ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude are expanding their advertising focus into smaller markets

In addition to the splashy national ads from AI brands aired during this year’s Super Bowl and the World Cup, some of those brands are leaning into smaller markets.

In the first five months of 2026, OpenAI allocated more ad impression share for ChatGPT in the Midwest, Mountain West, and South, instead of larger metro areas in states like California and Florida, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower’s recent State of AI Report.

“This pattern suggests a strategy focused on expanding adoption in less-saturated markets beyond major metropolitan areas,” Sensor Tower found.

Competitors Google and Anthropic also appear to be putting more focus on promoting their consumer-facing AI brands in a number of smaller American metros. As the AI companies battle for consumer eyeballs, though, consumers continue to report having mixed feelings toward AI, according to Greg Carlucci, senior director analyst at Gartner.

Nuts and bolts: Comparing the first half of 2025 and 2026 through June 20, ChatGPT increased ad share impressions the most in Seattle and Boston, according to additional data from Sensor Tower that encompasses digital ad channels across a range of social media sites, along with desktop display and video, linear TV, and mobile apps. In Seattle, ad impression share for ChatGPT went from 2.4% to 4.6%, while in Boston, ChatGPT ad impression share increased from 2.5% to 4.1%. Google also increased its ad impression share for Gemini in Seattle through June 20 of this year compared to the first half of 2025, jumping from 1.5% to 3.8%.

ChatGPT also grew its ad impression share in Philadelphia slightly in the same time period, increasing from 3.1% to 3.7%. Philadelphia also clocked in as the market with the second-largest ad impression share for Gemini, where ad impressions grew from 3.1% to 4.4%. Anthropic’s Claude saw an increased ad impression share in Philadelphia too, with 2.6% in the first half of 2025 and 3.2% in 2026 through June 20.

All three AI brands also counted Detroit in the top 10 cities where they increased ad share impressions, according to Sensor Tower. Notably, Gemini and Claude saw decreased ad share impressions in the tech-savvy San Francisco Bay Area, which has become a hub for the AI boom. (It is also where all three companies are headquartered.)

Not every AI brand is going after the same markets. In Cleveland and Indianapolis, ad impression share for ChatGPT increased modestly, per Sensor Tower. In contrast, ad impressions share in Miami dropped slightly, from 1.1% to 0.9%. That didn’t stop OpenAI from rolling out an ad campaign last month in Miami and other major cities, including New York, Chicago, LA, and Detroit, targeting creators.

Gemini, meanwhile, had its third-biggest increase in ad impression share in North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham metro, with share going from 0.7% to 1.7%. Gemini saw more modest ad impression share increases in cities like Houston and Jacksonville, which both saw a 0.2% jump in that time period.

Anthropic increased Claude ad impression share not just in Philadelphia and Detroit, but also in Chicago, all of which saw 0.6 percentage-point increases, per Sensor Tower. In the first half of last year, 5.5% of Claude’s ad impression share was in Chicago; in the 2026 period, that number was 6.1%. In other cities, like San Antonio and St. Louis, Claude notched only a 0.1 percentage-point increase in ad impression share in that time period.

Approach with caution: While OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic market their AI tools across the nation through ads, US consumers in many metros are increasing their use of those tools.

That being said, consumers are largely still ambivalent when it comes to AI tools broadly, Carlucci said, and while some consumers report using generative AI tools to find inspiration or discover products, they’re largely not using them to make actual purchases. Many consumers also report being tired of seeing AI-generated ads, he noted, citing a recent Gartner report.

“Consumer trust is an interesting piece right now,” he said.