ChatGPT Ads Are Here: Should You Move Your Google Ads Budget?

ChatGPT Ads have launched in the UK, but should you move budget from Google Ads? Here is why we think most businesses should wait.

Marketer comparing paid search advertising with ChatGPT Ads across two computer screens

ChatGPT Ads officially launched in the UK on 11 August 2026, giving select businesses an opportunity to try it.

For marketers and business owners, the obvious question is should you start moving some of your paid search budget across? Could ChatGPT be the next major source of enquiries and sales?

Over a year ago, our agency started seeing ChatGPT as source of conversion, so when given the chance to advertise on ChatGPT, it’s quite tempting to move some or our budget from Google Ads. However, we don’t think it’s the right time yet. We think that for now, ChatGPT Ads is worth keeping an eye on, but it’s still far too early to consider it as a replacement for Google Search or even Bing search.

How do ChatGPT Ads work?

Ads can appear to logged-in adults using ChatGPT’s Free and Go subscription levels. Ads will not be served to Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts users.

According to OpenAI, ads are clearly labelled and shown separately from ChatGPT’s answers. And advertisers cannot pay to influence the answer itself.

The ads a user sees may be selected using:

  • The subject of their current conversation
  • Their previous ChatGPT conversations
  • Their earlier interactions with ads

Just like with established advertising platforms, as advertiser, you will not receive access to people’s conversations, chat history, memories or personal information. What you get are performance data, such as impressions, clicks and conversions.

OpenAI currently offers cost-per-click and cost-per-thousand-impression buying options. It also has a tracking pixel and Conversions API so you can measure actions such as purchases, enquiries and registrations.

The self-service advertising platform is not yet fully available to all advertisers in the UK, so not all UK business will be able to launch a campaign immediately.

Why could ChatGPT advertising be commercially valuable?

The attraction is not simply the number of people using ChatGPT. It is the context in which they are using it.

A person may ask ChatGPT to:

  • Compare different electric cars
  • Help them select a pension provider
  • Find accommodation near an event
  • Compare software for their business
  • Plan an itinerary
  • Research products before making a purchase

These conversations can happen while someone is considering a decision, not merely consuming content. This could give ChatGPT Ads an advantage over conventional display or social media advertising, where the person may not be actively researching the advertised product or service.

However, that does not necessarily give ChatGPT Ads the same level of intent as Search advertising.

Someone searching Google or Bing for “best electric car to lease” is actively looking for information about a product they may want. Their search provides a clear and immediate signal of intent.

A person discussing electric cars with ChatGPT may also be considering a lease, but they could simply be learning about driving range, charging or running costs. The conversation may provide richer context, but that does not automatically mean the person is ready to visit a website, make an enquiry or buy.

This is one of the key questions you will need to test: can ChatGPT turn conversational interest into commercially useful action as consistently as established Search advertising?

Why you should not rush to move your Google Ads budget?

Google Search is still the most valuable because people go there specifically to find information, products and businesses. This difference in intent is also important when comparing Google Ads with other advertising platforms.

Additionally, if you’re advertising for years on Google Ads, you already years of data, established conversion tracking and mature campaign controls. ChatGPT’s advertising service, on the other hand, is much newer. So, it has less data. And when it comes to PPC, accurate data is vital for success.

There are also important questions that can only be answered through testing:

  • How much UK advertising inventory will be available?
  • Which industries will receive sufficient traffic?
  • How accurately will ads match commercial intent?
  • What will average click costs look like?
  • Will ChatGPT visitors convert at a comparable rate to paid search visitors?
  • How much control will advertisers have over unsuitable conversations or placements?
  • How reliable will conversion attribution be?

Until there is more performance evidence, it doesn’t make sense to withdraw budget from a profitable Google Search campaign.

If you want to be one of the first to advertise on ChatGPT, the safer approach is to fund a controlled test separately, from a marketing budget you can afford to lose without seeing any return. This way, if it turns out successful it’s a win. If it doesn’t then you can write it off without affecting your overall marketing budget.

How should you test ChatGPT Ads?

A useful test needs more than a small amount of money and a few adverts. Before launching your test ads, decide what you are trying to learn.

Is the aim to generate direct sales, qualified enquiries, registrations or visits from people researching a particular subject?

A sensible test plan could include the following.

  1. One clear commercial offer

Avoid testing several unrelated services at once. Select a product or service that people are likely to research through conversation.

  1. Use a suitable landing page

The page should continue the conversation started by the advert. It needs a clear proposition, relevant supporting information and an obvious next action.

Sending every visitor to the homepage will make it harder to judge whether poor performance is caused by the advertising or the website experience. You can use our landing-page conversion rate calculator to measure how effectively the page turns visitors into enquiries, registrations or sales.

  1. Install conversion tracking correctly

Track the business result that matters, rather than relying on clicks.

Depending on your business, this could be:

    • A completed purchase
    • A qualified enquiry
    • A booked appointment
    • A finance application
    • A telephone call
    • A registration

Where possible, assess lead quality and completed sales outside the advertising platform as well. If your tracking data cannot be trusted, you will not be able to judge the test fairly. Our guide to making Google Ads conversion tracking reliable in GA4 explains what reliable measurement should look like.

  1. Separate ChatGPT traffic in reporting

Use clear campaign parameters and dedicated reporting so ChatGPT traffic is not mixed with organic, referral or other paid activity.

This will make it easier to compare conversion rate, cost per lead, revenue and lead quality with Google Ads and other channels.

  1. Set a decision point

Decide in advance how long the test will run and what would justify continuing it. A campaign should not be declared successful because it produced inexpensive clicks. The real question is whether those clicks produced commercially useful actions at a sustainable cost.

Should you advertise on ChatGPT now?

For most businesses, our answer is: not yet.

ChatGPT Ads are new in the UK, access is still limited and there is not enough performance evidence to know how the channel will compare with Google or Bing for generating enquiries and sales.

That does not mean you should ignore it. If you can access the platform and have a separate testing budget, a small trial could help you learn how your customers respond. But we would not recommend taking money away from a profitable Google or Bing campaign to fund it.

Before committing more budget, ChatGPT Ads need to prove that it can deliver commercially useful results. That means qualified enquiries, completed sales and an acceptable return, not simply impressions or inexpensive clicks.

So, keep watching, prepare your tracking and consider a controlled test if you have additional budget available. Until the evidence becomes clearer, protect the advertising channels that are already working.

Related Articles