OpenAI’s Sam Altman just called out Google’s entire business model:
“Ads on a Google search are dependent on Google doing badly. If it was giving you the best answer, there’d be no reason to buy an ad."
That is the quiet truth of modern advertising: Google profits when search fails.
ChatGPT plans to profit when trust succeeds.
That single shift could upend how every customer finds, evaluates, and buys from you.
The Death of the Scroll
Right now, marketing is a knife fight for attention.
You bid, you optimize, you hope your ad lands above the fold.
In the next phase of search, none of that matters.
People will not search; they will ask.
“Where should I eat tonight?”
“What’s the best service near me?”
“Who can help me grow my business?”
ChatGPT will answer with one or two trusted recommendations, not ten blue links and four paid ads.
Then, with one click, the customer can act: book, buy, or call.
Question → answer → conversion, all in a single conversation.
No scroll. No friction. No second chances.
The Psychology Behind It
This is not a technology story. It is a trust story.
Advertising used to be about grabbing attention.
Now it is about earning belief.
When AI becomes your customer’s most trusted advisor, the question changes from
“Can people find you?”
to
“Will AI recommend you?”
Algorithms will not care about your ad budget.
They will care about your clarity, credibility, and consistency.
Why It Matters
If your business depends on being found online, the rules of visibility are changing fast:
- Visibility will depend on merit, not money. You will not buy your way to the top. You will earn it through accuracy and trust.
- AI reads data, not buzzwords. Inconsistent hours, wrong links, or outdated reviews will make you disappear from recommendations.
- Trust becomes your new SEO. Verified content, honest reviews, and clear service details are what AI learns from, not ad copy.
The businesses both humans trust and machines understand will dominate.
The Hard Numbers
This shift is not theoretical; it is measurable:
- Conversational commerce is projected to grow from 8.8 billion dollars in 2025 to 32.7 billion by 2035 (Juniper Research).
- The global chatbot market will nearly triple to 47 billion dollars by 2029 (MarketsandMarkets).
- Early studies show AI-search visitors convert up to 23 times higher than traditional search users.
- Nearly 74 percent of adults under 30 already use AI tools to help make purchasing decisions (PwC).
This is not “someday.” It is happening now.
What ChatGPT Ads Will Look Like
When ChatGPT introduces ads, they will not look like Google’s.
There will be no sidebars or bidding wars.
Instead, expect sponsored recommendations blended into AI answers: verified products, trusted partners, or services that align with user intent.
Your brand will win placement not by shouting louder, but by proving it deserves to be part of the answer.
What Smart Brands Are Doing
At IMEG, we are already helping clients adapt through GEO, Generative Engine Optimization.
GEO is not about gaming algorithms.
It is about making your brand worth recommending.
That includes:
- Structuring your data so AI can understand and quote you accurately.
- Building credibility signals that make algorithms trust you.
- Tracking when and where your brand appears inside AI-generated results.
If Google’s model rewards confusion, GEO rewards clarity, the kind AI can read and customers can believe.
About IMEG
With more than 23 years of experience, IMEG has built a reputation on measurable results:
- $835 million in annual client revenue generated
- $2.5 billion in verified economic impact
- Over $65 million in managed ad spend
- 60+ growth experts working across strategy, analytics, and creative
Our mission is to make brands not just visible but trusted in a world where AI decides who gets seen.
The Takeaway
The old game was buying attention.
The new game is earning trust.
Soon, customers will not scroll; they will ask.
And when they ask, AI will answer.
The businesses that win will not be the ones shouting the loudest, but the ones AI trusts the most.
IMEG is already helping brands make that leap, turning visibility into credibility and credibility into growth.
Because when the world starts asking smarter questions, your business needs to be the smartest answer. Contact us today to learn more!
