OpenAI has confirmed it will begin testing ads inside ChatGPT for free and low-cost users. The ads will be contextual, appear alongside answers, and be based on what users are actively asking. Paid tiers will remain ad-free, at least for now.
At face value, this is just economics. ChatGPT is expensive to run. Subscriptions and APIs do not cover the cost of serving hundreds of millions of free users. Advertising was inevitable.
The more interesting shift is not that ChatGPT is adding ads. It is where they are being added.
ChatGPT sits upstream of search and upstream of marketplaces. It captures intent before it hardens into a keyword or a product page view. When someone asks Amazon for “running shoes,” they already want to buy. When someone asks ChatGPT how to start running without hurting their knees, they are still deciding what they want.
Ads at that moment do not compete for clicks. They shape the decision itself. That has implications for Amazon. Amazon’s ad business is built around the last click. Sponsored Products work because buyers are already inside Amazon’s ecosystem and close to purchase. ChatGPT operates earlier, at the framing layer. It influences which categories, attributes and tradeoffs feel relevant before Amazon ever enters the picture.
This does not mean Amazon is about to be disrupted. It means discovery is becoming portable.
If ChatGPT frames the problem, Amazon increasingly inherits the answer. Fulfillment remains Amazon’s strength. Influence becomes more distributed.
For sellers, this shifts what “optimization” means. On Amazon, performance is driven by execution: pricing, logistics, reviews, and bids. In a conversational interface, performance depends on legibility. Can the system clearly understand what your product is for. Can it map your product to a problem stated in natural language. Does your differentiation survive paraphrasing.
Ads accelerate this sorting process. Products that fit cleanly into explanations benefit. Products that rely on thin differentiation or keyword gaming struggle. This favors brands with clear positioning and hurts pure private-label arbitrage. That mirrors Amazon’s own evolution, just faster. And Amazon is already responding with more AI summaries and guided shopping.
The takeaway is simple. ChatGPT adding ads marks the moment conversational intent became economically real. Once intent is monetized, it becomes competitive. Once it becomes competitive, it starts shaping how products are built, described, and chosen.
Sellers who adapt to that layer early will compound advantages quietly. Those who ignore it will keep optimizing for a funnel that now starts slightly earlier than they think.
And that difference adds up.
Lumian can help you get discovered on ChatGPT. Book a Free Consultation.
In this week’s issue:
Marketplace: Search Trends, Sellers Sign-ups, Trump Tariffs
Seller Hacks: Lumian Negative Review Removal
Tweet Spotlight: Product Discovery Trends
Marketplace Madness
Amazon remains the top product search engine, with 56% of U.S. shoppers starting searches on the marketplace, driven by Prime convenience, massive selection, trusted reviews, and a strong mobile app. But that share is down from 61% in 2022. AI-powered shopping tools and social platforms like TikTok and YouTube are increasingly influencing the first query, pushing discovery outside Amazon even if checkout still happens there.
Why it matters:
Amazon continues to own conversion, but discovery is fragmenting. Sellers should expect discovery to shift upstream to AI and social while Amazon becomes more of a fulfillment and transaction layer in 2026.
Amazon added just 165K new sellers in 2025, down 44% YoY and the lowest level since tracking began in 2015. The decline reflects rising barriers to entry as tariffs, higher fees, mandatory advertising, AI-driven competition, and enforcement asymmetries compress margins. While total active sellers fell to ~1.65M, third-party GMV continued to grow, traffic per seller rose 31% since 2021, and over 100K sellers now generate $1M+ annually. Revenue and opportunity are concentrating among fewer, more sophisticated operators.
Why it matters:
Amazon is no longer a side-hustle playground. The marketplace increasingly rewards scale, capital and operational excellence, pushing casual sellers out while deepening returns for established businesses that can handle complexity in 2026.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said President Donald Trump’s tariffs are beginning to “creep” into product prices as sellers run out of inventory they pre-bought to avoid higher import costs. Some merchants are now passing costs to consumers, others are absorbing them, and many are doing a mix of both. Jassy noted that with retail margins in the mid-single digits, there’s limited room to offset 10%+ cost increases. Amazon is also seeing shoppers trade down to cheaper items and delay discretionary purchases.
Why it matters:
Tariffs are finally showing up at checkout. As inventory buffers disappear, price pressure is likely to widen across categories, reinforcing value-seeking behavior and squeezing already-thin seller margins in 2026.
Seller Hacks
Lumian has launched a powerful, white-hat negative review removal tool built for Amazon sellers. We identify reviews that violate Amazon’s policies and file compliant removal cases on your behalf with guesswork and compliance risk.
Our AI agents automatically audit your ASINs and review history to find problematic ratings
We flag reviews likely to violate Amazon’s Terms of Service
We generate detailed evidence and submit removal cases directly to Amazon
Our specialists track responses and appeal as needed until eligible reviews are deleted
Everything is 100% compliant with Amazon’s guidelines.
Unlike companies that charge $200+ per review removed, Lumian charges only $50 per successful removal and you pay only for results.
Ready to clean up your ratings and reclaim sales trust? Book a demo.
Tweet Spotlight
Meme Therapy
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