The Debrief
L7L14L30L90All
PaidSearchIndustryTechDataBrandConversion
Tech · 1 min read23 April 2026

ChatGPT Is Testing Ads and Building a Super App. Here Is What Marketers Need to Know.

OpenAI is testing ads in ChatGPT for free-tier US users and projecting $2.5B in ad revenue for 2026. Brands like Canva, Spotify and Target are building in-chat experiences.

OpenAI is testing ads inside ChatGPT for free-tier US users, projecting $2.5 billion in ad revenue for 2026, while brands build in-chat commerce experiences.

⚡What happened

OpenAI confirmed ad testing in ChatGPT for US free-tier users, with Criteo joining the programmatic pilot and brands like Canva and Spotify building in-chat experiences.

→Why it matters

ChatGPT is evolving from a productivity tool into a commerce platform where users discover, compare and transact without visiting your website.

🇦🇺AU angle

Ads are US-only for now, but Australian businesses that build AI-friendly content and structured product data today will be positioned when the pilot expands.

â—ŽWho cares

Marketing strategists, ecommerce operators and anyone whose discovery funnel depends on search or content marketing.

â–²Risk

Waiting until ChatGPT ads reach Australia means scrambling to catch up while competitors who prepared early dominate a new channel.

Your move

Test how ChatGPT currently describes your brand and category, then fix inaccuracies by improving your public content

Ensure your product information is structured and machine-readable with schema markup and clean data feeds

Share this brief
Send it to a colleague who'll find it useful.
Filip Ivanković
The Debrief / From Filip Ivanković
One every morning. Six months in, you'll see the patterns most don't.
Strategy, benchmarks, and what's actually moving in Australian marketing. Four-minute read. The reps compound.
Filip Ivanković·Founder, New RebellionAboutLinkedIn