The next shift in digital advertising may not begin with a search query. It may begin with a question.
Mamaearth has become the first Indian brand to advertise on ChatGPT, marking an early but significant moment in the evolution of digital brand discovery. Honasa Consumer, Mamaearth’s parent company, has partnered with commerce media company Criteo to bring the beauty brand onto ChatGPT’s advertising ecosystem as OpenAI expands its advertising offering in India. (Source: India Entrepreneur)
The move is notable not simply because Mamaearth is the first Indian advertiser, but because of where the brand is choosing to show up: inside a platform increasingly being used to research products, compare options and make decisions.
From Search Intent to Conversational Intent
For years, digital advertising has been built around predictable consumer behaviour. People searched for products on Google, discovered brands on social media, and browsed marketplaces before making a purchase.
Generative AI is introducing another layer to that journey.
A consumer may now ask ChatGPT which skincare ingredients are suitable for a particular concern, which products fit a certain budget, or what they should consider before buying. The interaction is less about entering a keyword and more about expressing an intention.
That changes what it means for a brand to be discoverable.
OpenAI’s advertising rollout in India gives brands an opportunity to participate in this emerging environment. ChatGPT ads are currently available to logged-in adult users on its Free and Go plans, with advertisements clearly labelled and displayed separately from ChatGPT’s responses. OpenAI has also said that ads do not influence the answers generated by the platform. (Source: OpenAI)
Why Mamaearth’s Move Matters
For a beauty brand such as Mamaearth, the opportunity is particularly relevant. Skincare and personal care purchases often involve research, comparison and consideration before a consumer chooses a product.
Advertising on a conversational platform allows the brand to enter a channel where consumers are already exploring those questions.
Criteo, which is enabling advertisers to access ChatGPT’s ad inventory as part of digital campaigns, said more than 2,000 brands were advertising on ChatGPT through its platform as of June, with beauty among the leading categories. (Source: Digital Terminal)
Mamaearth’s move therefore points to something larger than an individual campaign. It suggests that brands are beginning to think beyond where consumers search and towards where consumers make sense of their choices.
The Branding Opportunity Ahead
For marketers, the lesson is not simply to add ChatGPT to the media plan.
It is to understand how branding works when discovery becomes conversational.
In traditional digital advertising, brands compete for attention around keywords, feeds, and placements. In AI-led discovery, relevance becomes equally important. Brands will need to understand the questions consumers are asking, the moments in which they need guidance, and the information that can make a brand useful rather than merely visible.
Mamaearth’s first-mover position in India offers an early glimpse of this shift. As ChatGPT advertising becomes more accessible, more brands are likely to experiment with the channel.
The bigger opportunity, however, lies in recognising what it represents: digital advertising is moving from targeting searches to participating in conversations.
