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Amol Ghemud Published: February 16, 2026
Summary
ChatGPT Ads and Google Ads serve different intent moments. Google Ads captures demand through keyword-based search, using a CPC model where you pay per click. ChatGPT Ads capture demand inside AI conversations, using contextual targeting and a CPM model (currently around $60 CPM) with a high-entry beta minimum spend.
For Indian startups in 2026, Google Ads is the clear choice for immediate, measurable ROI because it’s accessible, scalable, and available right now. ChatGPT Ads are still in an early stage, expensive, and not yet launched in India, but they represent the future of intent-driven conversational advertising.
The smartest strategy is not to replace Google Ads, but to combine Google Ads for performance today with GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) to build AI visibility now, so that when ChatGPT Ads arrive, your paid campaigns perform significantly better.
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ChatGPT Ads use conversational context to serve sponsored recommendations at approximately $60 CPM, while Google Ads use keyword targeting with CPC pricing. ChatGPT Ads reach users during AI conversations when they’re in decision mode. Google Ads reaches users during traditional search. They serve different moments in the buyer journey and work best as complementary channels.
The temptation right now is to pick sides. But that’s the wrong frame. Google Ads has 20+ years of proven ROI data. ChatGPT Ads launched yesterday. Comparing them as direct competitors misses the point entirely.
This breakdown covers how each platform targets users, what the pricing actually looks like, how the ad formats differ, and which approach makes sense for Indian startups today. We’ve been running performance marketing campaigns alongside GEO strategies for over a year, so we’re looking at this from both sides.
How Does Each Platform Target Users?
Google Ads target users based on keywords, demographics, and audience segments. ChatGPT Ads target users based on conversational context, past chat history, and real-time intent signals. The difference isn’t just technical. It changes what “targeting” even means.
With Google, you bid on keywords. Someone types “best CRM for startups” and your ad appears if you’ve bid on that phrase. You control the keywords, match types, negative keywords, and audience layers. It’s precise, well-documented, and you’ve probably been doing it for years.
ChatGPT doesn’t work that way. There are no keywords to bid on. OpenAI uses the full conversation context to determine which ads are relevant. If someone has been asking ChatGPT about scaling their startup for the last 15 minutes and then asks about project management tools, the AI understands that this person is a startup founder looking for growth solutions. That context informs which sponsored recommendation appears.
Here’s why that matters. Google catches intent at the moment of search. ChatGPT catches intent throughout an entire conversation. It sees not just the current question but the reasoning behind it. Someone might never type “CRM for Series A startup” into Google, but their ChatGPT conversation makes that intent obvious.
The tradeoff is control. With Google Ads, you decide exactly which queries trigger your ads. With ChatGPT Ads, OpenAI’s algorithm decides based on conversation context. You have less granular control but potentially reach users you’d never capture through keyword targeting alone.
How Do the Pricing Models Compare?
Google Ads primarily use a cost-per-click (CPC) model where you pay only when someone clicks your ad. ChatGPT Ads use a cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) model where you pay for visibility regardless of clicks. This fundamental difference changes how you think about budgets and ROI.
Google Ads CPC in India varies wildly by industry. Fintech keywords can run Rs 50-200 per click. SaaS keywords typically fall between Rs 30-150. E-commerce is generally cheaper at Rs 10-50 per click. You set daily budgets, and you can start testing with as little as Rs 500 per day.
ChatGPT Ads are a completely different ballgame. The current CPM is approximately $60, which means you’re paying about Rs 5,000 for every 1,000 impressions. And there’s a minimum commitment of $200,000 (roughly Rs 1.7 crore) to enter the beta program. There’s no self-serve option. No small-budget testing. Not yet.
To put this in perspective, a Google Ads campaign spending Rs 50,000 per month on fintech keywords might generate 500-1,000 clicks. That same budget on ChatGPT Ads at the current CPM would buy about 10,000 impressions with no guaranteed clicks.
The pricing gap will likely narrow as ChatGPT Ads scales and moves to self-serve. We saw the same pattern with every new ad platform. Facebook started expensive and exclusive. Instagram Ads launched premium. Both eventually became accessible to brands of all sizes. Expect ChatGPT Ads to follow the same path.
