One of the biggest concerns surrounding advertising inside AI platforms has always been simple:

"Will people just dismiss the ads?"

Recent data from OpenAI suggests the opposite may be happening.

According to OpenAI, the rate at which ChatGPT users dismiss advertisements has fallen by 50% since advertising was introduced earlier this year. Whilst this is still very early in the platform's evolution, it's an encouraging signal that conversational advertising is becoming increasingly relevant to users rather than simply interrupting them.

This Isn't Traditional Advertising

Unlike search engines or social media, ChatGPT understands the context of an entire conversation.

Instead of matching an advert to a keyword, it can understand what somebody is trying to achieve, what information they've already provided and where they are within their decision-making journey.

That creates a completely different opportunity for advertisers.

If someone is asking detailed questions about bridging finance, life insurance, robotic lawn mowers or property investment, an appropriate recommendation feels far more natural than a generic display advert appearing on an unrelated webpage.

Relevance becomes the key performance metric.

Why Lower Dismissal Rates Matter

A 50% reduction in dismissals isn't simply a vanity statistic.

It suggests users are finding the advertising useful enough not to immediately close it.

For advertisers, that's significant because it indicates:

  • Better alignment between intent and advertising.
  • Less interruption to the user experience.
  • Higher quality engagement opportunities.
  • Greater confidence in AI-driven contextual targeting.

Ultimately, the success of ChatGPT Ads won't be measured by how many adverts people see, but by whether those adverts genuinely help people solve the problem they're already discussing.

A New Skillset Is Emerging

For years, digital marketers have focused on:

  • Search intent
  • Audience targeting
  • Creative optimisation
  • Landing page conversion

Those skills remain valuable, but conversational AI introduces another layer.

Advertisers now need to think about how their products and services naturally fit within real conversations.

It's no longer just about bidding on keywords… it's about providing genuinely relevant solutions when someone is actively exploring a topic.

That's a subtle but important shift.

My Take

Having spent more than two decades managing paid search and paid social campaigns, I see ChatGPT Ads as another evolution rather than a replacement.

Google Search remains incredibly powerful.

Meta continues to dominate demand generation.

But conversational AI introduces a new type of commercial intent that sits somewhere between search and human consultation.

Brands that begin experimenting now will inevitably gain experience before the platform becomes crowded.

As with every major advertising platform over the last twenty years, the early adopters are often the ones who learn the fastest.

The technology will continue to evolve, but one principle won't change:

The more relevant your message is to the user's intent, the better your results are likely to be.