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The start of 2026 has really started with a bang for marketers and honestly – it feels like we havent had the chance to take a summer holiday, as we’ve already seen some big announcements and advancements in the world of advertising and marketing online.

The first one wasn’t really a surprise, and we’ve been waiting for the official announcement for a while.

On January 16th, OpenAI announced they’re bringing ads to ChatGPT.

Testing starts in the US for the free tier and the new $8/month Go subscription. Paid tiers stay ad-free.

Then let’s talk about Google.

Google have been cagier about their Gemini app.

Firstly, their VP of Ads publicly said there are “no current plans” for ads in Gemini late last year – but they’re already running ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode.

For context – by November 2025, 40% of searches showing AI Overviews included ads. That’s up from 3% in January.

So, digital advertising, search, discovery…it’s all still changing at a rapid pace.

But let’s take a high-level look at this together – and start making some plans.

I remember saying this often at the start of 2025 – mentioning that it was going to be a big year for AI in marketing online – and this year looks like it also won’t hold back!

Why AI Search Ads Change Everything for Brand Discovery

Let’s start with the fundamentals first.

When someone searches Google, they see ten blue links. They choose which one to click.

When someone asks ChatGPT or uses Google’s AI Mode, they get one answer. Maybe two. The AI “assistant” has already made the decision about what’s worth showing.

So essentially, there are fewer slots for your brand to appear.

The AI is summarising, recommending, and filtering all at once. If you’re not in that answer, you don’t exist for that search.

And the way consumers are searching is even evolving – we’re not just going to Google and entering a couple of keywords. We’re asking long-form questions – and getting long-form answers.

And remember – OpenAI has 800 million weekly active users. Google Gemini has 650 million monthly users. So these aren’t niche tools anymore. They’re becoming primary research and discovery platforms.

How ChatGPT and Gemini Ads Differ from Traditional Search Advertising

Now let’s take a step back and compare the different advertising methods.

With “traditional” (I feel old having to type that) search ads: you bid on keywords, you show up in a list, users choose.

AI-assisted ads: the model decides what’s helpful, it weaves that into a conversational answer, and there might only be room for one or two brand mentions.

OpenAI has been explicit about this.

Ads won’t influence ChatGPT’s responses. They’ll appear at the bottom of answers, clearly labeled.

They’ve also said that users can turn off personalisation. Plus, the same rules apply to what we see in Google today – that there are no ads about health, mental health, or political topics.

What AI Advertising Means for Your Marketing Strategy

From my perspective, here’s what this shift means practically:

• Your ad creative needs to feel like help, not interruption
• Brand authority and trust signals matter more than ever
• Attribution will be messy – influence happens inside the assistant before anyone visits your site. Data is going to get harder and harder to interpret.
• You’ll see impact in branded search and direct traffic, not neat last-click conversions

How to Prepare Your Business for AI Search Ads in 2026

This is testing in the US first.

We don’t know exactly when it rolls out in New Zealand and Australia. But waiting for the “finished product” to start preparing is the wrong move.

Here’s what I think makes sense for us to continue to focus on here now:

1. Audit Your AI Visibility – And Do It Often

Open ChatGPT. Open Gemini. Ask the questions your customers ask (do it incognito so it doesn’t pull in any of your own data).

• Does your brand get mentioned?
• Which competitors or publications come up instead?

If you’re not showing up, that’s the first problem to solve. No amount of ad budget will fix invisible.

2. Build Trust Signals That AI Models Actually Recognise

Here’s what a lot of businesses miss: AI models don’t just read your website. They’re learning about you from what other people are saying about you.

Less than 25% of AI citations actually come from a brand’s own website. The rest? Reviews, mentions, articles, testimonials – external sources that signal trust.

So if you want to show up in AI-generated answers, focus on:

Your Google Reviews These are one of the strongest independent trust signals available. AI models pull from Google Business Profile data. If you’ve got 12 reviews from 2019, that’s a problem. Make requesting reviews a consistent part of your customer experience.

Your Testimonial Strategy Case studies and testimonials on your website matter – but they matter more when they’re specific. “Great service” does nothing. “Helped us reduce our ad spend by 30% in 60 days” gives AI something concrete to reference. Update these regularly and include real outcomes.

Getting Others to Talk About You Think about where your customers and peers already spend time. Can you get featured in industry publications? Interviewed on podcasts? Mentioned in local business directories or relevant online communities? This is like thinking about old school PR campaigns, where every credible mention helps AI chat bots truly connect the dots and understand who you are, who your serve and why your are known and trusted (think back to E-E-A-T).

Awareness-Driving Content General awareness helps build your marketing engine. Think back to some ‘traditional’ marketing and advertising. Social content, thought leadership, and PR efforts, which actually will feed into AI visibility. It’s like the same principle as the above – the more your brand is discussed in places, the more likely it is to surface in chatbots. I’m not asking you to post 16 times a day – but it’s more about creating content that’s worth referencing. What you really want is chatbots to understand your brand – without you just telling them via your website. Let your customers and industry peers do the talking!

3. Get Your Brand Data Consistent Across Platforms

Make sure your brand, products, and key people are described consistently across your website, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, and directories.

Use structured data (schema markup) where it makes sense.

The more consistent your presence, the easier it is for AI to recognise and trust you as an entity.

4. Plan Small Ad Experiments for When AI Ads Arrive in NZ & Australia

When in this market this is what I think you should do:

• Start with one or two clear offers mapped to specific queries – keep it tight!
• Change how you measure – think about assisted conversions, branded search lift, lead quality
• Don’t chase click metrics – we know that clicks are dropping from chatbots so instead of chasing clicks, think about other ways to measure results
• Treat it like you would an early AdWords campaign: small bets, fast learning. Make changes and fail fast!

The Bottom Line: AI Assistants Are Becoming Paid Discovery Channels

AI assistants are going to be paid discovery channels. The place where a growing number of your customers research, compare, and decide.

So if we can understand how these platforms see us today – and do the work to become trusted sources for our product or service – we’ll have a real advantage when ads roll out properly.

My advice: focus on the fundamentals.

One hour with your team this month. Run an AI visibility audit. Identify content to upgrade. Sketch a first experiment for when the time comes.

That’s the move.