For Indian startups right now, the math doesn’t favor ChatGPT Ads as a standalone channel. The minimum spend alone rules out most companies. But the platform’s trajectory matters more than today’s pricing.
How Do the Ad Formats Differ?
Google Ads appear as text links, shopping results, or display banners across search results and partner networks. ChatGPT Ads appear as sponsored recommendations below organic AI responses, allowing users to continue a conversation about the product. These formats create fundamentally different user experiences.
Google Ads drive clicks to your website. The entire conversion funnel happens on your landing page, your product page, and your checkout. You control every step from ad click to conversion. That’s both the strength and the limitation, because your landing page and site experience determine whether the click converts.
ChatGPT Ads don’t drive website visits in the traditional sense. When a user clicks a sponsored recommendation, they can start a conversation about the product inside ChatGPT. They ask questions. They get answers. They evaluate. All within the chat interface. No landing page required.
Think about what this means for creative strategy. With Google Ads, you write headlines and descriptions designed to generate clicks. With ChatGPT Ads, your product data needs to be comprehensive enough to sustain a conversation. The user might ask, “Does this integrate with Slack?” or “What’s the pricing for a 10-person team?” The AI needs to have accurate answers.
This shifts the focus of optimization from ad copy and landing pages to product data quality and structured information. Brands with comprehensive, accurate product feeds and structured data will perform better on ChatGPT Ads regardless of their creative skills.
For more details on exactly how ChatGPT Ads work, including the targeting and format specifics, check our complete ChatGPT Ads guide.
Which Platform Is Better for Indian Startups Right Now?
For Indian startups in 2026, Google Ads is the proven, accessible, and immediately available option. ChatGPT Ads is a high-potential channel for the future that requires preparation now. The right strategy involves both, but with different timelines.
Google Ads is available in India today. You can start with any budget. The targeting is granular and well-understood. The measurement infrastructure is mature with clear ROI tracking. Every rupee spent generates data you can act on immediately. If you need leads this quarter, Google Ads delivers.
ChatGPT Ads aren’t available in India yet. When they launch, the minimum spend will likely start high and then move to self-serve. The measurement will be new and evolving. The targeting is algorithmically driven with less advertiser control. If you need results this quarter, ChatGPT Ads can’t help you.
But here’s the strategic angle most people miss. The way to prepare for ChatGPT Ads isn’t to wait and then buy ads. It’s to build AI visibility now through GEO. When ChatGPT Ads do launch in India, brands with existing organic AI presence will have a compounding advantage. They’ll understand the ecosystem. They’ll have data on which queries drive engagement. And they’ll have the content infrastructure to support conversational ad experiences.
The recommendation for most Indian startups: keep running Google Ads for immediate performance. Start investing in GEO to build your AI visibility foundation. When ChatGPT Ads arrive in India at accessible price points, layer them on top of that foundation.
Can You Run Both? And How Should You Allocate Budget?
Yes, you should plan to run both. The question isn’t whether, it’s when and in what proportion. The allocation depends on your growth stage, budget, and timeline.
For startups spending under Rs 5 lakh per month on marketing, the split today should be roughly 80% Google Ads and 20% GEO investment. Google Ads drives the immediate pipeline you need for survival. GEO builds the long-term asset that reduces your future dependency on paid channels.
For startups spending Rs 5-20 lakh per month, consider moving to a 60/30/10 split: 60% Google Ads, 30% GEO and content, and 10% reserved for ChatGPT Ads testing when it becomes available in India. That reserved budget helps you build your expertise and data before going all-in.
For brands with larger budgets, early access to ChatGPT Ads beta might be worth the $200,000 minimum. The data you collect from the US market will directly inform your strategy for India when the platform expands.
The critical insight: data from one channel informs the other. Google Ads shows you which keywords convert. That tells you which questions people ask, and those questions should shape your GEO content strategy. GEO shows you which queries AI engines already cite your brand for. That tells you where you don’t need to spend on ads.
