Comscore says sponsored ads showed up in 47 percent of ChatGPT gaming chats in June, up from 3 percent in March: Reveneau

Why it mattersA retail chat surface that carried ads on almost half of gaming conversations in three months means paid placement now sits next to the answer for teams that sell games, hobbies, or entertainment.

If your product used to show up when a shopper asked ChatGPT what console to buy, its neighbour on the screen may now be a paid ad. Search Engine Journal reports that Comscore's Q2 2026 AI Intelligence Report, released on 22 September 2026, found sponsored ads in 47 percent of the ChatGPT conversations about video games and consoles that Comscore tracked in US PC activity in June, up from 3 percent in March. The reporting is by Matt G. Southern.

What the three retail categories did

Search Engine Journal, citing the same Comscore report, gives the monthly trajectory for three retail categories on US desktop. Video games and consoles stayed between 3 and 4 percent through April, rose to 18 percent in May and reached 47 percent in June. Toys and hobbies climbed each month, from 5 percent in March to 12, 14 and 24 percent. Books, music and video went from 9 to 12 percent, dipped to 8 percent in May, and rose to 22 percent in June.

What Comscore counted, and did not count

Southern is careful about what the chart is. Comscore is reporting the share of ChatGPT conversations, classified by Comscore into retail categories, that included a sponsored ad at some point. It reflects US PC activity on an opt-in panel. The report does not publish the number of conversations behind each monthly figure, does not say how conversations are categorised, and does not say whether one ad anywhere in a chat is enough to count. OpenAI's help center, per Southern, says ads may appear on Free, Go and logged-out use but not on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu. If the ad-free plans are in the denominator, the rate among ad-eligible conversations is unknown.

Why June is the month with the jump

Search Engine Journal notes the timeline OpenAI has published for its ad product. OpenAI began testing ads inside ChatGPT on 9 February 2026 for logged-in adults in the US on the Free and Go tiers, and rolled out a beta self-serve Ads Manager on 5 May, adding cost-per-click bidding next to the CPM buying in the pilot's first phase. June is the first full month after the self-serve tool opened, and the highest month in all three categories. Comscore does not attribute the June rise to any specific change, and the chart cannot show whether new advertisers, more inventory or something else drove it.

The read a team can act on today is that ChatGPT is behaving as a paid media surface in these three retail categories, and citation next to an ad from a competitor is now a real outcome to plan for. OpenAI announced on 16 September a ChatGPT Ads app for US Shopify merchants, with other markets from 23 September, and is testing Sponsored Agents that begin a separate conversation with a business-sponsored agent when a user clicks. If your product is sold in gaming, hobbies, books, music or video, the practical question becomes what a rival's paid slot next to your name is worth in monthly review. Until Comscore releases the conversation counts, the June figure is best read as a preliminary observation from an opt-in panel that reflects US PC activity only.

Source

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