What ChatGPT Ads data reveals about your competitors by Adthena

Adthena announced on May 20, 2026, that competitors are actively running advertisements on ChatGPT, a development that presents a significant blind spot for many businesses due to the lack of native tools to monitor this emerging ad channel. OpenAI launched advertising within AI-generated responses earlier this year, and brands have rapidly adopted the platform, with a minimum spend requirement and a dedicated Ads Manager now in place. This new advertising frontier is expected to expand to the U.K. market soon, making the window for early-mover advantage increasingly narrow.

Adthena analyzed nearly one million query indexes across 20 industries and five markets (U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Canada) between March and May 2026. The data reveals that the U.S. is currently the primary market for ChatGPT advertising, accounting for approximately 90% of all ad placements in their dataset. In the U.S., ads appeared on 4.5% of queries. In contrast, during the same period, zero ads were detected on roughly 170,000 U.K. indexes, indicating that the U.K. market is still in its nascent stages of adoption. Canada and New Zealand show some activity, while Australia has a 1.6% ad placement rate. This disparity means that U.S. competitors have had months to refine their strategies, identify effective prompts, and optimize creative content for ChatGPT ads, a significant advantage that U.K. businesses may not have when the channel becomes fully operational in their region.

The analysis also indicates that in the majority of cases, only one ad is displayed per ChatGPT response. This limited ad real estate underscores the competitive intensity and the importance of strategic targeting and compelling creative for any brand looking to capture attention on the platform. The lack of comparable "Auction Insights" tools, as seen on platforms like Google Ads, leaves advertisers in the dark regarding competitor strategies, bidding patterns, and creative executions on ChatGPT. This absence of transparency necessitates proactive monitoring and analysis by third-party tools to gain a competitive edge in this evolving digital advertising landscape.