Reddit is filled with marketers complaining that AI tools are too generic, too vague, or too “copy-only” when it comes to paid ads.

So instead of arguing theory, we put three of the most popular AI tools: ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, through five real PPC tests based on tasks advertisers do every week: writing ad copy, reporting, analyzing seasonality, running an audit, and doing a KPI comparison.

Here’s what worked, what failed, and where Optmyzr fills the gap.

Overall performance summary

Test 1 → AI ad copy generators for Google Ads: ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini

Use case goal: Can an AI tool generate RSA ad copy that’s compliant, engaging, and ready to launch without spending hours tweaking headlines/descriptions?

We didn’t want to feed the AI tools a fluffy “write some ads” prompt. So we gave them the kind of brief a PPC copywriter would actually get from a SaaS client.

This is important because, as Amy Hebdon pointed out in our recent PPC Town Hall, our industry doesn’t usually create proper briefs for ad copy. That’s a big miss; without a brief, we don’t really know what to write or how to make ads connect to strategy.

A good brief gives clarity, constraints, and direction. It’s not just for AI, it’s what human copywriters need too.

Claude gave good angles but made risky claims

Claude did a decent job of sounding like a marketer. Its headlines tackled pain points head-on: “Stop Project Chaos Today,” “Ditch the Tool Juggling,” “No More Missed Deadlines.” Solid, straightforward stuff that speaks to frustrated project managers.

It also grouped its variations logically, and the structure made sense for A/B testing.

But here’s the problem: Claude tends to make things up at times. It confidently claimed “1,000+ teams” were already using WorkSync and promised “40% fewer delays.” We never gave it those numbers.

That kind of creativity is fine in a brainstorm doc. In live PPC ads, it’s a compliance risk waiting to happen.

ChatGPT sounded too formulaic at times

ChatGPT played it safe with headlines like “Manage Tasks in One Place” and “Simple Project Tracking” - technically correct, but bland.

Where ChatGPT stood out was in structure. It delivered five clear creative angles: efficiency, simplicity, collaboration, reliability, and the free trial offer.

Each is tied back to a real buyer pain point. It even suggested a smart A/B testing setup.

It got the rational benefits right (automation, faster setup, cost savings), but didn’t lean into the emotional relief FlowSync promises. Things like: fewer late nights, fewer fire drills, less chaos.

That’s what makes ads stick, and ChatGPT just didn’t go there.

Gemini played it safe but lacked creativity

Gemini sat somewhere in between: not reckless like Claude, not rigid like ChatGPT, but missing the spark. Many headlines felt generic - “The Right Tool for Your Team,” “Better Project Management,” “Simplify Your Workflows.”

A few lines did hit closer to the mark, like “A project management tool non-technical teams will actually use.”

Unfortunately, those moments were the exception rather than the rule.

Why Optmyzr takes this further (for RSAs)

AI tools can help with generating RSA copy ideas quickly, but they don’t help you manage those ads once they’re live in Google Ads. That’s where Optmyzr’s Ad Text Optimization tool steps in.

With this tool, you can:

• Edit RSA assets safely: Change any headline or description, save it, and track it as “modified.” Nothing goes live in Google Ads until you give the green light.
• Use AI as a helper: Get smart AI-powered suggestions for headlines, descriptions, or even full drafts, but always with the option to review before applying.
• Focus on what needs fixing – Filter by Ad Strength so you can improve weaker RSAs while leaving the stronger ones untouched.
• Bulk edits without errors: Use Find & Replace to update copy across multiple RSAs, whether it’s updating outdated promos or replacing legacy terms.
• Work at scale: Spell check across languages, CSV workflows for client approvals, and even full-ad views where you can edit multiple assets at once.

Test 2 → AI PPC Reporting: Can ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini build reports for CMOs?

Use case goal: Can AI tools build a goal-focused, ready-to-send report with summaries and insights?

ChatGPT initiated with a 2-step plan

ChatGPT delivered a basic 2-page report covering the executive summary and MoM comparison.

