Holiday shoppers are no longer starting their search on a search bar alone. They are asking ChatGPT for gift ideas, comparing products in conversation, and arriving at retail sites ready to buy. I attended OpenAI’s ChatGPT Ads holiday webinar, and the message was clear: AI discovery is now a real holiday channel, and ChatGPT Ads let brands show up during that discovery moment.
Here are the numbers that framed the session:
- +130% forecast year-over-year growth in AI-referred traffic to US retail sites this holiday season, shared during the webinar.
- More than 1.7 billion retail and ecommerce prompts happen on ChatGPT every week, according to OpenAI’s 2026 holiday guide.
- 52% rise in US product-search activity on ChatGPT during the 2025 holiday season, with a 94% jump on Black Friday versus matched weekdays.
- About 43% of shopping conversations on ChatGPT involve comparing and evaluating options.
The quality of that traffic matters as much as the volume. AI-referred shoppers stay longer on site and convert at higher rates, because they arrive further along in their decision. OpenAI’s advice for ads in this space is to make them more visual, more personal, and more engaging.
The webinar laid out five best practices. Here is what each one means and what to do about it.
1. Build a strong campaign foundation
Every result you get from ChatGPT Ads depends on the groundwork. Before you spend a dollar, make sure the system can understand your site and measure what happens after the click.
- Make your website clear and accessible. Shoppers who come from AI are ready to act, so your landing pages need clear product information, current prices, and a smooth path to checkout.
- Set up conversion measurement. A reliable conversion signal connects ad engagement to real business outcomes, which improves both measurement and optimization. OpenAI recommends using the OpenAI Pixel and the Conversions API (CAPI) together, with matching event IDs so purchases are not double-counted. Confirm purchase events are coming through before launch.
- Aim for a high Event Quality Score (EQS). EQS reflects how strong your conversion signals are. A higher score helps the system learn faster and gives your campaigns a better chance of success, so review and improve it before major promotions.
- Upload your product catalog (optional, but worth it). Product feed ads get strong click engagement. Upload early to leave time to fix feed issues, and keep prices, promotions, and stock levels current as offers change. Shopify merchants can use the ChatGPT Ads for Shopify app to sync their catalog and build campaigns directly.
One more housekeeping step: set up your Ads Manager account, billing, verification, logo, and brand name early, so none of it slows you down in peak week.
2. Give campaigns room to learn
Shoppers start researching well before the big days, so your campaigns should too. OpenAI’s guide recommends launching 2 to 3 weeks before your first key shopping day.
Starting early does two things. It lets you validate your setup while the stakes are low. It also gives the system time to understand what quality looks like for your brand and to find relevant customers before demand peaks.
Once live, keep campaigns running consistently. Stopping and restarting resets the learning. Use the quieter weeks to confirm delivery and refine your approach, and create a dedicated holiday campaign only when you need a separate product selection, schedule, or budget.
3. Let campaign intelligence work toward your goals
OpenAI’s stated aim is to make advertising more intuitive for businesses. In practice, that means you set the goal and let the system’s intelligent bidding and creative do the heavy lifting.
- Bidding. Automated bidding is the recommended route to get the most results from your budget. If you prefer control, you can set a target CPA, but test and adjust it so your campaigns stay competitive when competition peaks.
- Billing. For campaigns with a Conversions objective, OpenAI recommends impression billing. This lets the system optimize across purchase paths, including purchases after an ad click and after eligible ad views.
- Creative. Build distinct ads for each meaningfully different product, message, or offer, centred on seasonal products, holiday deals, and shipping deadlines.
- Context hints. Describe who a product is for and the need it meets. OpenAI’s own example: a coffee sampler for someone exploring different roasts works better than a generic “holiday gifts” label. This is where the more personal side of ChatGPT Ads really shows.
4. Measure, learn, and optimize through the season
The holiday season moves fast, so set a review rhythm. OpenAI recommends checking campaign performance every 2 to 3 days, using a simple three-step loop:
- Compare. Benchmark results against a pre-holiday baseline to see how performance shifts during the season.
- Learn. Leave each review with one clear next step, such as fixing a delivery issue, improving measurement, or refreshing an offer.
- Optimize. Keep campaigns running and increase budgets gradually for your strongest performers.
Refresh creative, offers, catalog, and landing pages as the season progresses. Have your next set of ads ready before the current promotion ends, so your message never goes stale.
5. Don’t forget Q5
The season does not end on December 25. The stretch between Christmas and early January, often called Q5, brings a fresh wave of shoppers with different reasons to buy: spending gift cards, returning and exchanging, chasing post-holiday sales, and planning New Year goals.
Ad competition usually eases in this window while purchase intent stays high. Brands that keep campaigns running, with creative updated for post-holiday needs, can pick up efficient conversions that others leave on the table.
What this means for GCC & MENA retailers
The holiday calendar in the GCC and MENA runs a little differently, but the playbook travels well. White Friday and the Dubai Shopping Festival, which runs from December into January, line up closely with peak season and Q5. The same principles apply: launch early, measure properly, keep creative timely, and keep going after the main event.
AI discovery is also only one side of the picture. Paid placements work best alongside strong organic visibility in AI answers, which is where GEO and AEO come in. Brands that are cited in AI responses and present in ChatGPT Ads cover both the research and the decision moment.
If you want help getting your campaigns, conversion tracking, and AI search visibility ready for the season, talk to the Sandstorm team. [email protected]
