Similarweb Unlocks the Black Box of AI Ad Placements Across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode

Similarweb announced its newest Ad Intelligence data set, AI Ads, that fills an important gap for advertisers trying to understand the changing competitive landscape for ads in ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews.

“This is the rare moment when a major ad channel is still wide open. The advertisers who can see what’s happening with AI ads now will have a real head start.” — Harel Amir, GM for Similarweb Ad Intelligence

With AI Ads, Similarweb customers can see a competitive analysis of ads on the most used conversational AI platforms, ChatGPT, Google AI Mode & Google AI Overview, worldwide and for specific markets.

“This is the rare moment when a major ad channel is still wide open. The advertisers who can see what’s happening with AI ads now will have a real head start. Until today, nobody could see it at all,” said Harel Amir, General Manager & Head of Product for Similarweb Ad Intelligence.

To-date, 26% of ChatGPT responses already carry a sponsored ad (shown to users in the ChatGPT Free and Go tiers), and nearly 30% of ad-eligible Google AI Mode queries already show ads as well. Finally, over 40% of Google searches now trigger an AI Overview, and those AI Overviews often include ads.

Why It Matters

Most major ad channels have a public transparency layer: Meta has the Ad Library. Google has its Ads Transparency Center. TikTok has the Creative Center. ChatGPT, AI Mode, and AI Overview, however, have none of that – not for competitors, and often not even for the advertiser’s own team.

Adding AI Ads to Similarweb’s Ad Intelligence fills that gap with an Ads Gallery that shows what ads are running and in what context.

For AI Mode & AI Overview, advertisers participating in Google’s broader digital advertising programs are blind to ad placements in Google AI answers. Most advertisers don’t know whether their own ads are running in that context, let alone how they stack up against competitors. Google’s visibility tools don’t answer that question.

For ChatGPT, ads only show up when intent exists and is clarified from the conversation, and the decision comes down to the combination of ad creative, copy, and landing page. Rather than leaving advertisers to guess where their ads are appearing, Similarweb’s AI Ads provides a direct look at what’s winning placement.

What makes Similarweb’s approach unique is that these insights are drawn from real user panel conversations, not synthetic prompts. We anticipate upcoming releases of the AI Ads dataset will add advertisers’ true share of voice, ad categories, and conversational intent.

“When we started advertising on ChatGPT, we were flying blind, no visibility into who else was in the auction or what was working,” says Jonathan Bar Vardi, Head of Strategy at Natural Intelligence, a data-driven marketing specialist that has become a top buyer of ChatGPT ads. “Similarweb changed that. It shows what other advertisers don’t know: who’s spending, where they’re appearing, and what’s driving performance.”