ChatGPT Introduced Ads. You Either Earn Visibility or Pay for It.

Hello my friends, and welcome to Educated Marketing Decisions, where we share practical marketing insights tailored to the aviation industry.

When ChatGPT introduced ads, it confirmed that visibility inside AI had entered the same economic model that defined search engines for the past two decades. You either earn visibility through authority, or you pay for it through advertising. And marketing is now part of that equation.

For years, marketing followed a predictable sequence:

→ A potential customer searched Google → They opened multiple websites → They compared companies → They formed an opinion → Your website was your first impression. 

Today, that first impression often happens inside an AI answer. Decision makers now ask AI questions like:

➡️ How do I improve MRO turnaround efficiency?

➡️ What aviation marketing strategies actually generate leads?

➡️ Which companies specialize in specific capabilities?

They receive a conclusion. And that conclusion shapes perception immediately, sometimes before your website is ever visited. Visibility is no longer just about being available to find. It’s about being present at the moment decisions begin to form.

Ads Confirm That AI Is Becoming a Visibility Marketplace

The introduction of ads inside ChatGPT confirms that AI is becoming part of the marketing infrastructure itself.

Right now, ads are being tested primarily on free and lower cost ChatGPT tiers, and the rollout is limited to users in the United States as part of a phased beta. Paid plans, including Plus and Enterprise, remain ad free for now. This is how every major digital platform evolves: broad adoption first, monetization second, and competitive visibility third.

AI visibility is now entering that third phase. This creates two paths forward:

Earned visibility, built through authority, expertise, and consistent presence or paid visibility, secured through advertising.

Both will exist. But they behave very differently over time. Paid visibility stops when spending stops. Earned visibility compounds.

Authority Is Becoming a Measurable Marketing Asset

Authority has always mattered. What’s changed is that authority now directly influences whether AI systems reference you, recommend you, or ignore you.

AI systems learn from patterns:

✔️Consistent educational content

✔️Clear positioning

✔️Industry commentary

✔️Demonstrated expertise

✔️Third party mentions

This is why companies that consistently share useful insights become easier to recommend than companies that remain silent.

Most Aviation Marketing Is Still Optimized for Yesterday’s Environment

A surprising amount of aviation marketing still relies on generic messaging:

👉 We provide quality service.

👉 We deliver reliable solutions.

👉 We are customer focused.

These statements may be accurate. But they are strategically invisible. AI does not recommend companies for being generic. It references companies associated with specific expertise and useful knowledge.

Marketing that teaches creates long term visibility. Marketing that promotes creates short term attention. Every useful article, insight, interview, or explanation strengthens your authority footprint. Not immediately, but cumulatively.

At Becks and the Jets, we help aviation companies turn their expertise into authority that increases visibility across search, industry conversations, and AI driven discovery.

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Let’s Connect in Person

I’ll also be attending several industry events over the next few months and would love to connect face to face:

NBAA Miami-Opa Locka Regional Forum. February 25, 2026

PBExpo. March 11–12, 2026

MRO Americas. April 21–23, 2026

f you’ll be attending and want to talk personal branding, LinkedIn visibility, or marketing strategy, feel free to reach out directly: [email protected]

I always enjoy reconnecting with familiar faces and meeting new ones across the aviation community.

Rebekah Knaster

Founder, Becks and the Jets LLC

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