Acceleration in ChatGPT ad activity spotted

ChatGPT’s emerging ad ecosystem is gaining momentum, according to new monitoring from AI ad intelligence firm Adthena — with more brands appearing, clearer trigger patterns, and evolving ad placements.

What’s happening. After initially identifying the first advertisers inside ChatGPT last week, Adthena now reports a noticeable ramp-up in advertiser participation and ad delivery behavior.

Advertisers spotted so far:

• Best Buy
• AT&T
• Pottery Barn
• Enterprise
• Qualcomm
• Expedia

How ads are triggering. Based on a sample of 1,500+ prompts analyzed over the past week:

• Most ads appear on the first prompt.
• Some only trigger on the third or fourth repetition of the same query.
• High-intent modifiers like “best” and “new” appear to carry significant weight.

Example prompts include:

• “I am going to buy a new phone. What is the best phone?”
• “I need a new phone.”
• “I need to buy a new desk, what’s best?”

Between the lines. The keyword triggers appear relatively simple — focused on strong commercial intent rather than nuanced emotional language. In one notable example, Best Buy secured two ad placements in a single response for iPhone-related queries, signaling early experimentation with positioning and share of voice.

Why we care. As ChatGPT advertising scales, understanding trigger behavior — even at a basic keyword level — will be critical for brands testing this new channel.

The bottom line. ChatGPT ads are moving from pilot to pattern. The signals may be simple for now — but the competitive dynamics are already taking shape.

Spotted. The results of the competing ChatGPT ads were shares by Adthena CMO Ashley Fletcher who shared screenshots on LinkedIn.