At upGrowth, we manage this dual-channel approach for funded startups. Our SEO and performance marketing teams work alongside our GEO team precisely because the insights flow between channels. The brands seeing the strongest results are those treating AI visibility and traditional paid as interconnected rather than siloed.
What About Measurement and Attribution?
Google Ads measurement is mature, transparent, and well-understood. ChatGPT Ads measurement is new, evolving, and presents genuine challenges. This difference matters more than most marketers realize.
With Google Ads, you get click-through rates, conversion tracking, attribution modeling, quality scores, and deep reporting. You can trace a rupee from ad spend to revenue in most cases. The infrastructure has been refined over 20 years.
ChatGPT Ads currently use a CPM model with limited performance data. There’s no established click-through benchmark because the format is conversational. How do you measure the value of a 5-minute conversation someone had with your brand inside ChatGPT? Traditional metrics don’t fully apply.
For now, the best approach is to set up UTM tracking (utm_source=chatgpt.com) and monitor conversions from AI referral traffic. Track branded search volume after campaigns run, as ChatGPT ads may drive search behavior rather than direct clicks. Build new KPIs around conversation depth and product-related queries.
This measurement challenge is temporary. OpenAI will build out its advertising analytics. Third-party measurement tools will emerge. But early advertisers will need to be comfortable with less attribution precision than they’re used to from Google.
What to Do Next
Google Ads and ChatGPT Ads aren’t competitors. They’re complementary channels that serve different moments in the buyer journey. The brands that recognize this early and build for both will outperform those stuck in an either/or mindset.
If you want a clear picture of where your brand stands across both traditional search and AI platforms, get an AI Visibility Audit from upGrowth. We’ll map your Google Ads performance against your AI visibility and show you exactly where the gaps are.
FAQs
1. Which Platform Has Better ROI?
Google Ads has proven, measurable ROI across thousands of industries and years of data. ChatGPT Ads ROI data is too early to benchmark reliably. For Indian startups that need measurable returns today, Google Ads is the clear choice. ChatGPT Ads ROI will become clearer as the platform matures and more performance data becomes available.
2. Should I Shift Budget from Google Ads to ChatGPT Ads?
No. Add, don’t shift. Google Ads continues to deliver proven results for Indian businesses. ChatGPT Ads should be an incremental budget, not a reallocation from channels that are already working. Think of it as expanding your reach into a new channel, not replacing an existing one.
3. When Will ChatGPT Ads Be Available in India?
No confirmed date from OpenAI. But ChatGPT Go launched in India in August 2025 at Rs 600 per month, signaling that India is a priority market. Based on OpenAI’s expansion patterns, a 2026 launch of ads in India is plausible. Prepare now so you’re ready when it happens.
4. How Should I Prepare for ChatGPT Ads While They’re Not in India?
Start with an AI Visibility Audit to understand your current presence across AI platforms. Build your GEO foundation through entity optimization, structured data, and answer-ready content. When ChatGPT Ads arrive, you’ll have the organic presence to make your paid campaigns significantly more effective.
For Curious Minds
The primary difference lies in capturing discrete versus continuous intent. Google Ads target a specific, isolated moment of intent signaled by a keyword search, while ChatGPT Ads identify intent that builds over an entire conversation, offering a richer contextual understanding.
This shift is significant because it changes the nature of targeting. On Google, you capture the 'what'—a user searching for a product. On ChatGPT, you capture the 'why'—a user who has spent 15 minutes discussing business scaling challenges is then recommended a project management tool. This contextual relevance allows you to reach potential customers who may not use precise commercial keywords but whose problems clearly align with your solution. For marketers, this means:
Broader Reach: You can connect with users based on their underlying needs, not just their ability to articulate those needs in a search query.
Higher Quality Engagement: Ads are served as helpful recommendations within a decision-making process, not as interruptions to a search results page.
Strategic Complementarity: Use Google for bottom-funnel, high-intent searches and ChatGPT for mid-funnel education and consideration.
Understanding this distinction is the first step to allocating your budget effectively across channels that serve different parts of the customer journey.
