Criteo secured the first advertising technology partnership with OpenAI's ChatGPT ad pilot this week, positioning itself as the commerce intelligence layer for conversational AI interfaces.
The integration gives marketers using ChatGPT access to Criteo's commerce data and activation tools through OpenAI's experimental monetization framework. The partnership covers ChatGPT's Free and Go subscription tiers in the United States, with rollout beginning in coming weeks. OpenAI formally launched its advertising pilot on February 9, 2026, after confirming plans on January 16 following months of internal speculation.
Criteo activates more than $4 billion in annual media spend and works with 17,000 advertisers globally. Its platform has access to data from more than $1 trillion in annual commerce sales, providing structured transaction-linked signals that large language models need for product recommendations.
OpenAI set minimum advertiser commitments at $200,000 for the ChatGPT pilot with CPM rates around $60, well above typical Meta CPMs that often fall under $20. The premium pricing reflects early experimental inventory comparable to NFL broadcast rates.
First independently verified ad sightings arrived in late February when search intelligence firm Adthena analyzed more than 500 prompts and found ads appearing in roughly 0.8% of responses. Early confirmed participants include Target and Expedia.
Through OpenAI's Model Context Protocol server integrations, marketers can now execute workflows directly within LLM interfaces rather than solely inside Criteo's native user interface.
The company describes this as advancing advertising "in an emerging AI experience" where users referred to retail websites from LLM platforms convert at approximately one and a half times the rate of other referral channels.
"The partnership helps shape how advertising can support discovery and consideration within Large Language Model (LLM) platforms, grounded in experiences that are additive, relevant, and built on user trust."
Criteo CEO Michael Komasinski said the move formalizes what Criteo first hinted at in late 2025, that LLMs would become the next frontier of its commerce media strategy beyond retailer sites and the open web.
