AI Chatbot Advertising: Gravity Raises $30.5M for ChatGPT Ad Platform

American adtech startup Gravity raised $30.5 mln in Series A funding to develop a platform for advertising within AI chatbots — including ChatGPT, Codebuff, and a dozen other AI assistants. The investment round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Committed Capital, bringing total funding to $38.5 mln. The company is building a complete advertising infrastructure: a demand-side platform for advertisers, a supply-side platform for AI app developers, and an exchange connecting both sides. Among its clients are major retailers Best Buy and Target, and tech companies Vercel and MongoDB.

How advertising works inside AI chatbots

Gravity places text ad blocks directly in chatbot responses. When a user asks a purchase-related question — searching for sneakers or a laptop, for example — the system integrates relevant ad offers into the conversation. Advertisers provide the platform with up-to-date product catalogs including specifications and active promotions, the AI model analyzes the query and embeds suitable options into the response.

The mechanics resemble contextual advertising but operate at the conversation level rather than on search results pages. The AI assistant receives a list of all advertisers offering the requested product category with detailed descriptions and current promotion information. This enriches the database for purchase decisions — formally indistinguishable from an organic recommendation if you don't know about the placement mechanism.

Advertising for robots: agent-to-agent format

The startup is testing a fundamentally new format — advertising for AI agents that human users don't see. In this scenario, the AI assistant independently analyzes advertiser offers and decides which option to recommend to the person or — with prior user consent — completes the purchase autonomously.

Gravity plans to integrate direct payment solutions so the agent can complete the transaction immediately after user approval. This reduces the funnel to two steps: request → purchase consent. The classic customer journey with site visits, browsing inventory, and order checkout disappears. For brands, this means needing to adapt product catalogs to machine-readable formats and optimize product cards not for visual perception but for parameters that AI considers relevant.

According to OpenAI's forecast, its own advertising business will reach $100 bln by 2030 — but Gravity's founder believes even this forecast is underestimated

Who's competing for the AI advertising market

Gravity enters a market where tech giants already operate. Google manages the world's largest advertising ecosystem and integrates ads into its own AI search. OpenAI has signed partnerships with Adobe, StackAdapt, and Criteo — players who collectively process billions of ad impressions daily. Major adtech platforms are also developing tools for placement in generative models.

Gravity's competitive advantage lies in its focus on AI-native advertising and control of the entire chain: from placement to monetization of AI app developers. The company works simultaneously with buyers and sellers of ad inventory, creating a network effect. Each new advertiser increases platform attractiveness for chatbot developers, each new app expands reach for brands.

Market forecast and economics of AI platforms

Media holding WPP Media values the global generative AI search advertising market at $100 bln by 2030. OpenAI forecasts its own advertising business will reach the same volume in the same timeframe. Gravity's founder claims both estimates are conservative — the real market potential is significantly higher.

Growth in advertising within AI platforms could transform service business models. Currently, most advanced chatbots operate on subscription — ChatGPT Plus costs $20 per month, Claude Pro — $20, Perplexity Pro — $20. If advertising monetization proves sufficiently effective, platforms could offer basic functionality for free, as happened with search engines and social networks in the 2000s.

What this means for Russian brands

The Russian market currently lacks access to Western AI platforms like ChatGPT for commercial use, but local developments — GigaChat from Sberbank, YandexGPT, Kandinsky — are actively evolving. The monetization principles through advertising that Gravity is developing are applicable to any conversational AI system.

For brands operating in Russia, this is a signal to prepare for a new advertising channel. Current expertise in contextual advertising is partially transferable but requires adaptation: instead of keywords and bid auctions, structured product feeds, real-time data accuracy, and the AI's ability to correctly interpret product characteristics become more important.

Checklist for preparing to advertise in AI assistants

• Structure your product catalog in machine-readable format with current characteristics, prices, and real-time availability — AI models work with data, not visuals.
• Prepare concise product descriptions (100–150 characters) that AI can naturally embed in conversation — avoid marketing clichés, focus on actual benefits.
• Set up API or feed integration to transmit current promotions and inventory — even one-hour data delays reduce conversion if products turn out unavailable.
• Define performance metrics: in conversational format, traditional impressions and clicks work differently — it's more important to track mentions in AI responses and final conversions.
• Test placement on local AI platforms (GigaChat, YandexGPT) as soon as commercial integration becomes possible — early experience will give you an advantage when scaling the channel.
• Prepare legal framework for automated transactions if you plan to use agent-to-agent format — you'll need terms for purchase approvals by AI agents on behalf of users.

Measuring effectiveness in a new channel

Traditional metrics — impressions, clicks, CTR — don't fully apply to advertising within conversations. When an AI assistant embeds an ad offer into a response, there's no familiar banner or text ad to click. It's more relevant to track the number of brand mentions in responses, the share of recommendations among competitors in similar queries, and conversion from mention to click-through or purchase.

Gravity offers tools for measuring campaign effectiveness and creating ads directly within the platform. This simplifies entry for advertisers who don't need to independently develop integrations with each AI service. For brands planning to work with Russian AI platforms, it makes sense to determine KPIs in advance: what percentage of conversations about your category should include brand mentions, what share of mentions converts to orders, what's your acceptable CPA in this channel.

Frequently asked questions

How does advertising in AI chatbots differ from contextual advertising?

Ads are embedded directly in the text of conversation with an AI assistant rather than shown as a separate block on search results pages. Instead of a keyword auction, the AI model analyzes product catalogs and selects relevant offers based on query context. Payment can occur for mention in a response, click-through, or final conversion — attribution models are still being developed.

When will advertising in AI chatbots become available in Russia?

Commercial advertising opportunities in Russian AI platforms (GigaChat, YandexGPT) are in development stages — no public announcements yet. Western platforms like ChatGPT are restricted for use by Russian companies due to sanctions. Initial pilot placements in local AI services could appear around 2025–2026 if developers choose advertising monetization.

Which products and services are most effective to advertise in AI assistants?

Categories with high frequency of information requests before purchase work best: electronics, clothing, tickets, service subscriptions, financial products. AI assistants are effective where users compare options and request recommendations — in this scenario, embedded ad offers are perceived as part of advice rather than intrusive advertising.

In summary

• Gravity raised $30.5 mln for a platform to place advertising within AI chatbots, including ChatGPT and seven other services, with total funding reaching $38.5 mln.
• The platform operates as a complete stack: DSP for advertisers, SSP for AI app developers, and an exchange connecting both sides.
• The startup is testing agent-to-agent advertising seen only by AI agents — they compare offers and recommend or purchase products autonomously with user consent.
• WPP Media forecasts the generative AI advertising market at $100 bln by 2030, OpenAI expects the same volume for its own business alone — Gravity's founder believes both estimates are underestimated.
• For Russian brands, now is the time to prepare product catalogs in machine-readable formats and define metrics for the future channel — mentions in responses, recommendation share, conversation conversion.
• Classic metrics (impressions, clicks, CTR) don't suit conversational format — it's more relevant to track brand mention frequency and final conversion.
• Gravity's competitive advantage is controlling the entire placement and monetization chain, creating a network effect as advertisers and AI apps grow.