The pricing models directly shape your campaign goals and budget allocation. Google Ads operate on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, making them ideal for direct-response objectives where you pay for explicit user action, whereas ChatGPT Ads use a cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) model, better suited for awareness and consideration goals.
An Indian SaaS company faces a clear strategic choice. With Google Ads, a budget for keywords costing Rs 30-150 per click is spent on generating tangible website visits and leads. This is measurable and ties directly to acquisition funnels. Conversely, ChatGPT's approximate $60 CPM model means you pay for visibility within relevant conversations, regardless of clicks. Your decision should weigh these factors:
Campaign Goal: If you need to generate immediate leads or sales, the CPC model's direct link to action is preferable. If your goal is to build brand authority and educate a target audience in a new way, CPM offers valuable reach.
Budget and Scale: Google Ads allows for low-budget testing, while ChatGPT's high entry cost demands a significant investment in brand presence.
Measurement: Your team must be equipped to measure the value of impressions and conversational influence, not just click-through rates.
Your choice ultimately reveals your core growth strategy: are you hunting for immediate conversions or farming for future market leadership?
The same Rs 50,000 budget provides vastly different outcomes on each platform, highlighting their distinct roles. While that budget on Google Ads delivers a specific number of high-intent clicks from users actively searching for solutions, on ChatGPT Ads, it purchases broad visibility within relevant, ongoing conversations.
Let's break down the numbers. A Rs 50,000 budget on Google Ads in the competitive fintech space (at Rs 50-100 CPC) generates between 500 and 1,000 direct website visits. In contrast, with ChatGPT Ads at a $60 CPM (approx. Rs 5,000 per 1,000 impressions), a Rs 50,000 budget would secure around 10,000 impressions. This stark difference illustrates their core functions:
Google Ads (Lead Generation): Your budget buys direct engagement. It's a performance-driven tool designed to capture existing demand and convert it efficiently.
ChatGPT Ads (Brand Awareness): Your budget buys contextual presence. It's a brand-building tool designed to introduce your solution to a qualified audience while they are actively exploring a problem.
This data shows that trying to measure both platforms with the same KPIs is a mistake. Google excels at capturing bottom-of-funnel demand, while ChatGPT is positioned to build top-of-funnel awareness and consideration. The numbers tell a story about where each platform fits in your funnel.
A disciplined, phased approach is essential for an e-commerce brand to transition from a pure keyword strategy to a conversational one. Instead of simply reallocating budget, you need a plan that bridges the gap between Google's precision and ChatGPT's context-driven model, especially given the current high barrier to entry.
Here is a practical, step-by-step plan for preparation and eventual testing:
Maximize and Codify Google Ads Learnings: Before exploring a new channel, ensure your Google Ads are fully optimized. Document your highest-performing audience profiles, value propositions, and messaging. This data will inform your future conversational strategy.
Build a Substantial Test Budget: Acknowledge the $200,000 minimum commitment. This is not a small-scale experiment. Plan for this investment well in advance as part of your annual marketing strategy.
Develop Conversational Personas: Shift from thinking in keywords to thinking in problems. Map out the conversational journeys your ideal customers might have before needing your product. What problems are they trying to solve?
Rethink Creative and Measurement: Prepare ad concepts that feel like helpful recommendations, not intrusive ads. Simultaneously, define new metrics for success focused on brand lift and contextual relevance, not just click-through rates.
A disciplined approach will be key to unlocking the potential of conversational ads without wasting your budget.
The rise of conversational AI advertising is poised to reshape the digital marketing landscape, specifically by challenging the dominance of keyword bidding for top-of-funnel activities. As users increasingly turn to AI for exploratory questions, ChatGPT Ads could intercept intent much earlier than a traditional Google search, diminishing the value of broad, informational keywords.
This trend suggests a strategic shift over time. Currently, businesses bid on top-of-funnel keywords to capture users in the research phase. However, a conversational platform can identify this research phase more organically from a user's dialogue history, even before they formulate a specific search query. The long-term implications for your strategy include:
Decreased Reliance on Broad Keywords: Budgets may shift from broad awareness keywords on search engines toward sponsoring recommendations within relevant AI conversations.
