PepsiCo just launched a prebiotic cola to compete with OLIPOP PBC and poppi.
We ran it through six AI buying journeys across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
In four of six, the brand was displaced at Turn 1. The AI formed a competitor preference before Pepsi's product was ever seriously considered. By the time the consumer reached the purchase handoff, Olipop or Poppi had already won.
Reasoning Chain Score: 24/100.
This is the pattern we keep finding with legacy CPG entering categories that challenger brands built during the AI training window. The challengers didn't just win on shelf. They won in the corpus. Pepsi arrived late to a race that was already decided.
Which brings me to ChatGPT ads.
OpenAI is now selling sponsored placements inside the same interface where this buying journey plays out. The instinct will be to buy in - the reach is real.
But the spend won't recover what the reasoning chain already lost.
A sponsored placement lands after displacement has happened. The model has already made its choice.
The displacement problem has to be solved before the media investment makes sense.