What B2B Campaign Data Teaches Us About ChatGPT Ads
By Michael Ozburn, General Manager, North America
Most talk about AI in B2B marketing focuses on how generative AI can write copy or design images. A far bigger shift is happening in how audiences find information, and in how brands can advertise inside conversational search environments.
As search engine results pages (SERPs) become more conversational and personalised, ad platforms are evolving alongside them. To see whether conversational advertising lives up to the hype, we recently launched and analysed early-stage ChatGPT ad campaigns across several distinct B2B verticals. These included a major applicant tracking software (ATS) and recruitment platform and a specialised behavioural health EHR solutions provider.
The early results are more nuanced than the hype suggests. ChatGPT ads still offer first-mover efficiency, but they need a completely different tactical playbook, and they aren’t yet ready to work as a standalone conversion driver.
The Efficiency Win: Competitive CPMs and CPCs
For B2B marketers used to the premium pricing of mature platforms like LinkedIn, the entry costs of ChatGPT advertising are very appealing.
Our tests across multiple B2B accounts produced highly competitive pricing:
- CPC: around $3. That’s comparable to Meta social campaigns and a fraction of the cost of premium LinkedIn prospecting.
- CPM: we achieved CPMs of about $13 during initial runs.
- CTR: around 1.5%. That’s two to three times what we typically see on tightly targeted LinkedIn campaigns.
These entry-level numbers suggest conversational search is still an uncluttered space where brands can build a cost-effective presence.
The Attention Metric: Unmatched On-Site Engagement
The low costs were a welcome surprise, but the most remarkable finding from our campaign data was the quality of the traffic.
Conversational ads reach people while they are researching in depth. Visitors driven to websites from ChatGPT ads spent 25–35% more time on site than visitors acquired through traditional paid search campaigns. This level of engagement suggests people using conversational AI are primed to read thought leadership, case studies and other in-depth content.
There’s been some buzz about how B2B audiences may not be on the free or ‘Go’ plans of ChatGPT, and we’re seeing from the data that’s not necessarily the case – our audiences are responding to our ads and demonstrating deeper consideration.
The Strategic Shift: Questions vs. Scenarios
ChatGPT has evolved significantly and now supports conversion optimisation, but it still has gaps that stop us from getting the same performance insights we get from traditional search advertising platforms. The main one is that there’s no prompt or search terms report. That means we can’t tell whether our prompts are actually reaching people with commercial intent.
To work around this, we ran structured, side-by-side tests of our prompt strategy to see which conversational approaches led to stronger ad interaction and site engagement. We compared question-based prompts (e.g., “What is the best x…?”) with scenario-based prompts (e.g., “I’m looking to do x…”).
The results were decisive. Ads built around question-based prompts heavily outperformed scenario-based ones by more than 4x on CTR and 3x on site engagement.
That isn’t a huge surprise, since people asking questions will spend more time looking for answers. But it does raise the question of where the platform fits in the conversion funnel.
The Verdict for B2B Marketers
ChatGPT ads are a powerful, highly cost-effective new channel for early awareness, thought leadership and brand discovery among people with clear intent. But even with conversion optimisation now available, they shouldn’t be treated as a direct-response lead generator.
The most effective strategy today has three parts:
- Enter the channel early to secure a still-present first-mover advantage.
- Use highly specific, question-based prompt inputs.
- Track downstream engagement with the OpenAI Pixel and detailed UTM parameters.
If B2B brands treat these conversational ads as a discovery engine built for engagement, they can successfully capture high-value audiences in the consideration phase, before competitors are even on their radar.
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