Next, we ran a similar test by uploading charts from a Google Ads account. The result was a 9-page report, with each page dedicated to explaining specific insights, such as:

If you’re after a straightforward report with clear explanations, ChatGPT does the job well.

Don’t expect flashy visuals; instead, you’ll get concise insights with all the essentials covered. The output could be improved, though; with more specific prompts, you might coax a bit more design flair out of GPT.

Claude came up with a good analysis

We first fed Claude the Google Ads chart data I’d extracted, and I was pleasantly surprised. The initial report looked polished and professional.

As shown in the screenshot below, Claude often produces a plain document-style report.

Other times, it goes a step further and builds an interactive prototype, like this:

The advantage of these prototypes is that you can either download the code to implement elsewhere or publish the artifacts and open them directly during presentations.

You can check the one we built here: Claude Reporting Artifact V1

We further prompted it with:

As we mentioned, the report was meant for a busy CMO, but Claude made it a little too concise. That’s a common limitation with AI tools: they often miss the balance.

So, we asked it to dive into the details after presenting the big picture.

Here’s what it produced:

You can check out the full Claude Artifact V2 here!

It was significantly better in terms of visuals and understanding.

Now for the MoM comparison, here’s the report it came up with, consisting of 9 different sections neatly presented:

You can check the full artifact here: Claude MoM comparison report

The bottom line? When it comes to visually compelling reports, Claude still has the edge over ChatGPT.

Gemini gave a fairly mediocre response initially

When we fed the MoM comparison data to Gemini and asked it to create a report for a busy CMO, there were quite a few assumptions and inconsistencies.

In the first attempt, Gemini fell short on several fronts:

• Inaccurate data representation: e.g., a nonsensical ‘100% decline’ claim.
• Lack of revenue clarity: no clear view of the pipeline or revenue loss to guide budget decisions.
• Absence of actionable recommendations: no concrete recommendations to address the gaps.

When asked to create visuals, Gemini (2.5 Flash) built a code-based dashboard. It lagged endlessly, and the data it showed was inaccurate.

However, upgrading from Gemini (2.5 Flash) to Gemini (2.5 Pro) delivered far better results.

Here’s what Gemini (2.5 Pro) got right:

• Accurate data interpretation with correct numbers and analysis.
• Flagged key issues like tracking gaps, mobile exclusions, and budget pacing.

Where it fell short:

• Shallow demographic analysis with no guidance on business strategy.
• Couldn’t generate charts; instead, produced a limited dashboard (see below).

In conclusion, Gemini delivered a solid, safe executive report that identified problems and suggested next steps. However, it lacked the strategic depth and growth vision a CMO needs for major budget decisions.

Optmyzr helps you build reports you can talk to

With Optmyzr, you don’t have to jump through hoops, extract sheets, switch modes, or double-check data accuracy. You can generate reports with a simple prompt or start with pre-built templates.

If you’re using AI, you can jump right in with pre-built prompts. Prefer a custom setup? Just describe what you want in your report, and we’ll build it for you.

The real differentiator? Once your report is ready, Optmyzr’s built-in AI (Sidekick) lets you talk to it. It takes away the hassle of digging into charts or slides.

Simply ask it to summarize the key points, highlight areas that are performing well, and those that need improvement.

If I were a busy CMO, I know I’d prefer a report I can actually have a conversation with, not just one I have to read.🫡

Once the report’s ready, Optmyzr even helps with the last mile: drafting the emails for your scheduled report deliveries, so you don’t spend extra time packaging the story for your CMO or client.

Instead of wrestling with widgets or hoping an AI deck lands right, Optmyzr gives you a reporting workflow that’s both smart and repeatable.

Test 3 → AI Seasonality Analysis in PPC: Forecasting Demand with GPT, Claude, Gemini

Use case goal: How can PPC marketers use AI tools for seasonality analysis to forecast demand, optimize budgets, and improve ROAS during peak and slow periods?

