Should founders advertise inside AI platforms like ChatGPT?

ChatGPT ads went from a $200K enterprise pilot to open self-serve with no minimum spend in under three months of 2026, and roughly a fifth of ChatGPT queries carry commercial intent, so early CPCs on high-intent conversations look attractive. But attribution is immature, results are unproven at scale, and Perplexity walked away from ads entirely over trust concerns, so treat it as a small experimental line, not a Meta replacement. Watch it closely: being early on a new high-intent channel is historically where small advertisers win.

A quick orientation. The real value is below: resources worth your time, from people who've actually done it.