By Alistair Barr
Publication Date: 2026-05-27 09:00:00
OpenAI‘s move into advertising is starting to look like the foundation of a massive new revenue engine, one that could challenge Google‘s search empire in significant ways.
That’s according to new data from Similarweb executive Heral Amir, who’s been studying early ChatGPT ads bought by hundreds of companies, including HubSpot, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nordstrom, Cursor, and Indeed.
He says the reason is simple: ChatGPT ads aren’t built around keywords. They’re built around conversations, and what Amir calls “conversational intent.”
“When search was dominant, advertisers bought intent through keywords,” Amir said. “Conversational AI changes that completely. The user’s intent evolves during the conversation itself.”
That shift may sound subtle, but it has enormous implications for how AI ads are targeted, priced, and monetized.
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Traditional Google Search advertising depends on users typing commercially valuable phrases like “best…
