How to See Competitor Ads in ChatGPT and Claude (2026)

ChatGPT and Claude can't see a competitor's live ads on their own, but both can once you connect an ad library MCP server like Proxy, which takes about two minutes and is free to start. This guide shows the setup for each client, the prompts that work, and the limits you should know before you trust the answer.

(Proxy publishes this blog. We name the other options below and say where each one fits.)

Why can't ChatGPT or Claude see competitor ads by default?

Because the ads live inside ad libraries that a normal web search doesn't read. Ask ChatGPT "what ads is Gymshark running?" with no tools connected and you'll get one of three things: a guess from training data, a list of articles about Gymshark's marketing, or advice to go check the Meta Ad Library yourself.

The ad libraries are search apps, not web pages. The Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency Center, LinkedIn Ad Library, and TikTok's EU ad library all render results after you search. A web-browsing assistant can't fill in those forms reliably, and it can't play a video ad to transcribe it.

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server closes that gap. It's a connector that gives the assistant a real tool, like "get this brand's Meta ads", that returns structured data the model can read. Between February and October 2026, Proxy's MCP server returned about 179,000 live ads to 247 marketers this way, 79% of them from the Meta Ad Library.

What do you need before you start?

• An AI client that supports custom MCP connectors. ChatGPT, Claude (web, desktop, and mobile), Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex all do.
• An ad library MCP server. This guide uses Proxy because it covers four libraries in one connector with no API keys. Alternatives are compared in the best ad library MCP servers.
• About 2 minutes. There's no code and no key to paste. You sign in once with OAuth.

How do you connect ChatGPT to the ad libraries?

1. Copy the server URL: https://mcp.useproxy.dev/mcp
2. In ChatGPT open Settings → Apps & Connectors → Create.
3. Name it Proxy, paste the URL, and sign in when prompted.
4. Start a new chat and ask: "What ads is Liquid Death running on Meta right now?"

If ChatGPT asks you to confirm a Proxy action, allow it. Proxy is read-only: it reads public ad libraries and never touches your own ad accounts. You can also find Proxy in the ChatGPT app directory by searching "Proxy".

How do you connect Claude to the ad libraries?

1. Copy https://mcp.useproxy.dev/mcp
2. In Claude open Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector.
3. Name it Proxy, paste the URL, and sign in.
4. When Claude asks for permission to use a Proxy tool, choose Always allow.

The connector syncs across Claude on web, desktop, and mobile. Claude is the most common client for this kind of research: 108 Proxy users have connected through Claude and 75 through Claude Code, against 32 through ChatGPT. In Claude Code, run claude mcp add --transport http proxy https://mcp.useproxy.dev/mcp, then /mcp to sign in. For Cursor and Codex, the one-line installer curl -sL useproxy.dev/install | sh writes the config for you. Every client is covered step by step on the install page.

Which prompts work best for competitor ad research?

Ask for one decision at a time and name the brand, the platform, and what you want compared. These five cover most research passes:

• Snapshot: "Pull Notion's live Google and LinkedIn ads and summarise the three main angles."
• Winners: "Show Gymshark's Meta ads sorted by how long they've been running. Which ones have run longest?" Long-running ads are the best free signal of what's working, because advertisers stop paying for losers.
• Video hooks: "Transcribe the top 3 video ads from Huel and break down the first 3 seconds of each."
• Head to head: "Compare the offers and CTAs in Oatly's and Alpro's current Meta ads in a table."
• Discovery: "Find competitors for a meal-kit brand in the UK, then pull their Meta ads."

What comes back in the chat?

For each ad you get the creative (image or video), ad copy, headline, CTA, start date, landing page URL, and a link to the source library. Video ads can be transcribed on request, and Proxy users have transcribed over 1,000 competitor video ads that way.

What can't it tell you?

Be clear on the limits so you don't over-read the output:

• No spend or ROAS for commercial ads. Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and TikTok don't publish it, so no honest tool can show it. Run length is the proxy signal.
• Live and recent ads, not a 5-year archive. Proxy reads the libraries as they are today. Swipe-file tools like Foreplay keep their own historical database.
• TikTok is EU-only. TikTok's public library covers ads shown in the EU, searched by exact advertiser name.
• Credits are daily. The free plan includes 20 credits a day, and each lookup or video transcript costs 1. Paid plans start at $50/mo for 100 a day (pricing).

Is this better than opening the ad library myself?

For one quick look at one brand, the free library in your browser is fine. The connector earns its place when you compare several brands, read across platforms, or need video transcripts, because the assistant does the scrolling, transcribing, and summarising in one answer. If you want the manual route first, see how to spy on competitors' ads.