Increased Value of Bottom-Funnel Keywords: High-intent, transactional keywords on Google could become even more valuable and competitive as they represent the final step in a journey that may have started on an AI platform.
A New Skill Set: Marketers will need to develop expertise in 'contextual listening' and conversational ad design, moving beyond keyword research.
The future of search advertising may be less about winning a keyword and more about joining a conversation.
The most common strategic mistake is evaluating ChatGPT Ads and Google Ads using the same performance metrics, particularly last-click ROI. This fails because the two platforms serve fundamentally different purposes; one captures existing demand, while the other nurtures developing intent within a unique conversational context.
A direct comparison is flawed. Google Ads excel at converting users who have already decided they need a solution and are actively searching. Their performance is easily measured by clicks and conversions. ChatGPT Ads, however, engage users during their thought process. To avoid this error, you must reframe your analysis by focusing on its unique strengths:
Targeting Mindset, Not Just Keywords: Measure success based on your ability to reach users demonstrating a problem-solving mindset, even if they haven't used commercial keywords.
Mid-Funnel Influence: Position ChatGPT Ads as a mid-funnel tool for education and consideration. Your goal is to become the preferred solution when the user eventually moves to a search engine to make a purchase.
Qualitative Feedback: Analyze the types of conversations that trigger your ads to gain deeper insights into your customers' pain points and journey.
Avoiding this common pitfall of a 1-to-1 comparison separates the early adopters who find value from the early failures.
Framing the debate as ChatGPT Ads versus Google Ads is a strategic error because it overlooks their natural synergy. They are not direct competitors fighting for the same advertising dollar; they are specialized tools designed for different moments in a customer's path to purchase. The real advantage lies in using them together to create a more complete marketing funnel.
Viewing them as complementary allows you to align the right channel with the right stage of the buyer journey. Google Ads has over two decades of proven performance in capturing bottom-funnel, high-intent users who are ready to buy. ChatGPT Ads, still in its infancy, excels at engaging users in the mid-funnel consideration and discovery phases. A complementary strategy would look like this:
Awareness & Consideration: Use ChatGPT Ads to introduce your brand as a helpful solution within a user's problem-solving conversation.
Intent & Conversion: Use Google Ads to capture that same user when they later perform a high-intent search for your brand or product category.
Data Synergy: Insights from conversations on ChatGPT can inform your keyword strategy on Google, helping you discover new pain points and search terms.
Integrating both requires a nuanced view of your customer's journey, allowing you to be present at both the moment of inspiration and the moment of decision.
The central trade-off is between manual control and contextual reach. Google Ads offers advertisers immense, granular control over targeting, while ChatGPT Ads relies on its algorithm to interpret conversational context, offering less direct control but potentially greater relevance in complex user journeys.
With Google Ads, you are in the driver's seat. You select keywords, set match types, build audience segments, and add negative keywords to refine your targeting with high precision. This control is powerful for optimizing campaigns based on clear performance data. In contrast, OpenAI's model is more of a 'black box' for now. The key trade-offs are:
Precision vs. Discovery: Google allows you to target known search terms with precision. ChatGPT allows you to discover users with relevant problems who may never use your target keywords.
Transparency vs. Automation: You know exactly why your ad showed on Google (a specific keyword). On ChatGPT, you trust the AI to understand the conversational nuance.
Optimization Levers: On Google, you optimize by adjusting bids, keywords, and audiences. On ChatGPT, optimization will likely focus more on messaging and its alignment with conversational states.
The right choice depends on whether your strategy values direct, predictable control or the potential to reach users by understanding their untapped, conversational intent.
Historical patterns from other major ad platforms strongly suggest that ChatGPT Ads will eventually become more accessible and affordable. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram initially launched with high entry barriers and premium pricing before introducing self-serve models that opened them up to businesses of all sizes, a path ChatGPT is likely to follow.
