AI Ads Are Coming—And PPC Attribution Just Got Harder

OpenAI just confirmed it: ChatGPT will start testing ads within AI-generated responses.

For marketers, that's not just another ad channel. It's a warning.

Because the moment traffic starts coming from AI-driven conversations, the attribution rules marketers rely on today start to break down. The clicks still happen. The leads still convert. But the context that explains why they converted disappears.

And when attribution gets fuzzy, optimization does, too.

This article breaks down what we know about ChatGPT ads so far, why traditional PPC metrics won’t translate cleanly, and what marketers need to change now if they want to keep proving (and improving) performance as AI ads roll out.

The AI Attribution Problem

Here's what will happen when ChatGPT ads launch:

Someone clicks your ad inside an AI conversation. They land on your site. They convert—maybe immediately, maybe a week later after three other touchpoints.

Your analytics will show "ChatGPT" as a source. That's it.

What you won't see:

• Where in the journey AI became a touchpoint
• What other channels the lead touched before or after ChatGPT
• If AI drove the conversion or just assisted along the way

Without that context, you're stuck with a single data point that tells you almost nothing about how to use AI ads strategically.

Why "Source: ChatGPT" Doesn't Answer the Real Question

The problem isn't tracking the click. It's understanding what role that click played.

Consider three different scenarios—all of which show up identically in basic analytics:

Scenario 1: AI Converts Directly

A user asks ChatGPT for CRM recommendations, sees your ad, clicks, and books a demo that same day. AI drove the conversion start to finish.

Scenario 2: AI Starts the Journey

A user discovers your brand through a ChatGPT ad, clicks to explore, then closes out. Three days later, they search your brand name on Google, click a PPC ad, and convert. AI introduced them to you, but Google closed the deal.

Scenario 3: AI Assists Mid-Funnel

A user clicks your Google ad first, browses your site, leaves. Later that week, they ask ChatGPT a follow-up question, see your ad again, click, and convert. AI warmed a lead that Google started.

In all three cases, standard analytics shows the same useless data point: traffic from ChatGPT. No context about what happened before. No visibility into what happened after. Just a source label that tells you nothing about AI's actual role in driving revenue.

But the budget decision is completely different depending on which scenario is actually happening:

• Scenario 1 = AI deserves conversion budget
• Scenario 2 = AI deserves discovery/awareness budget
• Scenario 3 = AI is worth funding as a remarketing/nurture channel

Without visibility into the complete journey, you're making budget calls blind.

What Multi-Touch Attribution Actually Solves

The difference between "ChatGPT drove 50 conversions" and "ChatGPT introduced 50 prospects who converted through branded search three days later" is everything. One suggests you double down on AI as a conversion channel. The other suggests you fund it as awareness and reallocate conversion budget elsewhere.

Multi-touch attribution reveals which one is true.

Instead of seeing a single source tag, you see the sequence: which channel introduced the lead, which channels they engaged with afterward, and which one closed the deal. That visibility transforms AI from a mystery line item into a strategic lever you can actually pull.

When you know whether AI starts journeys, closes them, or assists in the middle, budget allocation stops being guesswork. You're not asking "Should we spend more on ChatGPT ads?" You're asking "Should we fund AI as discovery, conversion, or remarketing?"—and you have data to answer it.

How WhatConverts Shows the Full Picture

WhatConverts tracks the complete customer journey across every touchpoint—AI ads, search, social, direct traffic, everything.

When someone converts after interacting with a ChatGPT ad, you don't just see "source: ChatGPT." You see:

• What happened before: Did they discover you through AI, or were they already aware?
• What happened after: Did AI close the deal, or did they convert through another channel later?
• The complete sequence: Every page visit, every campaign interaction, every step from first touch to conversion.

That visibility answers the question standard analytics can't: Where does AI actually fit in your funnel?

Once you know that, budget decisions become obvious:

• If AI consistently starts journeys that convert later through branded search, fund it as a discovery channel
• If AI closes deals on its own, treat it like a direct-response channel and optimize for immediate conversions
• If AI warms mid-funnel leads, position it as a remarketing tool and measure assisted conversions

The agencies that figure this out first will dominate AI ad spend. The ones that treat "ChatGPT" as a generic source bucket will waste budget on a channel they don't understand.

Why This Matters Before AI Ads Even Launch

ChatGPT ads aren't available for purchase yet. OpenAI is still testing. The buying platform doesn't exist.

But the attribution problem is coming, and it's coming fast.

When AI ads go live, there won't be time to build tracking infrastructure from scratch. Agencies that already have multi-touch attribution will immediately understand how AI performs. Everyone else will be flying blind for months while they scramble to connect the dots.

The smart move? Get lead tracking in place now.

Start capturing complete customer journeys across your existing channels. Build the infrastructure that shows first touch, last touch, and everything in between. Then, when ChatGPT ads launch, you'll instantly see where AI fits—and how much budget it deserves.

Because the agencies that win in AI advertising won't be the ones who spend the most. They'll be the ones who can prove what's actually working.

Ready to start tracking the full customer journey before AI ads launch?