Malaysian digital agency Rankpage has launched a ChatGPT Ads Management service designed to help businesses plan, deploy and optimise advertising campaigns within conversational AI experiences. The offering arrives as OpenAI expands access to its self-service advertising tools in Southeast Asia, creating a potential new channel for advertisers seeking to reach consumers while they research products, compare services and evaluate purchasing decisions.
The service includes campaign strategy, conversation-intent research, advertising messaging, campaign setup, measurement and ongoing optimisation. Rankpage is positioning the offering around the context behind customer conversations rather than relying exclusively on conventional keyword-based targeting.
The development reflects an emerging direction for digital advertising: extending paid media strategies beyond search engines and social platforms into AI interfaces where users may explore a problem through several exchanges before deciding what to buy.
How Conversation-Based Advertising Changes Campaign Planning
Traditional search advertising typically connects an advertiser’s keywords, bids and campaign objectives with a user’s search query. ChatGPT advertising introduces a different planning consideration: the surrounding context of a conversation.
According to Rankpage, OpenAI’s Ads Manager Beta enables advertisers to configure campaigns around objectives, budgets and targeting. Ad groups can also use context hints to describe conversations in which their products or services may be relevant.
This creates an opportunity for advertisers to consider the stages of a customer’s decision-making process, from identifying a problem to researching possible solutions and comparing providers.
For example, a business-to-business manufacturer might reach potential buyers researching material specifications, compliance requirements or supplier options before they search for a particular vendor. Rankpage’s approach seeks to align campaign messaging with these research stages.
However, the commercial effectiveness of this model will depend on campaign controls, available targeting options, measurement capabilities and the quality of reporting. The launch announcement does not disclose campaign performance benchmarks, customer results or pricing for the service.
Agency Services Target a New Advertising Workflow
Rankpage’s offering packages the operational work required to manage campaigns on the platform. This may appeal to businesses that lack in-house experience with conversational advertising or need support integrating a new channel into their existing paid media programmes.
Riff Chen, Rankpage’s regional manager, said conversational AI could give brands additional context about what potential customers are trying to achieve. He described the agency’s approach as a conversation-to-conversion strategy focused on matching advertising to the appropriate stage of a decision.
For agencies and advertisers, this shifts some campaign planning attention from individual search terms towards the questions, needs and commercial intent expressed during a conversation. It does not eliminate the importance of conventional search advertising, which remains a separate channel with established campaign structures and measurement practices.
Paid ChatGPT Ads and Organic AI Visibility Remain Separate
Rankpage is also connecting its paid advertising service with its work in answer engine optimisation (AEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO). These practices aim to improve a brand’s discoverability across AI-generated search and answer experiences.
The distinction is important. Paid advertisements provide sponsored exposure, while organic visibility depends on how AI systems retrieve, evaluate and present information. Rankpage says buying advertisements does not purchase an organic citation or recommendation.
OpenAI has likewise stated that advertising is separate from ChatGPT’s answers and does not influence the responses users receive. Advertisers should therefore evaluate paid campaign performance independently from organic AI visibility rather than treating the two as interchangeable outcomes.
Market Landscape
Conversational advertising could become relevant to sectors with longer research and consideration cycles, including SaaS, professional services, education, property, e-commerce and B2B services. Businesses operating across Southeast Asia may also need to adapt campaign messaging to local terminology, customer expectations and purchasing behaviour.
For the AdTech ecosystem, the opportunity lies in whether conversational platforms can offer advertisers useful contextual relevance while maintaining clear separation between sponsored content and organic answers. Agencies may help businesses navigate the new workflow, but sustained adoption will depend on transparent measurement, audience reach and demonstrable business outcomes.
Strategic Outlook
Rankpage’s launch signals agency interest in commercialising advertising opportunities within AI interfaces. The service gives businesses an entry point for campaign planning and management, although the announcement alone does not establish advertiser demand or campaign effectiveness.
As conversational advertising develops, advertisers will need to assess incremental conversions, cost efficiency and the relationship between paid exposure and other acquisition channels. For publishers, agencies and advertising technology providers, the broader question is whether conversational AI becomes a measurable addition to the digital media mix rather than simply another experimental placement.
Top Insights
- New advertising workflow: Rankpage offers strategy, setup, measurement and optimisation for ChatGPT campaigns.
- Contextual planning: Conversation intent expands campaign planning beyond individual keywords.
- Separate organic visibility: Paid advertising does not guarantee AI-generated citations or recommendations.
- Measurement remains critical: Performance data will determine whether advertisers expand investment.
- Regional opportunity: Southeast Asian businesses may need market-specific messaging and campaign strategies.
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