The current $200,000 minimum commitment is characteristic of a beta phase aimed at large brands. As OpenAI scales its advertising infrastructure and gathers data, market pressures will almost certainly lead to changes. For Indian startups currently priced out, this historical precedent points to a clear long-term strategy:
Prepare, Don't Panic: Recognize that the current exclusivity is likely temporary. Focus on strengthening your core marketing channels for now.
Develop Conversational Expertise: Begin experimenting with conversational marketing in other areas, like chatbots or content, to build the skills needed to excel on a platform where context is key.
Anticipate a Self-Serve Model: Expect a future where you can test ChatGPT Ads with smaller, more flexible budgets, similar to Google Ads today.
Preparing for this future shift by building relevant skills now can give you a significant competitive edge when the platform becomes widely available.
Startups conditioned by the direct-response nature of Google's CPC model often struggle with CPM because it requires a shift from measuring immediate action to valuing strategic influence. The comfort of paying only when a user clicks (a clear signal of interest) is absent in a model where you pay for impressions, making ROI feel less tangible.
The core challenge is a measurement gap. A CPC campaign's success is easily tracked with metrics like click-through rate and cost-per-acquisition. A CPM campaign on ChatGPT, valued at around $60 CPM, doesn't guarantee clicks, forcing a different way of thinking. The required mindset shift involves:
Adopting Brand Metrics: Focus on metrics like reach, frequency, and, when available, brand lift or message recall. The goal is to measure your share of conversation, not just your share of clicks.
Attribution Modeling: Implement multi-touch attribution models that can assign value to upper-funnel touchpoints like an ad impression on ChatGPT that leads to a branded search on Google days later.
Valuing Contextual Placement: Recognize the inherent value of being the recommended solution within a trusted, AI-driven conversation, which is a qualitative benefit beyond a simple impression.
Rethinking your measurement framework is essential to justify the investment in this new and powerful awareness channel.
For a well-funded Indian fintech company, launching a successful pilot on ChatGPT Ads requires a deliberate strategy that moves beyond repurposing search ads. With a $200,000 minimum commitment, the stakes are high, and the approach must be tailored to the platform's unique conversational environment and CPM pricing.
The critical first steps should be:
Define Awareness-Based Objectives: Do not set direct conversion goals. Aim to increase brand consideration among users discussing financial planning, investment strategies, or business payment solutions. Your primary KPI should be qualified reach and engagement, not cost-per-lead.
Map Key Conversational Journeys: Identify the top 3-5 problem-solving conversations your target audience has where your product is a natural solution. This replaces traditional keyword research.
Develop 'Recommendation-Style' Creative: Design your ad copy to feel like a helpful, native suggestion from the AI. It should be less of a sales pitch and more of an answer to the user's underlying question.
Establish a Measurement Framework: Before launching, set up brand lift studies, post-impression surveys, or track correlations between campaign flights and spikes in branded search traffic on Google.
A well-planned pilot focused on the right objectives is your best bet for understanding its true potential for your brand.
ChatGPT's analysis of a user's chat history creates a powerful, longitudinal targeting signal that is fundamentally different from Google's point-in-time keyword data. This 'conversational journey' offers a holistic view of intent because it captures the evolving context, reasoning, and nuance behind a user's needs, not just their final query.
Google sees what you search for, but OpenAI's model sees the entire process of how you arrived at your question. For example, a user might ask about remote team collaboration, then about project timelines, and finally about budgeting tools. This history reveals a clear profile: a manager at a growing company looking for an operational solution. This data provides:
Deep Contextual Understanding: The AI understands the user is a 'startup founder looking to scale' without the user ever typing those words.
Predictive Relevance: The system can anticipate future needs based on the trajectory of the conversation, allowing ads to be served proactively.
Subtle Intent Signals: It captures intent from users who are not yet 'product-aware' and are still in the 'problem-aware' phase, a segment that keyword targeting often misses.
This deeper understanding of the 'why' behind the query is the platform's core differentiator and its most compelling value proposition for advertisers.
Amol has helped catalyse business growth with his strategic & data-driven methodologies. With a decade of experience in the field of marketing, he has donned multiple hats, from channel optimization, data analytics and creative brand positioning to growth engineering and sales.
Growth Strategy and Planning
