AI is rapidly changing how people discover information online, and careers are no exception.
Increasingly, candidates are turning to platforms like ChatGPT to research employers, explore career options and seek recommendations, often before they ever visit a job board or company careers site.
Since gaining early access to ChatGPT Ads on 4 June, we’ve been testing the platform to understand how it performs as a recruitment marketing channel and what it could mean for talent acquisition teams.
While it’s still early days, some clear patterns are already emerging. From lower-than-expected media costs to stronger engagement rates, here are five things talent acquisition and employer brand leaders should know about advertising in ChatGPT.
1. Media costs are coming in lower than expected
When ChatGPT Ads launched, early guidance suggested CPMs would sit around the $60 (£45) mark. However, in reality, we’re seeing CPMs average £30.46.
While it’s still early days and pricing will likely evolve as demand increases, the current cost of reaching audiences is significantly lower than many expected.
Lower entry costs reduce the risk of testing a new channel. For employer brand and talent acquisition teams, it creates an opportunity to explore AI-powered advertising without requiring major budget shifts or lengthy approval processes.
2. Engagement is outperforming early benchmarks
Initial CTR benchmarks were expected to sit between 0.8% and 0.9%.
Our early campaigns are currently generating an average CTR of 1.74%.
While benchmarks will change as adoption grows, the early signs suggest users are highly engaged with the experience.
Unlike many traditional advertising environments, ChatGPT users are actively seeking information and recommendations. For employers, that creates an opportunity to appear alongside moments of genuine curiosity and intent, rather than interrupting passive browsing behaviour.
3. Candidate discovery is already changing
Across campaigns, CPCs are averaging between £1.65 – £2.01.
However, the more interesting observation is where those clicks are coming from. When someone is using AI, they aren’t necessarily searching for jobs; they’re probably asking broader questions about careers, employers, industries and opportunities.
With this shift, candidates are beginning to discover employers through conversations, not just searches. That shifts the focus from capturing active applicants to influencing consideration much earlier in the decision-making process.
4. Location targeting remains broad
Currently, advertisers can only target the UK as a whole.
Based on previous OpenAI rollouts, more granular geographic targeting may arrive later, but today the platform is best suited to national campaigns.
For organisations hiring across multiple locations, the current targeting options are already viable. More localised recruitment strategies may need to wait for additional functionality to get the most use of the platform’s advertising capabilities.
5. Learning is accessible
Daily budgets can start from as little as $50 per day.
That’s a relatively low barrier compared with many emerging advertising opportunities.
The biggest advantage right now isn’t scale. It’s learning. Early testing can help employers understand how candidates interact with AI-powered environments before these platforms become a standard part of the recruitment marketing mix.
The Takeaway
The most important takeaway isn’t the CPM, CPC or CTR.
It’s that candidate discovery is evolving.
Historically, employer brands have focused on being visible in search engines, social feeds and job boards. Increasingly, candidates are also turning to AI platforms to research employers, compare opportunities and seek career advice.
ChatGPT Ads represent one way to gain visibility in these conversations, but they’re only part of the picture. The employers that succeed in an AI-first discovery landscape will be those that think beyond advertising alone, ensuring their careers content, employer brand messaging and online presence are structured in a way that AI platforms can understand, reference and recommend.
In many ways, advertising is the first chapter of a much larger story. The bigger opportunity is understanding how your employer brand appears when candidates start asking AI the questions they once asked search engines.
