We're Watching It' Is Not a Media Strategy

ChatGPT is now a paid media channel. Does your team have a buying thesis for it — or are you waiting to be asked?

On February 9, OpenAI launched ads inside ChatGPT. On March 2, Criteo became the first ad-tech partner. The Trade Desk is reportedly in talks to follow. Early data shows users referred through ChatGPT convert at 1.5x the rate of other channels. Target, Ford, Best Buy, and AT&T are already in.

This isn't a future planning item. It's live inventory.

Sources: Criteo press release, March 2, 2026; Digiday, "OpenAI is building the ad tech stack it's currently borrowing," March 10, 2026.

The question most marketing teams are quietly avoiding: do we have a framework for evaluating this — or are we going to end up reacting when a client asks?

Quick self-score:
🔴 No process. Channel decisions happen informally based on whoever raises their hand first.
🟡 We discuss new channels but there's no documented evaluation criteria or decision framework.
🟠 Some guidance exists but it isn't consistently applied — especially for AI-native channels with no measurement history yet.
🟢 Deliberate, documented framework governs every new channel decision: measurement approach, brand safety criteria, attribution model, minimum test budget threshold.

Here's the uncomfortable reality:

Most media organizations are excellent at executing on known channels. The process for evaluating genuinely new surfaces — especially ones with no historical benchmarks, unproven attribution models, and evolving ad formats — tends to be whatever a smart person argues convincingly in a room.

That's not a framework. That's a persuasion contest.

ChatGPT advertising isn't the point. The point is whether your team has the organizational muscle to evaluate it intentionally — with defined criteria — rather than reactively when budget pressure or client curiosity forces the question.

The organizations that will have an advantage here aren't the ones that jump in fastest. They're the ones that already have a decision architecture for situations exactly like this.

Your team is going to get asked about ChatGPT ads in the next 90 days. "We're watching it" is not a media strategy.