ChatGPT Ads: The Rise of Answer Engine Marketing (AEM)
The launch of ads in ChatGPT marks the transition from Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to Answer Engine Marketing (AEM). This shift will impact performance measurement, especially in Latin America, where deployment is expected by late 2026. Success will depend on brands' ability to become the suggested answer, prioritizing semantic influence over traditional click bidding.
The advertising ecosystem is swapping its engine. While Google Ads perfects a 25-year-old machine based on term matching, ChatGPT Ads introduces a logic of contextual assistance.
- The technical transition: Unlike search ads that interrupt the results list, advertising in the chat integrates as an authoritative source. This means the "ad" is part of the answer. If a user in Mexico City asks for "safe investment options," the AI won't show banners; it will cite a financial entity that paid for that contextual relevance.
- The deployment in LATAM: The arrival of advertising support for neutral Spanish and regional idioms is part of the bottleneck. The first tests in the region are expected to occur towards the end of 2026. Brands that already have their sites optimized to be read by LLMs (using structured data schemes and clear APIs) will have an immediate competitive advantage.
- Measurement and Attribution: This is where the traditional model breaks down. The Answer Engine reduces the user's need to click. We believe the reigning metric won't be CTR, but the Recommendation Rate. We imagine a scenario where brands pay to be in the AI's "Top 3 suggested solutions," measuring impact through total sales incrementality models, not just direct traffic.
AEM is not the future; it is the technical present. It's not about waiting for OpenAI to open its ad dashboard in Buenos Aires or São Paulo; it's about auditing today whether your data infrastructure is capable of feeding an AI. If it can't understand what you sell today, no budget will buy you a place in the answer tomorrow.