As ChatGPT’s growth slows, ads look like the next risky move

Ads in ChatGPT might be good for OpenAI’s business, but it’s not necessarily a good move for their users.

What makes a tool like this feel almost futuristic is the sense that the answer arrives clean — unsponsored, unbothered and untouched by the internet’s usual commercial fingerprints. The second some users start wondering whether a response is genuinely helpful or just politely funneling them toward whoever paid for a placement, the spell breaks. And once that doubt creeps in, it’s difficult to get the shine back, especially for a product no longer riding that early, breathless wave of hyper growth. 

SimilarWeb’s data shows downloads clustered in the same range for months, roughly 573.5 million in September 2025, slipping to about 571.9 million October, rising to around 571 million in November, before then nudging back to roughly 573.4 million in December.

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