Context Hints.

The difference from a keyword comes down to what the system is actually comparing. A keyword is matched against a search query: the match type determines how closely the string must match, and the result is a yes-or-no decision that can be trimmed precisely with negative keywords. A context hint, by contrast, is a text that describes a conversational situation. It is not matched but weighted. There is no match type, no exact match and no switch that forces delivery. It is a hint to the system, hence the name.

Alongside the context hints, other factors feed into the relevance assessment: the conversational context itself, the content of the landing page and the ad's title and text. The placement then results from this relevance combined with the bid. This has a practical consequence that departs from Google Ads logic: here the landing page is not only where the conversion happens but a targeting instrument in its own right. A landing page that describes the offer vaguely weakens relevance even when the context hints are precisely worded.

An example of the difference in practice: in Google Ads, a removals company in Zurich would bid on keywords such as 'removals company zurich' or 'moving company quote' and exclude anything that sounds like an apprenticeship or a do-it-yourself move. A context hint for the same company looks different: 'Conversations about an upcoming move to a new flat in the Zurich area that concern organisation, scheduling or the question of whether professional help is worthwhile.' The hint describes a situation, not a wording. It can take effect when the word 'move' never comes up in the conversation, and it can fail to take effect even though it does. Both are normal and not a set-up error.

This leads to an honest limitation that clients should be told early: nobody can guarantee that an ad will appear for a particular term. Anyone who promises that is describing a system that does not exist here. What makes sense instead is a few clearly distinct ad groups, each with its own landing page, language in the hints that describes the person's need rather than your own product, and a willingness to change wordings over weeks. Trade media judge that in Europe, creative and context hints carry all of the targeting because behavioural signals are not available; a plausible assessment, but an assessment and not a measurement. This description reflects the situation on 11 October 2026, checked against the OpenAI Help Center ('Write Context Hints for ChatGPT Ads').