OpenAI is trying something very different from traditional search ads.
According to Sam Altman,
“Ads on search engines make money when a search fails.
If search engines gave you the best answer, there’d be no reason to buy an ad above it.”
Basically, according to him, search engines profit when results fall short.
And he wants ChatGPT to do the opposite, make money only when users trust it.
In simple language this how it would be
Show the best recommendation first.
If the user books or buys in one click, take a small commission (proposed, not final)
But not just on click
No manipulation. No bias. Just value.
If this vision plays out, the journey from question → recommendation → purchase could happen entirely inside one AI conversation.
For brands and marketers, that’s both exciting and unsettling.
Because the next wave of “search visibility” won’t be about SEO or bidding wars, it’ll be about earning the AI’s trust enough to get recommended naturally.
Would you trust an AI that makes money only when it helps you best?
Or does every ad model eventually get corrupted by incentives?