ChatGPT came up with a neat plan..

We started the test with ChatGPT 5 (instant), and it devised a plan for the seasonality analysis:

It began with a time series decomposition and explained the results clearly, even for someone not deep into statistics.

The output included the following chart with clear explanations:

Similarly, we were presented with day-of-week patterns and monthly/quarterly trends:

Overall, the charts were clear and easy to interpret, and the accompanying text made the data even more accessible.

If you’d like a deeper dive into how to run seasonality analysis with ChatGPT, here’s an article that can help!

Claude was a bit overwhelmed with the data at first

Claude’s response wasn’t as instant due to our large dataset (over 900 days), taking some time to process.

Once it finished, though, it produced a comprehensive document.

Unlike ChatGPT, it didn’t include charts by default, but with a couple of extra prompts, you can easily generate them. The analysis itself was detailed, useful, and, most importantly, explained in a way anyone could follow.

It even went a step further by predicting performance for Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, which was pretty impressive:

Next came a strategic plan of action, followed by a checklist with weekly tasks.

Overall, Claude delivered a solid analysis, but in my view, ChatGPT did a better job with this dataset. A smart workflow might be to extract insights with ChatGPT, then use Claude to turn those findings into an action plan or checklist.

Gemini also did a great job

Lastly, Gemini (2.5 Pro) also delivered strong results.

It generated a variety of charts, including conversion forecasts, anomaly detection, quarterly cost-per-conversion patterns, and monthly trends.

Interestingly, using the same prompt, Gemini also produced additional visuals like day-of-week cost-per-conversion analysis and conversions with anomalies.

The generated charts were also clear and easy to interpret, as you can see below:

A small but useful detail: Gemini also lets you instantly download the charts (look at the icon in the corner), something GPT doesn’t offer.

Overall, Gemini came out on top for generating clear, reliable seasonality analysis charts. GPT does have an edge in providing detailed explanations, but with a couple of extra prompts, Gemini can break down the insights just as effectively.

Want to skip the hassle of writing endless prompts just to run a seasonality analysis?

We built a seasonality analysis tool using Lovable that makes it super simple. Just upload your CSV file, no mega prompts, no back-and-forth, and you’ll get a clear, detailed analysis.

Upload your data and get a clear seasonality analysis instantly. Need a quick summary? Just hit Explain in plain English for an easy breakdown.

When you hit Show full analysis, you get a bunch of options: seasonality focus, decomposition, stats, business insights, and even a campaign view, all with a handy sidebar that explains the charts as you go.

Curious already? Give our seasonality analysis tool a spin here!

Test 4→ Get quick insights into strengths, weaknesses, and improvements in your PPC account

Use case goal: How can PPC marketers use AI tools to quickly identify strengths, weaknesses, and optimization opportunities in their Google Ads account performance?

Claude surprisingly interpreted the data wrong (in the first go)

Claude surprisingly got the data wrong on the first attempt. Even though it’s often my go-to for summarizing numbers, this time the response was riddled with miscalculations.

Here are the major accuracy issues I spotted:

• Claimed conversion rate ‘surged 193%’ when it actually declined 43%.
• Stated ‘total conversions increased 59%’ when they actually dropped 69%.
• Reported ‘cost per acquisition dropped’ even though conversions had collapsed.
• Praised ‘remarkable conversion efficiency improvements’ when performance had clearly deteriorated.”

On the flip side….

ChatGPT was far more accurate with its analysis

• Correctly flagged a ~22% cost reduction (actual: -21.6%)
• Accurately noted a ~50% drop in clicks/interactions (actual: -45.6%)
• Properly identified a ~69% collapse in conversions (actual: -69.0%)
• Correctly highlighted a ~14% decline in impressions (actual: -15.1%)
• Pinpointed CTR decline as the core issue behind performance shifts

Here are some recommendations it gave based on the identified strengths and weaknesses:

Still, I wanted to give Claude the benefit of the doubt (call it favoritism), so we ran the test again.

