Advertising has started appearing inside conversational AI products. In Korea, OpenAI began showing visually separated ads below responses for free and Go tier users on June 19.
Google and Naver are also expanding tailored ads against shopping-intent queries in AI search and briefing surfaces. With OpenAI, turning on ad personalization lets the assistant serve relevant ads based on signals collected during use, while Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu subscribers are excluded from ads entirely.
OpenAI framed the move as necessary to sustain infrastructure and investment. Competition is part of the picture: ChatGPT's share in Korea sits in the 40% range, below the global average of 46.4%, while Gemini has climbed to roughly 30% — raising the pressure to monetize.
On a search results page, paid and organic results are visually distinct. A conversational answer is one continuous passage. If ads drift toward native placement inside that passage, users lose the ability to separate a recommendation from a purchase. That matters more than it did with banners, because the answer is already doing the judging for the reader.
Disclosure requirements are tightening in adjacent areas — see DV360 Structured Data Files v10.1 Adds AI Labels and DOOH for how labeling obligations are spreading through ad tooling.
First, treat presence in an AI answer as a different metric than a search click: inclusion comes before the click. Second, run paid placement and organic citation as two separate tracks — buying your way into an answer does not replace being cited for credibility. Third, note that ad-free paid tiers mean your reachable audience is now segmented by subscription level.
The cost of getting ad format wrong is measurable. "Connected Content": 80% Say a Bad Ad Is Worse Than No Ad at All puts a number on it.
No. In Korea, ads began appearing on June 19 for free and Go tier users. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu subscribers are excluded.
They currently appear below the response in a visually separated block. The concern raised is that a shift toward native placement inside answers would make the distinction harder for users.
When personalization is enabled, the assistant uses signals gathered during use to serve related ads. Disabling it changes which ads are shown.
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