When ChatGPT rolled out ads on February 9, retailers moved quickly to test the format.

• The retail and grocery category accounted for 44% of ad impressions on ChatGPT during the two-week period from February 12 to 26, compared with 37% on Google Search, according to data from Sensor Tower.
• Brands appearing during that stretch included Best Buy, Target, Chewy, Wayfair, Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Petco, Gap, and Pottery Barn.

Retail’s early dominance isn’t accidental. AI is already influencing purchase decisions across categories.

• Consumer electronics is the most AI-forward category, with 55% of US adults saying AI-powered search partly, mainly, or exclusively helped them make a purchase, according to August 2025 data from McKinsey & Company.
• Consumers also find AI search helpful in grocery (49%) as well as wellness, nutrition, and health tech (46%) purchases.

Adoption is set to grow, especially in grocery. Nearly half (47.7%) of consumers say their comfort with and use of AI-powered tools will increase at least somewhat over the next five years, according to a July 2025 Amazon Ads and EMARKETER survey.

If AI search is to function as a sustainable ad channel, retail will be its proving ground. Testing it, however, is neither cheap nor simple.

• OpenAI is reportedly pricing ads at around $60 per 1,000 impressions, roughly three times the average CPM on Meta.
• Even at that premium, advertisers currently receive limited reporting, mostly high-level metrics like impressions and clicks.

“The high CPMs may be justifiable, but to make that make sense, you need to help brands measure it,” said our analyst Nate Elliot on a recent “Behind the Numbers” episode. “They’re going to need to do better at helping brands and buyers understand the value that they’re getting from these ads if they want to charge those prices.”

Consumer mistrust adds complexity: 63% of US adults say ads in AI search results would make them trust those results less, per January 2026 data from Ipsos.

However, this may not be enough to drive consumers away from the platform.

“I do think there will be some resistance, but not necessarily enough to convince users to flee the platform en masse,” said our analyst Marisa Jones on the same podcast. “[Even if they go] to another platform [that doesn’t have ads], they’ll probably be getting ads at some point. And we also have to consider that users are very good at tuning out ads entirely.”

The combination of premium pricing, limited measurement, and evolving consumer behavior make retail’s early participation notable. Few industries operate with thinner margins or more rigorous ROAS expectations. If AI search can show incremental value in categories like electronics, home goods, or grocery, the case for broader advertiser adoption strengthens.

But it may take awhile.

“Advertisers might not see the best results at first, but in time, this is obviously going to become a core part of the ChatGPT experience. So with that, its effectiveness will likely grow,” said Jones.

For now, AI search may be expanding the channel mix, but marketers should treat it as an experiment rather than a replacement.

“I think the only route is to approach these [ads] with interest, but [also] approach them with caution. Going too far into investment, especially with the prices ChatGPT is charging, especially with them not having any proven results yet, is risky,” said Jones.

This was originally featured in the Retail Daily newsletter. For more retail insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.