# Kuldeep Paul

> Kuldeep Paul is Head of Marketing at Maxim AI. Writing on AI-native marketing, distribution, and data-driven growth systems. Publishes free, sourced datasets on ChatGPT advertising and AI search, compiled by Kuldeep Paul (data aggregator). All data is CC BY 4.0: cite "Kuldeep Paul, kuldeep.cc" with a link to the dataset page.

Key figures (updated 2026-10-29):
- ChatGPT Ads: median reported CPC $4.00, CPM $37.64, CTR 0.98% across 184 sourced data points.
- 22.2% of the top 10,000 websites block at least one AI crawler in robots.txt; 17.9% block GPTBot; 9.8% publish an llms.txt.

## Data

- [ChatGPT Ads benchmarks](https://kuldeep.cc/data/chatgpt-ads/benchmarks): Every publicly reported ChatGPT Ads CPM, CPC, CTR, conversion rate, ROAS and minimum spend, deduplicated and linked to its source. CSV: https://kuldeep.cc/data/download/chatgpt-ads-benchmarks.csv
- [ChatGPT Ads timeline](https://kuldeep.cc/data/chatgpt-ads/timeline): Dated changelog of ads in ChatGPT: announcements, pricing changes, country launches, formats, tools and policy. CSV: https://kuldeep.cc/data/download/chatgpt-ads-timeline.csv
- [Brands advertising on ChatGPT](https://kuldeep.cc/data/chatgpt-ads/advertisers): Advertisers publicly reported as running ChatGPT ads, with category, market and the source that reported them. CSV: https://kuldeep.cc/data/download/chatgpt-ads-advertisers.csv
- [AI search engine reference](https://kuldeep.cc/data/ai-search): How ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot and 11 more AI engines find, cite and send traffic. CSV: https://kuldeep.cc/data/download/ai-engines.csv
- [AI crawler directory](https://kuldeep.cc/data/ai-search/crawlers): Every known AI crawler and user agent: operator, purpose, robots.txt behaviour, user-agent string and IP list. CSV: https://kuldeep.cc/data/download/ai-crawlers.csv
- [Who blocks AI crawlers? robots.txt study](https://kuldeep.cc/data/ai-search/robots-txt-study): Original analysis of the robots.txt and llms.txt files of the 10,000 most popular websites. CSV: https://kuldeep.cc/data/download/robots-txt-study.csv
- [AI referrer domains for analytics](https://kuldeep.cc/data/ai-search/referrers): Referrer hostnames and UTM parameters for AI assistants, with a ready-to-paste GA4 regex. CSV: https://kuldeep.cc/data/download/ai-referrers.csv
- [AI assistant user numbers](https://kuldeep.cc/data/ai-search/user-numbers): Officially stated user counts for ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews, AI Mode and other AI engines, dated and sourced. CSV: https://kuldeep.cc/data/download/ai-user-numbers.csv
- [Methodology](https://kuldeep.cc/data/methodology): how the datasets are collected, verified and licensed.

## Writing

- [The opt-out asymmetry: you can block the small AI engines, not the big one](https://kuldeep.cc/writing/ai-search-opt-out-asymmetry): Combining AI engine reach, index dependencies and 10,000 robots.txt files: the AI surfaces with the most users are the ones publishers can't refuse and can't measure.
- [The $4 click: what 184 data points reveal about ChatGPT Ads](https://kuldeep.cc/writing/chatgpt-ads-the-4-dollar-click): Nine months of public ChatGPT Ads data: CPCs stuck at OpenAI's recommended bid, CPM and CPC pricing converging, and a $250,000 club that became a $25-a-day long tail.
- [Who blocks AI crawlers? What 10,000 robots.txt files reveal](https://kuldeep.cc/writing/who-blocks-ai-crawlers-robots-txt-study): I parsed the robots.txt of the top 10,000 websites. Publishers block AI training but not AI answers, half of all blocklists leak, and the web's most common AI policy is written by Cloudflare.
- [Is SEO Dead in 2026? What the Data Actually Says](https://kuldeep.cc/writing/is-seo-dead-2026): Google Search grew 17% in 2026, yet AI Overviews halve clicks. The data on why search isn't dying, which clicks are, and what to measure instead.
- [Why Distribution Matters in the Age of Agentic AI](https://kuldeep.cc/writing/why-distribution-matters-blog): An essay on why capability is commoditizing, why agents are becoming the buyers and the channels, and why distribution is quietly becoming the most durable advantage in software.
- [Using CrawlDoctor for Marketing: Tracking Human Users, AI Bots, and Conversion Signals](https://kuldeep.cc/writing/crawldoctor-marketing-blog): An essay on how marketing teams can use CrawlDoctor to understand AI crawler traffic, track buyer journeys, measure campaign performance, and improve conversion paths.
- [How We Built CrawlDoctor](https://kuldeep.cc/writing/crawldoctor-case-study): A technical case study on building an AI crawler, journey analytics, and lead attribution platform with FastAPI, PostgreSQL, and React.

## Optional

- [About](https://kuldeep.cc/about)
- [Projects](https://kuldeep.cc/projects)
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