system decides which conversation fits: ChatGPT matches ads to the current conversation, Google to the query plus the AI answer, Amazon to the shopper’s product questions. That puts the work in three places:
- Your product feed. Google tells retailers to keep descriptions, prices, promotions, shipping and returns current and to supply enough images and videos. Microsoft and Amazon build their AI formats from the same kind of data. A vague title with missing attributes can’t match a detailed question.
- Your landing page. People arrive with a specific question, such as “a quiet espresso machine for a small kitchen”. The first screen has to answer it: who the product is for, key facts, price and delivery.
- Your claims. AI systems can rewrite or extend your copy (OpenAI’s text customisation, AI Max on Google and Microsoft). Give them clear, provable facts and check brand controls and exclusions.
Measurement and privacy limits
Expect less detail. OpenAI gives aggregated insights only, so you never see what someone asked, and Google folds AI Overview ads into your top-ad numbers. Tracking matters more, not less: OpenAI has its own pixel and Conversions API, Microsoft uses UET, Google its own conversion tracking. If your purchase events aren’t clean, none of these systems can optimise. If you sell in a sensitive or regulated category, read each platform’s policy before you plan budget.
Judge AI placements by cost per purchase or lead and by new customers, not by click-through rate.
How this differs from Meta and Instagram ads
Meta and Instagram ads interrupt a feed. Nobody asked for your product, so the creative has to stop the scroll. Video and a strong hook do that work, as I described in my guide to AI-generated video ads on Meta and the article on Meta’s image-to-video tool.
AI assistant ads answer a question someone already asked. They behave like search: the intent exists, and your job is to be the most relevant, best-described option. Today the formats are mostly text and product cards, shaped largely by the platform. That may change: OpenAI is testing a visual ad format during image generation in the US from October 2026.
What to do now: a checklist
- Fix your product feed in Google and Microsoft Merchant Center: titles, attributes, prices, shipping, returns, images.
- Open up Google matching. Test broad match or AI Max for Search in one campaign, keep Shopping or Performance Max running, and use Smart Bidding.
- Import into Microsoft Advertising if you haven’t: a small step from Google, and the way into Copilot.
- Create a ChatGPT Ads account at ads.openai.com, check self-serve for your country, and install the pixel or Conversions API before spending.
- Start small: a fixed test budget, one or two clear offers, landing pages that answer specific questions.
- Review AI rewrites and brand settings before scaling.
- Keep your Meta and Instagram setup, with clean Pixel and Conversions API data, as the base of demand generation.
My take
Ads inside AI answers are real but uneven. ChatGPT is the easiest to test from Europe, ads inside Google’s AI Overviews are limited to English in 12 countries, and Copilot reaches you through campaigns you may already run. For a small brand, the most useful work now isn’t a new campaign type but clean product data, landing pages that answer real questions, and tracking you can trust.
For help with the feed, the tracking or the ads themselves, see my services or get in touch.
FAQ
Can small businesses buy ads in ChatGPT?
Yes. Self-serve Ads Manager is open to businesses billed in listed countries, including the US, UK, Germany and Turkey. Ads reach Free and Go users only.
How do I get my ads into Google AI Overviews and AI Mode?
Through existing Search campaigns with broad match or AI Max, Shopping or Performance Max. Ads inside AI Overviews run in English in 12 countries; AI Mode ads are a US test.
Can I target a specific ChatGPT conversation or prompt?
No. OpenAI matches ads to the conversation’s context; you control budgets, bids, geo-targeting and custom audiences.
Does Perplexity still sell ads?
No, as far as I could verify. In February 2026 the Financial Times reported that its sponsored follow-up questions had been phased out.
Are AI assistant ads a replacement for Meta and Instagram ads?
No. They reach people who are already asking; Meta and Instagram create demand in the feed. Test AI placements on top of a working setup.
