That's the number that stopped me this week.
For context: a click on Meta runs $0.50–2 in most DTC categories. Google search, maybe $2–4. ChatGPT is opening at $3–5 per click, with a ~$60 CPM. So before you've sold a single thing, you're paying premium-search prices on an unproven channel.
Saw that ChatGPT officially became a performance advertising channel this week.
What actually launched:
- Conversion-optimised campaigns and CPA buying
- A closed attribution loop via ChatGPT's own pixel + Conversions API
- Suggested CPC of $3–5 and ~$60 CPM – roughly 2–6x Meta
Here's the part that matters more than the sticker price. A brand-new channel that reports its own conversions, at $3–5 a click, is the perfect setup to lose money while the dashboard still looks great. High CPC + self-graded ROAS = a flattering number that burns real budget fast.
So can $3–5 work? Sure – if your margin and LTV are high enough, and if the traffic is genuinely incremental. For a $40-AOV product on thin margins, it's a quick way to torch a test budget.
So is $3–5 per click too much? Wrong question. The real one: can you measure whether that click actually pays back – on your numbers, not ChatGPT's – before you scale into it?
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