Same prompt, same document, and this time, it delivered the best response yet.

What stood out in this response:

• Comprehensive, with granular campaign-level analysis
• Professional formatting with clear sections and priority levels
• Recommendations neatly ranked by high/medium/low urgency
• Read more like a polished agency report than an AI output

The risk with relying on AI for PPC data accuracy

What if I had gone further without double-checking whether the responses were actually accurate?

That’s the risk AI tools sometimes carry.

And let’s not forget their ever-convincing tone that makes everything sound correct.

The issue with general AI tools like Claude or even GPT is that they’re great talkers, but not always great with the math. For instance, Claude claimed conversions had “surged 193%” when in reality they had collapsed by 69%.

That’s not a minor slip; it’s the kind of error that could drive completely wrong strategic decisions.

Gemini delivered conversion-focused insights

Gemini’s response was short and to the point.

It did a good job of identifying critical problems and gave good suggestions.

However, it missed broader account efficiency trends and didn’t provide sufficient context on absolute volume sizes.

Find Your PPC strengths, weaknesses, and fixes with Optmyzr Sidekick

So, with ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, you first need to extract and format your data, then carefully prompt the AI to get insights. Once you get the insights, you need to cross-check them to make sure the responses are accurate.

With Optmyzr Sidekick AI, you skip the hassle of uploading data, writing prompts, and praying the AI doesn’t mess up the math.

The moment you log in, it’s already working for you.

👉 Every session starts with three things marketers care most about:

• One clear win: what’s working well this month
• One weakness: where performance is slipping
• One recommendation: the next step you can act on right away

💡And when you want to dig deeper? You don’t need to build a query or export a report. Just type or ask:

• “Which campaigns are overspending this week?”
• “What’s my best converting landing page?”
• “Where did CTR drop compared to last month?”

Sidekick responds instantly, with the right PPC context baked in.

And that’s the difference. A general AI assistant can talk about anything, but it doesn’t know your Google Ads metrics, ROAS goals, or budget strategies. Sidekick does.

Test 5 → AI Metric Comparison in PPC: Clicks vs. Cost Accuracy Test

Use case goal: How can PPC marketers use AI tools to accurately compare key metrics like clicks vs. cost in Google Ads campaigns?

Note: We started by giving the AI the same comprehensive dataset used in earlier tests, to see if it could accurately pull out and create charts for the specified month.

ChatGPT’s strengths and limits in Clicks vs. Cost analysis

ChatGPT handled the data correctly and produced an accurate chart.

The only minor drawback was that the orange line occasionally blended with the blue, making it a bit harder to distinguish.

While it didn’t offer additional insights upfront, a quick follow-up prompt easily drew out more detailed analysis.

Gemini delivers accurate insights with clear explanations

Gemini nailed both the analysis and interpretation of the data.

It introduced no inaccuracies and correctly highlighted the peaks and valleys when fed the full dataset from 2024–2025.

This shows you don’t need to manually extract data for a single month to get an accurate analysis, unlike Claude (more on that below).

With Gemini, you can also ask for deeper explanations, and it delivers them accurately.

Claude struggled with PPC metric accuracy

When given data for the past year, Claude’s output included several issues:

• Reported the wrong average CPC
• Missed the most significant data point (July 17th, with 560 clicks), the chart showed only ~90 clicks for that day
• Incorrectly claimed a performance increase from July 24–31, even though July 24 had just one click

What happened when we fed it data for just July 2025

This time, Claude performed much better. It:

• Correctly captured the July 17 peak (and other key data points)
• Generated proper dual Y-axis scaling for easier interpretation
• Highlighted key insights clearly in a yellow callout box

Why Optmyzr’s metric comparison widget beats GPT/Claude/Gemini for comparing metrics

If all you need is to compare two metrics, say, clicks vs. conversions, you could export your data, feed it into GPT, Claude, or Gemini, and prompt it to plot or summarize the relationship.

But let’s be honest: that’s a lot of extra steps.

