Advertising on AI chatbots faces a trust issue. A new study from Forrester, based on a survey of 409 adult Internet users in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada through its Consumer Voices panel, indicates that 83% of consumers would accept ads in AI chatbots in exchange for access to free versions of the service. Only 6% say they would choose to pay to avoid advertising.

The data offers a first clear signal: the freemium model with ads is viable from the user’s point of view. However, the research also warns of sensitivity to the possibility that advertising blurs the line between useful information and paid promotion. Consumers have become accustomed to a conversational environment where the response is perceived as personalized and contextual, so this boundary is more delicate here than in a traditional search engine.

Monetizing large language models is the next big frontier, as developing and operating systems like ChatGPT involves extraordinary computing costs. OpenAI is betting that advertising will help sustain an infrastructure that, according to estimates, could involve cumulative expenses of up to $1.4 billion in computing capacity.
Thus, the company expects that approximately 8.5% of its user base – around 220 million people – will pay for a premium level without ads. The rest of the free access must be financed through advertising.

Faced with this approach, Anthropic has reiterated that it will not introduce ads and that it will focus its strategy on business clients. They are two different models to solve the same issue: how to monetize generative AI without eroding its credibility.

Last January, OpenAI officially announced its plans to introduce ads in ChatGPT, despite previous statements by Sam Altman in which he ruled out that route. But the movement occurs in an environment where competitive and financial pressure is increasing.
Microsoft, for its part, already integrates advertising into certain Copilot experiences. Google began testing ads in its AI Mode last year. Perplexity also explores sponsored formats. So the relevant exception remains Anthropic, which maintains its enterprise positioning. In fact, it has turned this firm commitment into a commercial argument and the advertising campaign that the company has launched for the Super Bowl has mocked, precisely, the arrival of ads to ChatGPT.

There is also a debate around this new scenario that involves the reputational aspect. According to a Gallup poll, the percentage of people who declare they have “great” or “a lot” of trust in big technology companies fell from 32% in 2020 to 24% last year.

In marketing terms, LLMs are evolving towards a model of “conversational search” that threatens the traditional ecosystem based on SEO and organic traffic. The case of Future, owner of the comparator Go Compare, is illustrative as reported by the consulting firm Warc. The company warned that users can now get insurance quotes directly within ChatGPT, raising concerns in the markets. But in its 2025 results, Future noted that in 2019 67% of its audience came from Google and today that figure is 27%. Furthermore, AI Overviews already impact 50% of your key terms.

The migration of attention implies, therefore, a migration of budgets. If the user asks questions in a chatbot instead of typing them into a search engine, brands will have to decide how to appear in those high-intent moments.

The Forrester report reminds in this sense that consumers are sensitive to any signal that advertising may bias the chatbot’s response. The promise of OpenAI, however, is clear: the ads will be tagged and will not influence the generated content.

If so, the key issue will initially be psychological and will depend on users’ perception of neutrality, something that, for the moment, has remained a fundamental part of the product’s value.