Key Takeaways
- AdRoll’s ChatGPT pilot signals that conversational AI is emerging as a new advertising channel that can influence buyers in the middle of the journey.
- The offering helps SMB, mid-market and B2B advertisers test ChatGPT ads as part of a broader multichannel strategy rather than a siloed experiment.
AdRoll recently announced a pilot that enables a select group of their customers to test advertising in ChatGPT.
Generative AI is changing how people research products, evaluate solutions and discover brands, creating new opportunities for advertisers beyond traditional channels that largely focus on driving awareness at the top of the funnel or capturing existing intent at the bottom.
In this pilot, AdRoll is offering participating advertisers understand how advertising in conversational AI platforms fits within the customer journey and how it can work alongside their existing media investments rather than operate as a standalone experiment.
Why AdRoll Sees ChatGPT Ads as a New Marketing Channel
AdRoll is helping SMB, mid-market and B2B advertisers approach this opportunity as part of a connected strategy rather than another isolated media experiment, said Vibhor Kapoor, chief executive officer of AdRoll.
“Conversational AI platforms are creating an entirely new environment that enable marketers to participate in the moments when options are being discovered, preferences are being formed, and decisions are taking shape,” said Kapoor in a statement. “Marketers need to understand the impact conversational AI can have on the middle of the customer journey and how it complements the channels they already use to build awareness and capture demand.”
What Marketers Need to Know About ChatGPT Ad Placement
AdRoll will provide participating customers with campaign expertise and support as they evaluate how advertising in conversational AI to help them engage across the decision-making journey, an area many existing channels have yet to fully address. The pilot is designed to help bring emerging advertising opportunities to B2B marketers that may not have the resources or specialized expertise required to test a new channel independently.
Ads in ChatGPT are designed to show relevant messages at meaningful points in this customer journey, appearing below the end of a response when contextually appropriate or based on the users’ experience in ChatGPT. The unbiased and honest nature of the experience, as cited by OpenAI, closely aligns with AdRoll’s guiding principles on advertising experiences, according to AdRoll officials.
Ads appear separately and do not influence ChatGPT’s responses; OpenAI keeps users’ conversations private from advertisers and does not sell user data to advertisers.
What the ChatGPT Ads Pilot Could Mean for B2B Brands
The pilot builds on AdRoll’s continued investment in a multichannel advertising platform designed for the AI era, including privacy-forward measurement and technology that helps advertisers maintain reliable campaign insights as traditional cookies and browser-based tracking become less dependable. The company has also expanded its offering into channels including connected TV and digital out-of-home and introduced Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations that allow marketers to connect AdRoll and AdRoll ABM with AI assistants and agentic workflows.
“It is not every day that a new channel emerges, let alone one that’s tied to how people actively explore and evaluate their options through AI,” said Hans Fischmann, vice president of product at AdRoll. “The early signal is encouraging, and we are seeing ChatGPT show up across both awareness and performance goals. We are excited to help our customers test what this channel can deliver.”
Advertising in ChatGPT is currently available to a select group of participating AdRoll and AdRoll ABM customers . Existing customers interested in learning more about the pilot can contact their AdRoll representative.
