Adthena counts 175,100 US ads in Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, 204,489 in ChatGPT

Adthena’s Holiday AI Paid Search Report, covering June to September 2026, counted about 175,100 paid placements inside Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode in the U.S. across five holiday shopping categories, per Search Engine Journal. Apparel accounted for roughly 111,000 and consumer electronics about 55,000, with travel (about 6,500), beauty (about 2,100) and toys and games (about 685) far behind. The report counts 204,489 ChatGPT ad placements in the same categories and months: apparel 90,517, consumer electronics 56,569, travel 48,134, toys and games 4,694 and beauty 4,575.

Adthena also reports that U.S. appearances of AI Overviews rose 89% between August 2025 and August 2026, from 304 million to 575 million. The report does not say which queries were counted or whether the set was the same in both years. In ChatGPT, research and comparison prompts (“people comparing or asking what’s best rather than naming a product”) carried 83% of beauty ads, 69% of travel and 67% of toys and games, against 48% in apparel and 42% in consumer electronics; each share is of that category’s ChatGPT ads, and the report does not say how prompts were classified.

Adthena sells ad tracking for Google and ChatGPT, and the report ends with an offer of a free trial of its ChatGPT Ads product. It does not track clicks, spend or conversions on either surface, and its ChatGPT count covers all markets while OpenAI added Europe and seven Asian markets during the window. Google’s help page says existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns are automatically eligible for AI answers; advertisers cannot target or opt out of AI Overviews or AI Mode separately. Per Adthena, as reported by Search Engine Journal; the full report sits behind a download form.