We’re standing at the edge of the next major advertising shift – and it’s not happening on Google or Meta. It’s happening inside AI tools.

OpenAI, through ChatGPT and its growing integration with Shopify and other platforms, is laying the groundwork for a new kind of advertising experience. It’s subtle now, almost invisible. But give it time, and we’ll look back on this moment the same way we now think of Google Ads in the early 2000s – as the quiet start of something massive.

So what’s coming next? Let’s break down how OpenAI-style ad formats are likely to evolve, and how brands should be preparing now if they want to stay ahead.

From Attention to Answers: Why AI Changes the Game

The biggest difference with AI-native advertising is this: people aren’t looking to browse, they’re looking for answers. That means we’re moving away from interruption-based ads and towards intelligent product recommendations that happen right in the flow of a conversation.

Instead of bidding for attention, brands will be competing to be the best fit for a specific user’s needs, as interpreted by an AI. That changes how we think about ad placements, creative, and campaign structure.

Expect to See New AI “Ad Placements” Emerge

Today, ChatGPT might recommend a product with a short description and a link. Tomorrow, it could be:

• A sponsored result in a curated product list
• A shoppable card that appears mid-conversation with pricing, reviews, and images
• A mini-storefront embedded directly into the AI chat
• A top suggestion badge, similar to how Google promotes ads above organic results

These are natural extensions. As users rely more on AI to make buying decisions, there will be opportunities for brands to increase their visibility inside the conversation itself – not just outside of it.

And because AI can customise responses on the fly, placements won’t be static. They’ll be fluid, contextual, and behaviour-driven.

Retargeting Will Become More Intent-Led

We’re also likely to see retargeting take on a whole new shape. Instead of being based on whether someone viewed a product page or clicked an ad, it could be driven by what they asked the AI.

For example:

• Someone types, “I need a lightweight jacket for hiking” into ChatGPT.
• That query is logged and linked to an anonymised user profile.
• Over the next few days, they see ads for technical outerwear across Meta, YouTube, and display networks – even though they never clicked anything.

That’s not speculation. It’s the logical next step once AI assistants integrate more closely with identity layers and media platforms. We’re heading for a world where intent becomes the most valuable signal in marketing – and AI is the one capturing it.

Creative Will Evolve Beyond Static Text and Images

If you think AI recommendations will stay text-only, think again. As multimodal AI becomes more powerful, brands should start thinking about how to build content that adapts to these new formats. That might include:

• Product demo videos that play directly inside the chat
• Interactive carousels that allow users to compare products side by side
• 3D product views or AR previews embedded in conversational flows
• Audio snippets or voice recommendations for voice-based interfaces

Your product content needs to be flexible, structured, and optimised for these new environments. And just like with Google Ads or Meta’s Advantage+ today, the AI will dynamically assemble and serve creative that best matches the query and context.

Campaigns Will Be Built (and Optimised) by AI

One of the more underappreciated shifts is that AI won’t just deliver ads – it’ll also build them.

Feed in your product catalogue, brand assets, and objectives, and the AI will handle:

• Writing the copy
• Selecting the creative
• Matching products to relevant queries
• Adjusting placements and delivery in real time

This is the natural evolution of where Performance Max and Advantage+ are already headed. The difference is that the AI won’t be confined to search results or social feeds – it will be operating across all kinds of surfaces, from chat to voice to visual.

The challenge for brands? Making sure the inputs are flawless. That means structured product data, smart tagging, and a clear sense of positioning. Without that, the AI has nothing to work with.

What Should You Do Right Now?

If you’re reading this and wondering whether this is all too far off to act on – it’s not. The foundations are already being laid. Here’s how to get ready:

• Clean up your product feed – structure it properly, add attributes, use tags
• Create flexible creative assets – video, product cards, copy snippets, rich images
• Build your brand’s AI-readiness – product clarity, smart categorisation, and clear positioning

AI Advertising Is Coming – The Smart Money Gets in Early

This isn’t a trend. It’s the next natural step in how people buy things online. When search becomes conversation, and product discovery becomes AI-led, the entire paid media playbook gets rewritten.

Will Google and Meta still matter? Of course. But they’ll no longer be the only channels in town.

The question for your brand is simple: are you ready to compete in a world where the buyer asks an AI what to buy – and the AI gets to choose?