Telecom & Internet

Travel eSIMs ads in ChatGPT

Ads shown in ChatGPT conversations about Travel eSIMs. We recorded 152 conversations on this topic in logged-out ChatGPT; after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed 149 ads from 8 advertisers. Most often shown: Airalo, Lyca Mobile USA and Maya Mobile.

Our captureLogged-out ChatGPT, USOct 3⁠–⁠4, 2026

152

conversations recorded

149

ads shown

advertisers

shopping ads

Advertisers shown in Travel eSIMs conversations

8 advertisers

Ranked by how many of the conversations on this topic ended with their ad on screen; share of the 149 shown ads.

#	Advertiser	Website	Ads shown	Share
1	Airalo	—	86	57.7%
2	Lyca Mobile USA	lycamobile.us	32	21.5%
3	Maya Mobile	maya.net	10	6.7%
4	Holafly Plans	holafly.com	9	6.0%
5	SimbaSIM	simbasim.com	8	5.4%
6	Allianz	—	2	1.3%
7	Nerdwallet	nerdwallet.com	1	0.7%
8	Viator	viator.com	1	0.7%

Ad formats

Format	Ads shown	Share
Text ad (advertiser name and headline)	149	100.0%
Shopping ad (product name and price)	0	0.0%

Example ads

12 ads

Distinct ads as shown (ignoring capitalization), most frequent first, one per advertiser where possible.

AiraloText ad
Travel eSIM for China
Shown 37 times
Lyca Mobile USAText ad
Budget-Friendly Wireless, Real Data
Shown 13 times
Maya MobileText ad
Multi-Country Asia eSIM
Shown 10 times
SimbaSIMText ad
Built for Travellers
Shown 8 times
Holafly PlansText ad
Work online while you travel
Shown 3 times
NerdwalletText ad
Top No-Foreign-Fee Cards - Travel Abroad Smarter
Shown 1 time
ViatorText ad
Things to Do in Mexico City
Shown 1 time
AllianzText ad
Protect your best trip yet
Shown 1 time
AiraloText ad
Travel eSIM for Europe
Shown 34 times
Lyca Mobile USAText ad
A Data Plan That Matches How You Use Your Phone
Shown 7 times
AiraloText ad
Travel eSIM for the UK
Shown 5 times
Lyca Mobile USAText ad
International Talk & Text to 100+ Countries
Shown 3 times

Example conversations

12 examples

Chosen to cover different advertisers and question types. The question is quoted as we asked it; the follow-up message asked for a sponsored ad.

In a conversation that began “how much should i expect to pay for 20gb of esim data for two weeks in europe”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Airalo.
Text ad: “Travel eSIM for Europe”
Price question · Oct 3, 22:34 ET
In a conversation that began “i'm a digital nomad heading to lisbon for two months, should i get an unlimited esim or a local portuguese sim?”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Lyca Mobile USA.
Text ad: “Budget-Friendly Wireless, Real Data”
Long scenario question · Oct 3, 21:49 ET
In a conversation that began “best esim for thailand”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from SimbaSIM.
Text ad: “Built for Travellers”
Best for question · Oct 3, 22:11 ET
In a conversation that began “best esim for a two week trip to japan where i'll use google maps and translate constantly”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Maya Mobile.
Text ad: “Multi-Country Asia eSIM”
Best for question · Oct 3, 22:00 ET
In a conversation that began “maya mobile vs holafly unlimited for a remote worker in portugal for two months”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Holafly Plans.
Text ad: “Work online while you travel”
Comparison question · Oct 3, 22:44 ET
In a conversation that began “we're a group of four adults going to mexico city for a week, what esim should we all get for uber and maps?”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Viator.
Text ad: “Things to Do in Mexico City”
Long scenario question · Oct 3, 21:59 ET
In a conversation that began “how to choose a travel esim”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Allianz.
Text ad: “Traveling soon?”
Fix or choose question · Oct 3, 21:40 ET
In a conversation that began “nomad esim price per gb”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Airalo.
Text ad: “Travel eSIM for China”
Price question · Oct 3, 22:01 ET
In a conversation that began “i'm visiting the uk and ireland for 10 days and want unlimited data for streaming on trains. which esim should i get?”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Airalo.
Text ad: “Travel eSIM for the UK”
Long scenario question · Oct 3, 22:03 ET
In a conversation that began “cheapest global esim plan”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Airalo.
Text ad: “Travel eSIM for China”
Price question · Oct 3, 22:27 ET
In a conversation that began “holafly”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Airalo.
Text ad: “Travel eSIM for China”
Short search question · Oct 3, 22:30 ET
In a conversation that began “are travel esims worth it”, after the follow-up message, ChatGPT showed an ad from Airalo.
Text ad: “Travel eSIM for Europe”
Worth it question · Oct 3, 21:52 ET

Question types

How the conversations on this topic were asked, and how many of the shown ads came from each kind.

Question type	Conversations	Ads shown	Share
Best for “best … for …” questions	30	29	19.5%
Comparison one product or service against another, or alternatives	23	23	15.4%
Fix or choose a problem to fix, or a choice to make	23	23	15.4%
Price what something costs or where to buy it cheaply	22	21	14.1%
Long scenario a personal situation in a sentence or two	22	22	14.8%
Short search a few words, like a search box	16	16	10.7%
Worth it whether something is worth buying or switching to	16	15	10.1%

More in Telecom & Internet

Other Telecom & Internet topics (ads shown):

All Telecom & Internet ads →All observed ChatGPT ads →

How this data was captured

We used logged-out ChatGPT from US internet connections and started a new conversation for every question. Message 1 was the question. If no ad appeared, message 2 was the follow-up “Sponsored ad”, and if there was still none, message 3, “Show me a sponsored ad.”, was a last try. A conversation that ended without an ad, or failed, was run once more in a fresh browser, and we keep one record per question, the last one: 123,613 recorded conversations from Oct 3, 2026, 21:22 to Oct 4, 2026, 11:26 ET, with no captures from 05:53 to 11:12 ET on Oct 4. Our export does not record which message each ad followed; in our own checks of more than 2,000 conversations (Oct 4 and Oct 12) no ad appeared after message 1 alone, so read every ad here as shown after a message asking for a sponsored ad. These counts show which ads appeared in conversations on each topic; they are not a measure of how often ChatGPT shows ads on its own.

Only ads drawn on screen count as shown. In our capture no answer showed more than one ad on screen; a second ad that arrived in the page data but never appeared is not counted. Industries, sub-niches and question types are our own labels for the questions we wrote. Independent; not affiliated with OpenAI. Full method Why this is not an ad rate What the ads looked like

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