ChatGPT is clearing up BS surrounding brands. Personally, we love to see it. A great example as to why would be the AI chat bot’s abilities to debunk greenwashing. Go ahead, try it. Open the OpenAI application and ask whether your favourite brand is sustainable? Or committed to diversity? Or trustworthy with personal data?
According to Pitchbook, investors poured $1.4 billion into generative AI companies in 2022, nearly as much as the last five years combined. OpenAI is now reportedly looking at a $29 billion valuation. Usage of utilities and apps drawing from OpenAI is exploding and many converts are…converting The investment is paying off by means of ChatGPT’s accuracy.
For marketers, the conversation so far has been largely centred on ChatGPT’s “creative unlock”—pitch and slogan writing, dynamic “on the fly” images, even chat up lines! When it comes to brand image and answers, however, ChatGPT makes it hard to hide from the truth. As we know, the internet never forgets and OpenAI makes the path to smart answers about brands an attractive, sticky and even fun alternative to both Google Search or Wikipedia.
Its responses are blunt and factual. Unlike Green protesting TikTok accounts, with ChaptGPT there’s no fluff nor opinion – everything is subjective. Here’s a response it delivered when asked about a particular (unnamed) brands sustainability status;
“Yes (your brand) leaves a carbon footprint. The production of (your brand) requires the use of energy and resources, which can lead to the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Additionally, the disposal of (your brand) can also contribute to the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.”
Unlike a Wikipedia page post Google search, OpenAI’s utility simplifies your universe of results into one integrated “black box” answer. Yes, you can technically “regenerate” a response, but in my experience, there’s minimal new content.
It is also completing shifting our relationship with content optimization and SEO. If searching on Google for the ‘best pizza restaurant’ you may get Pizza Express because they paid to be at the top. This doesn’t yet apply with ChatGPT and so questions of status and business success are being shifted. Voice assistants Alexa and Google Assistant forewarned this no-long-tail reality. Voice barks back one response, and brands have limited influence in shaping the result.
In the coming months we can therefore expect a groundswell of startups, consultants, agencies and newly minted AI optimization firms to flood the market.
