Criteo becomes first ad tech partner in OpenAI’s ChatGPT advertising pilot

Criteo has joined OpenAI’s advertising pilot for ChatGPT, becoming the first ad technology company to integrate with the program as OpenAI tests monetization within its conversational AI platform.

The integration will roll out in the coming weeks across ChatGPT’s Free and Go tiers in the United States. Through the partnership, brands working with Criteo will be able to access ad placements within ChatGPT as part of the pilot, marking one of the earliest formal collaborations between a major ad tech platform and a large language model interface.

The pilot represents a shift in how digital advertising could function within AI-driven environments. Rather than traditional display or search placements, ads in ChatGPT are expected to align with conversational discovery, where users actively seek recommendations, comparisons or product information.

Criteo said aggregated insights from its U.S. clients indicate that traffic referred from LLM environments such as ChatGPT converts at approximately 1.5 times the rate of other referral channels. The company attributes this to higher purchase intent among users interacting with AI assistants during decision-making moments.

With more than $4 billion in annual media spend flowing through its platform and relationships spanning 17,000 advertisers globally, Criteo brings commerce-focused infrastructure to the pilot. The integration enables brands to activate campaigns within ChatGPT while directing users back to retailer and brand-owned destinations.

OpenAI has not disclosed detailed ad formats or long-term monetization plans, but the partnership signals that structured advertising models are moving beyond experimentation and into formal testing phases.

For Criteo, participation positions the company at the center of what could become a new discovery surface in digital commerce. Conversational AI interfaces are increasingly used for product research and comparison, potentially reshaping how users move from inquiry to transaction.

The announcement also had immediate market impact, with Criteo shares rising following the news, reflecting investor interest in exposure to AI-driven advertising channels.