A year ago, the question “does my brand appear in AI answers?” was only about organic visibility. Today those answers contain ads too. In the second half of October, Google opened AI Mode ads to new countries, and ChatGPT ads expanded both in number of countries and in formats. In this article I summarise what changed, with sources, and explain what a brand should look at this month.
What happened in the last two weeks?
| Date | Development | Source type |
|---|---|---|
| 28 October 2026 | Google opened AI Mode ads in 10 new markets; in the US, ads are also being launched in follow-up questions. | Official Google blog |
| 28 October 2026 | On its earnings call, Google said that ad revenue per query in AI Mode is, for now, behind traditional search. | Earnings call (as reported by an industry publication) |
| 29-30 October 2026 | “Creative enhancements” were switched on by default in ChatGPT ads. | OpenAI email to advertisers (as reported by industry publications) |
| 3 November 2026 | In a published interview, OpenAI said the volume of search-like queries on ChatGPT is about one fifth of Google's. | Interview (company statement) |
Google AI Mode: ads are now inside the conversation
According to Google's announcement of 28 October, AI Mode ads opened in Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore; new markets including the UK, Brazil and Mexico are planned for the last quarter of the year. In the US, ads are also starting to appear with a “Sponsored” label in follow-up questions later in the conversation. Turkey is not mentioned in this announcement; so today there is no path announced by Google for an advertiser in Turkey to run ads in AI Mode.
One detail in the announcement matters for GEO: based on US data, Google writes that AI Mode queries are on average about three times longer than traditional searches. A longer question means a more detailed need: instead of “coffee machine”, something like “an easy-to-maintain machine with a milk frother for a small office”. To be the source of the answer, your page has to genuinely answer such detailed questions.
In Google's own words, ad revenue per query in AI Mode is, for now, behind traditional search; on the same call Google also said it is extending ads in AI Mode to more users and more queries. This is a sign that Google will keep experimenting with ads in AI answers. Indeed, an industry publication reported four ads in a single AI Mode answer; Google has not explained this, and it is not clear how long it has been the case.
ChatGPT: growing search, automatic ad copy
In an interview published on 3 November, Adam Fry, ChatGPT consumer product lead at OpenAI, said the volume of search-like queries on ChatGPT is roughly one fifth of Google's. This is a company statement: Fry says he counts requests where a question is asked and a web search is performed as “search”, but the data period and how it was compared with Google were not disclosed. Still, the direction is clear: people increasingly research products, places and people through conversation.
There are two changes on the ad side. The first is scale: on 21 October OpenAI added 26 countries, and ads are now sold in 89 countries. Turkey was on the list before this expansion: on OpenAI's Ads Manager help page, Turkey is shown as “available” for self-serve advertising. The second is control: in an email to advertisers, OpenAI said it was switching on “creative enhancements” by default. This feature can rewrite the headline and description, resize the image, optimise the destination URL and translate the text; each variation can go live without being approved one by one. You can switch it off in Ads Manager, and the campaign setting takes priority over the account setting. (More: ChatGPT ads guide)
My rule is simple: the brand approves every sentence that speaks in its name. Automatic rewriting can be switched on as a test, but as a conscious decision, keeping a record of which campaigns it is on for.
Why is organic visibility still the foundation?
Growth in ad space does not make organic work less important; if anything, the two are diverging:
- Ads are rented, being a source is earned. When the budget stops, the ad disappears; content that AI cites you for stays in place.
- Ads are not everywhere. Turkey is not yet included in Google's AI Mode ads announcement. Today, the only way Google has announced to appear in an AI Mode answer in Turkey is organic.
- The content of the answer is fed by organic. According to Google's official guide, the basic SEO rules apply to appearing in AI features: indexed, eligible to be shown with a snippet, unique and trustworthy content. (More: What is GEO?)
6 checks you can do this month
- In the question set you prepared for your brand, also record with screenshots which competitor's ad appears next to the AI answer. (More: the question set method)
- Do your product and category pages answer long, detailed questions? Is usage, care, compatibility and comparison information clearly written?
- If you run ChatGPT ads, check in which campaigns the “creative enhancements” setting is on, and put your decision in writing.
- If you see a sudden spike in clicks in Search Console between 31 October and 3 November, look at impressions and order records before reading it as success; Google has not explained the cause of this spike seen on some sites.
- For pages flagged “Crawled - currently not indexed”, first check the pages that bring in sales with the URL Inspection tool; Google's help text says this status is common and does not always indicate a problem.
- Keep AI-sourced traffic and ad-sourced sales separate in your reports; what a platform reports and what the store records are not the same thing. (More)
What we don't know
- When Google will open AI Mode ads to Turkey: not announced.
- How many ads per AI Mode answer is standard: Google has not explained.
- Which period the ChatGPT “search-like query” figure covers and how it was compared with Google: OpenAI has not disclosed.
- A detailed report showing which creative enhancement variation ran when: according to OpenAI's help text, there is no preview of every variation.
Frequently asked questions
Can I advertise in Google AI Mode in Turkey?
Turkey is not mentioned in Google's 28 October 2026 announcement, and no date has been announced for Turkey. For now, the way to appear in an AI Mode answer is organic visibility.
Should I switch off creative enhancements in ChatGPT ads?
The decision belongs to the brand. If your brand voice is sensitive, keeping it off, or, if you want to test, switching it on in a single campaign and recording the result, is the more controlled path.
Sources
- Google Blog: Ads in AI Mode expand to more markets (28 October 2026)
- Search Engine Roundtable: Google says AI Mode ads earn less than traditional search ads (29 October 2026)
- Search Engine Roundtable: up to four ads in AI Mode (4 November 2026)
- OpenAI: ChatGPT Ads in 26 new countries (21 October 2026)
- OpenAI Help: Ads Manager Availability
- Big Technology: OpenAI interview on ChatGPT search volume (3 November 2026)
- Search Engine Roundtable: ChatGPT Ads weekly update (30 October 2026)
- PPC Land: creative enhancements on by default in ChatGPT ads
- Search Engine Land: ChatGPT Ads creative enhancements
- Search Engine Roundtable: Search Console click spike (3 November 2026)
- Google Search Console Help: Page indexing report
- Google: Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search
Sources were checked on 5 November 2026; official pages may change over time.
