Adthena released its Holiday AI Paid Search Report, finding that ChatGPT ads have grown to more than 200,000 ad placements since OpenAI began selling advertising on the platform, making this the first holiday season in which paid search spans three distinct search environments. Between June and September 2026, Adthena tracked 204,489 ChatGPT ad placements; the advertiser base grew nearly 6x in two months, and Adthena expects that growth to continue. Apparel, consumer electronics, and travel drove about 95% of placements, while toys and games were the fastest-growing category. Ads often appeared against early-stage research queries, including 83% of beauty ads, 69% of travel ads, and 67% of toys and games ads. Google AI Overviews appearances grew 536% in Australia, 160% in the UK/EU, and 89% in the US year over year, with Adthena identifying 175,100 paid placements in the US, concentrated in apparel and consumer electronics. Adthena predicts strong Black Friday performance will prove ChatGPT’s place in search budgets, that within 18 months Google’s AI box will carry more retail ad volume than the traditional results below it, and that this will be the last holiday season in which Google is the default starting point for most shoppers.