"Ads in the Answers" - What Google AI Overview & ChatGPT Ads Mean for Dental Practices

What happens to dental marketing when ads don’t just sit next to search results, but start appearing inside the answers themselves?

In this episode of The Dental Marketing Mix, Dan Brian goes deeper into what’s actually been announced and tested around ads in AI-powered search. No speculation. No hype. Just what Google and OpenAI have publicly confirmed — and what it means for dental practices.

You’ll learn how Google’s AI Overviews are changing where ads appear, what OpenAI has said about ads inside ChatGPT, and why visibility in the AI era is no longer just about ranking number one in search results.

This episode builds on last week’s conversation about evolving online advertising in dentistry and explains why fundamentals like local SEO, reviews, content clarity, and brand signals matter more than ever as AI systems shape patient decisions.

If you want to understand how your practice shows up in AI-driven search — and what you should focus on next — this episode is a must-listen.

Check out the show notes and video episode over here: https://www.dentalscapes.com/ads-in-the-answers-what-google-ai-overview-chatgpt-ads-mean-for-dentists/ — and request a free AI visibility audit from DentalScapes to see how your practice stacks up in AI search: https://dentalscapes.com/start

Transcript

0:01

Welcome back to the Dental Marketing Mix. I'm Dan Brian, co-founder of Dentalscapes. If you listened to last week's episode, you heard Brian and me start to dig into how online advertising and dentistry is evolving, especially as Google rolls out AI overviews and new AI-driven search experiences. We touched on where ads are showing up today, how intent is changing, and why the old playbook doesn't fully apply anymore. If you haven't listened yet, that episode is a great companion to today's conversation. And I also covered it on this week's Monday Marketing Rundown, which posts every week on YouTube and our blog at dentistscapes.com slash blog. So today I wanted to go deeper, not into speculation or hot takes, but into what's actually been announced, tested, and publicly confirmed. So here's the question I want you to sit with as we get started. What happens to dental marketing when ads don't just sit next to search results, but start appearing inside the answers themselves? That's not a future hypothetical. It's already happening. Let's start with Google. AI Overviews are Google's AI-generated summaries that appear directly in search results. I'm sure you're familiar with this. After broader rollout in 2024, they've become a much more common part of the search experience. Instead of 10 blue links, users increasingly see a synthesized answer at the top of the page. In mid-2024, way back when, Google began testing ads inside these AI overviews, and industry reporting showed that sponsored placements appearing alongside or beneath AI-generated summaries were positioned right where user intent was at its highest. From Google's perspective, this is a natural evolution. Search ads have always been about capturing intent, and AI overviews simply concentrate that intent even further. There's one important clarification here though. Google has been very explicit through multiple public statements in late 2024 and early 2025 that ads are not currently appearing inside its Gemini chatbot experience itself. Gemini, as a standalone AI assistant, remains ad-free for now. That said, AI-powered search experiences are a completely different story. Advertising industry reporting toward the end of 2025 and early 2026 indicates that Google has already been discussing expanding AI-driven ad formats with advertisers, with more experimentation expected going forward. So the takeaway with Google is this, ads aren't disappearing. They're just moving closer to the answer itself. Now let's talk about OpenAI. In January 2026, OpenAI formally announced that it would begin testing ads inside ChatGPT. This was not just a leak or a rumor. It was a direct public announcement. And this is what OpenAI said clearly at the time. Ads would appear only in the free version of ChatGBT and in the lower cost Go plan. Paid tiers like Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise will remain ad-free. According to OpenAI, ads would be clearly labeled and displayed separately from the AI's responses, not embedded into the answer itself. OpenAI also stated that ads would not influence how ChatGPT answers questions, and that conversation data would not be sold to advertisers. Users could opt out of ad personalization as well. Importantly, ads would not appear for minors or for sensitive topics like health or politics. So strategically, OpenAI and Google are taking very different approaches here. Google is integrating advertising into AI-powered search. OpenAI, on the other hand, is monetizing access to AI while keeping paid users completely ad-free. Both approaches exist for the same reason. AI systems are expensive to run, and monetization has to come from somewhere. But the user experience and the implications for the marketplace are very, very different. But now the big question that you're all here for. What does all of this mean for dental practices themselves? Well, first, search experience is shifting from clicking links to trusting answers. And second, ads are moving closer to trust, appearing alongside or near authoritative AI responses rather than in clearly separated ad blocks. And third, and this is really important for practices that have already invested heavily in SEO, visibility in the AI era is no longer just about ranking number one. It's also whether your practice shows up in the sources that AI systems rely on, summarize and recommend. And that's why Brian, my co-founder and I keep coming back to fundamentals like local SEO, reviews, content clarity and brand signals. Those aren't old school tactics. They're the same inputs that AI systems are using right now. If you're curious how your own practice looks through that lens, that's something we're happy to help with. At Dentalscapes, we offer a free local SEO and AI visibility audit as part of a no pressure strategy call. It's simply a way to understand where you're showing up today and where there may be opportunities and gaps. You can book that over at dentistscapes.com slash start. And before you go, if you've been enjoying the Dental Marketing Mix, would mean a lot if you left a five-star rating or a quick review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Subscribe on YouTube as well. These ratings really do help more dentists find the show. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time on the Dental Marketing Mix.