I am seeing OpenAI point to early momentum in its advertising business, with executives saying ChatGPT users are dismissing ads less often and engaging with them more. For me, that makes ad dismissal a key signal to watch as OpenAI looks for revenue beyond subscriptions and enterprise AI.
What is happening. OpenAI says ChatGPT ad dismissals have dropped by 50% since the company launched its advertising business in February. I read that decline as OpenAI’s way of showing that its ads are becoming more relevant, because the company treats dismissals as a proxy for whether users find an ad useful or intrusive.
The update came from OpenAI Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser, who framed relevance as a central focus for the company as it builds advertising into ChatGPT.
Why I care. If users are becoming more open to ads inside ChatGPT, I see conversational AI becoming a more serious advertising channel. A 50% drop in dismissals suggests better relevance and stronger engagement, which could give brands a way to reach people during high-intent, task-focused moments instead of relying only on interruptive ad formats.
Why relevance matters. I think ads inside AI experiences face a much higher bar than traditional display ads. People usually come to ChatGPT to complete a task, answer a question, compare options or solve a problem, so an ad that feels disconnected can quickly create friction and damage trust.
According to Dresser, OpenAI has been focused on making the format useful. “This form factor is about usefulness,” she said. “That’s great for the consumer, great for the user.”
The bigger picture. I see these results as an early look at how advertising may evolve inside generative AI platforms. Instead of interrupting content consumption, AI-powered advertising is moving toward recommendations that fit the user’s intent and the conversation already underway.
That shift means success may depend less on grabbing attention and more on being genuinely helpful. The lower dismissal rate suggests OpenAI is making progress toward that goal, even if the ad model is still early.
Competition extends beyond advertising. I also see this update in the context of OpenAI expanding its business on multiple fronts. While it builds an ads business, the company is also competing for enterprise AI spending against rivals such as Anthropic.
That creates pressure for OpenAI to diversify revenue streams while still protecting the user experience across both consumer and enterprise products.
What I am watching next. If OpenAI keeps improving ad relevance while maintaining engagement, I think ChatGPT could become a meaningful new advertising platform and a useful early blueprint for how ads work in conversational AI environments.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
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