The news: Scorpion, a marketing platform for local businesses, is now a tech partner supporting advertising in ChatGPT, letting it create, launch, and manage OpenAI’s ChatGPT ad campaigns for clients from its existing platform.

The designation puts Scorpion’s local-business clients in front of ChatGPT’s more than 900 million weekly active users, per PRNewswire, as they research options and make decisions.

Local businesses have historically lagged behind national brands in adopting new ad platforms because they lack the time or resources to manage another ad channel. Scorpion’s integration removes that barrier by folding ChatGPT campaign management into its own platform—one local companies already use.

Zooming out: Several platforms are reshaping how consumers discover local businesses.

• Apple Maps will introduce ads this summer in the US and Canada, showing a single sponsored listing per search result.
• Google Maps added a Gemini-powered Ask Maps feature, promoted pins, and map search ads in March, which was its biggest update in a decade.
• TikTok launched a local content feed that same month for users who share their location.

Amid these geotargeted updates, consumer time spent with ChatGPT is climbing, giving local businesses another discovery moment to capture. We forecast that US adults will spend an average of 9 minutes a day with ChatGPT this year, rising to 13 minutes by 2028.

Implications for local businesses: Buying a ChatGPT ad placement solves only part of the discovery puzzle, since reviews and web mentions carry independent weight with the same consumers ChatGPT ads are meant to reach.

Among US consumers who searched for a local business in the past three months, per BrightLocal survey data, 33% rejected a business over negative reviews alone, and 30% did so over a low star rating. Be aware that if ChatGPT surfaces unfavorable reviews alongside a paid placement for the same business, those reviews may have more influence than the ad itself.

Local businesses testing ChatGPT ads should treat reputation management as a prerequisite.

• Audit listings and web mentions for accuracy before launching campaigns, and respond directly to negative reviews to demonstrate concern and build trust.
• Monitor how ChatGPT’s ad experience evolves as OpenAI expands measurement and targeting, since early participants can learn the platform’s mechanics before competition and pricing intensify.