The AI ad business is growing fast… are you keeping up?

Stop checking the weather forecast and just look out the window.

From spreadsheet to self-serve: OpenAI has launched a self-serve ads manager that swaps the weekly CSV waiting game for live performance data.

Also, the minimum buy has fallen from $250K to $50K, which puts it within reach of a lot more clients. You pay for bought inventory, not reserved space.

If your clients have been sitting on the fence, $50K and pay-as-you-go is a much easier yes.

And the projections are not small: OpenAI is betting its ad business will hit $100B by 2030, and the numbers it’s pitching to IPO investors suggest it wants to be the next Google.

Those numbers assume OpenAI reaches 2.75B weekly users, roughly a third of the planet, so treat them as ambitious targets, not guarantees.

ChatGPT ad inventory behaves more like search than social, as chatbot users don’t just passively scroll past ads.

If ChatGPT holds that $60 CPM as it scales, early buyers lock in rates before demand pushes them higher. Worth monitoring even if you’re not buying yet.

Is performance advertising the next frontier? OpenAI’s ads platform is impression-only for now, but code inside the ads manager already points to click and conversion campaigns on the way.

ChatGPT is positioning itself as a performance advertising rival to Google and Meta, with ad tech partnerships already in place.

Get fluent in the platform now, and you’ll have a meaningful head start when conversion campaigns go live.

Reply more, edit freely, and get ready for a bigger Stories surface

Once again, life shows us that it’s easier for extroverts.

We hope you’re feeling chatty: Replying to comments boosts your Facebook reactions by 9.5%, according to a Buffer study of over 1M posts.

That number sounds small until you remember that small habits compound. The more you reply, the more the algorithm notices, and the further your posts travel for free.

Block out two short windows a day to reply. It might just be your cheapest reach strategy.

And there’s less chaos on Instagram too: Comment editing is now live, giving you 15 minutes and unlimited revisions to fix anything you posted.

Text-only edits, and yes, people will know you changed something, but they won’t see the crime scene. Handy whether you’re managing a community or just prone to typos.

Plus, Instagram’s opening a library: The platform is testing a dedicated Stories tab, complete with discovery carousels, highlights, and expiring content.

Still vaporware for now, but it looks like Stories is set to become a serious visibility surface.

Meta’s fully in the AI game: The company just launched Muse Spark, its first proprietary AI model, and it’s pointed squarely at better ad targeting and creative tools across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Expect sharper campaign performance on all three platforms, with more precise audience targeting and AI-assisted creative.

These CRO strategies work for both humans and AI

Because why can’t we all just get along?

Navah Hopkins breaks down what you actually need to change and what you can stop overthinking.

The short answer: Not much changes. AI systems are built to surface useful, grounded content for humans. Serve people well, and you’re already most of the way there.

Optimization 1: How much text is on the page? Forget keyword stuffing. Nothing responds well to walls of unbroken text. Use clearly structured, modular content.

Spacing, visual hierarchy, and logical sections help users quickly understand what your page does. There’s no magic word count.

Use what’s needed to explain your offer, why it matters, and what makes it different.

Technical topics need more depth, so just break it down. Visual components help too, especially when paired with descriptive alt text.

Content that’s hard for people to interpret is also hard for automated systems to identify as relevant. Same problem, same fix.

Optimization 2: How are you communicating with your humans? Clarity is the MVP here. Lean into expertise, but cut the jargon.

If you’re not sure where to start, drop your copy into an AI assistant and ask for a plain-language critique.

Accessibility principles matter too. Think color contrast, readable font sizes, and restrained design choices reduce friction for everyone.

AI systems are sophisticated, but their goal is always a human outcome. Clarity serves both.

Optimization 3: Make the intended action obvious. Buy, request a quote, or call your team. Whatever it is, don’t bury it.

For lead gen, an instant action beats a multi-page funnel every time.

Optimization 4: The technical fixes. Technical work matters, but it rarely succeeds without a strong foundation.Watch for large layout shifts, excessive ads, or pop-ups that undermine trust and distract from the page’s purpose.

Tools like IndexNow, Microsoft Clarity, and the Bing Webmaster Tools AI Performance tab can surface friction you might otherwise miss.

So, the secret to winning over AI was just… not being terrible to humans. Who knew.

Big brands chase robots, smart brands chase humans

Are you writing for a person with a coffee in their hand or a robot in a server farm?

Sounds weird, but your answer likely depends on the size of your company.

There is a fascinating split in strategy based on company size.

• Small businesses (1–500 employees) are significantly more focused on people, with 41% targeting users directly compared to only 24% of larger companies.
• Large companies (500+ employees) are prioritizing robots: 43% target traditional search engines and 32% are specifically writing to influence Large Language Models (LLMs).

For small businesses, search engines (35%) and LLMs (21%) remain secondary to direct human engagement.

Large corps are playing the volume and “discoverability” game, trying to win the AI-summary war.

Small businesses are leaning into their advantage: human-to-human connection and personality.

If you’re a small-to-medium business, double down on “opinionated content.”

AI and search engines favor generic “correctness,” but people buy from humans with unique perspectives and shared values.

Are you optimizing for the right audience: humans or algorithms?

Pro members get breakdowns of content strategy by company size, plus tactical playbooks for standing out in your weight class. $349/year. Your whole team (up to 10 people).