Just 34% of North American consumers view advertising in AI chat platforms positively, according to a new global study from ad verification company DoubleVerify, suggesting brands still face an uphill battle as they look to monetize generative AI experiences.
The findings suggest consumers aren’t rejecting AI advertising, but rather judging its execution. While people are generally comfortable with AI-powered experiences, they respond differently to AI-generated ads depending on their quality and placement. Marketers, meanwhile, remain concerned about brand safety and transparency.
The report, based on surveys of 22,000 consumers across 22 markets and 2,020 marketers and advertisers across 21 markets, found that 46% of consumers globally view advertising in AI chat platforms positively, compared with just 34% in North America, the least receptive region surveyed. Consumers responded most favorably to ads that were contextually relevant, while advertising alongside negative, emotionally sensitive or highly personal conversations drew the strongest negative reactions.
“AI is rapidly reshaping how content is created, how consumers experience media and how advertisers reach audiences,” DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski said. “Our research confirms that AI itself is not what determines engagement. The quality of the output does.”
Consumers also distinguished sharply between high- and low-quality AI-generated advertising. While 56% said they cannot consistently identify AI-generated content, 42% said a brand’s use of low-quality or “uncanny” AI ads would hurt their opinion of the brand. By comparison, 40% said polished AI-generated advertising would improve their perception.
Marketers expressed many of the same concerns. More than half (53%) said they worry about ads appearing alongside low-quality AI-generated content, while 48% said they are concerned about using AI to produce advertising creative. Half also expressed concern about advertising within AI platforms, with those figures rising to 63% among North American marketers.
“Advertisers need the same confidence and clarity in emerging AI environments that they expect across every other digital channel,” Zagorski said, arguing that media quality, transparency and independent measurement will become increasingly important as AI advertising expands.
The study also found consumers in Latin America and Asia-Pacific were the most enthusiastic about AI, with roughly seven in 10 saying AI-generated content has improved their online experience and more than half expressing positive views of advertising inside AI platforms.
For publishers, the research reinforces that AI-powered experiences will need to earn advertisers’ trust before becoming premium ad inventory. As AI becomes a larger part of news products, publishers may be better positioned than AI-native platforms if they can pair trusted content with transparent, independently verifiable advertising environments.
More broadly, the research suggests the future of AI advertising will depend on trust as much as technology. As conversational AI evolves into a potential advertising channel, platforms, publishers and verification firms will be under pressure to show that AI-generated environments can deliver the transparency, brand safety and measurement that marketers expect from traditional digital media.