You have to prepare the data, explain the context in your prompt, maybe re-ask if the chart isn’t quite right… and you’ll probably end up repeating that whole process every time you want to switch metrics.

Plus, you’re gambling with accuracy at times.

As we’ve seen from testing multiple tools, some tools completely misinterpret it, showing wrong peaks, missing critical drops, or calculating metrics like cost-per-click incorrectly.

You end up having to double-check every number and extract data for exact date ranges just to verify you’re not getting wildly inaccurate responses that could lead to wrong business decisions.

With Optmyzr’s Metric Comparison Widget, it’s just… built in. Two clicks, and you’re instantly looking at any pair of metrics you want.

Want to flip from Clicks vs Cost to Cost vs Conversions? Just switch the dropdown.

Want to smooth out the noise and view weekly instead of daily?

Change the frequency and it’s done.

The best part? The widget doesn’t just show the lines. It gives you an AI-powered summary right alongside the chart, written specifically for PPC context.

So, instead of you trying to coax a useful interpretation out of a general AI, you get a clear, campaign-focused takeaway immediately.

Investigate metrics with PPC investigator

Comparing two metrics is a good start, but what if you want to dig deeper and actually understand why performance changed?

That’s where Optmyzr’s PPC Investigator comes in.

With just a few clicks, it pinpoints the exact element driving a metric up or down, whether it’s a keyword, placement, or even an entire network.

So instead of just seeing that conversions dropped last month, you can see what caused the drop and take action faster.

And to make analysis even more intuitive, PPC Investigator includes a colorblind-friendly mode with icons that clearly show positive or negative trends.

See It in Action: Want to watch how this works in a real account?

In the video below, we walk through how to investigate changes in your PPC performance using PPC Investigator along with other Optmyzr tools. You’ll see how quickly you can spot what changed, why it happened, and what to do next.

Where PPC Pros rely on Optmyzr (beyond AI assistants)

Generic AI tools will always have limits in PPC. They don’t know your accounts, your budgets, or your business goals; they just generate words and numbers based on the data you feed.

Optmyzr was built for paid media from the ground up. That means:

• Ad copy tools that improve RSAs without compliance risks.
• Reports you can interrogate with Sidekick instead of wrestling with decks.
• Diagnostic tools that find the “why” behind every performance shift.
• AI Audit Summaries that instantly flag strengths, weaknesses, and missed opportunities across your account.
• Competitor Widgets that show top entrants and exits in your auctions.

While Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT can brainstorm, Optmyzr helps you act.

See the difference in your own accounts. Start a fully functional 14-day trial today — no credit card required.

FAQs on Using AI for PPC

1. Can AI actually write high-converting Google Ads?
A. Yes, but not reliably. AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can generate RSA copy fast, but they either sound formulaic, make compliance-risky claims, or lack emotional punch. These drafts still need to go through expert copywriters to be published-worthy.

2. Is AI good enough to replace my PPC reporting dashboard?
A. Not yet. GPT tends to produce clear but plain summaries; Claude often adds better visuals but can misrepresent data; Gemini improves accuracy in Pro mode but still struggles with strategy.

3. Can AI forecast seasonality and budget spikes for PPC?
A. It can, with caveats. GPT explains patterns well, Claude builds detailed plans, and Gemini generates reliable charts. But AI needs carefully formatted data and multiple prompts.

4. Will AI tools catch strengths and weaknesses in my Google Ads account?
A. Sometimes. GPT is more accurate with math; Claude can miscalculate but improves with retries; Gemini is safe but shallow. The bigger risk: over-confident AI tone that hides errors.

5. Can AI compare PPC metrics like Clicks vs. Cost without errors?
A. Partially. GPT and Gemini usually handle it, though Gemini gives cleaner charts. Claude is inconsistent, sometimes fabricating numbers.

6. Should I trust AI with PPC strategy at all?
A. Use AI for drafts, brainstorming, and data exploration, not as your sole decision-maker. Think of it as an intern: fast, helpful, but in need of supervision.