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Context hints
Also known as: ChatGPT ads context hints
Plain-language descriptions of the conversations where a ChatGPT ad is relevant - the targeting mechanism that replaces keywords in OpenAI's Ads Manager.
Context hints are the steering wheel of ChatGPT Ads. Instead of bidding on keywords, an advertiser writes 5-15 short descriptions per ad group of the buyer moments where the ad belongs: who is asking, what they need, what they're weighing.
OpenAI is explicit that hints "guide matching but aren't exact-match targeting rules." The system matches ads to the topic of the current conversation, the user's past chats, and past ad interactions - hints tell that matcher what relevance means for your brand.
The craft: describe conversations, not keyword lists. "DTC founders asking why their brand doesn't appear in AI shopping answers" beats "ai visibility tool" because the model doing the matching is a language model.
Hints reward the same research as answer engine optimization: the questions your buyers actually ask. Brands that know their long-tail question inventory write better hints - and better organic content for the same questions.
See also
Product feed
A structured export of product data (title, price, availability, attributes, images) that a merchant submits to an agent surface for indexing. Base-layer infrastructure for AI Search Visibility.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
The discipline of making content findable in AI answer engines - Google AI Overviews, Bing Copilot, ChatGPT web search, Perplexity. Distinct from GEO by focus on answer citations rather than generative discovery.
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