Criteo Joins OpenAI Advertising Pilot in ChatGPT

Rhea-AI Summary

Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO) is the first advertising technology partner integrating with OpenAI's advertising pilot in ChatGPT Free and Go in the United States, with rollout beginning in the coming weeks. The integration aims to enable brands to use Criteo's commerce-focused ad platform across conversational AI discovery surfaces.

Key metrics: Criteo activates more than $4 billion in annual media spend, serves 17,000 advertisers, and reports users referred from LLM platforms convert at ~1.5x other channels (sample of 500 U.S. retailers, Feb 2026).

Positive

• First-mover integration with OpenAI ChatGPT pilot in the U.S.
• Access to LLM referral conversion ~1.5x versus other channels (sample)
• Supports $4B annual media spend across 17,000 advertisers

Negative

• Pilot is limited to ChatGPT Free and Go in the U.S., constraining near-term reach
• Conversion claim based on a sample of 500 retailers, limiting statistical breadth

News Market Reaction – CRTO

+2.29%

9 alerts

+2.29% News Effect

+$22M Valuation Impact

$983M Market Cap

0.5x Rel. Volume

On the day this news was published, CRTO gained 2.29%, reflecting a moderate positive market reaction. Our momentum scanner triggered 9 alerts that day, indicating moderate trading interest and price volatility. This price movement added approximately $22M to the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $983M at that time.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Key Figures

Annual media spend activated: $4 billion Global advertisers: 17,000 advertisers Retailer sample size: 500 retailers

3 metrics

Annual media spend activated $4 billion Criteo-activated annual media spend mentioned in article

Global advertisers 17,000 advertisers Number of advertisers Criteo works with globally

Retailer sample size 500 retailers Sample of U.S. Criteo retailers used for LLM referral analysis

Market Reality Check

Price: $18.90 Vol: Volume 283,639 is below t...

low vol

$18.90 Last Close

Volume Volume 283,639 is below the 20-day average of 512,004 ahead of this AI announcement. low

Technical Price 17.87 is below the 200-day MA at 22.11 and well under the 52-week high of 39.52, closer to the 52-week low of 16.15.

Peers on Argus

CRTO was modestly down 0.67% pre-news while key advertising peers were mixed (e....

CRTO was modestly down 0.67% pre-news while key advertising peers were mixed (e.g., IAS +0.78%, QNST +2.54%, EEX -3.02%), and no sector-wide momentum appeared in scanners.

Previous AI Reports

1 past event · Latest: Feb 05 (Positive)

Same Type Pattern 1 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Feb 05	AI product launch	Positive	+2.0%	Launched Agentic Commerce Recommendation Service for AI shopping assistants with improved relevancy.

Pattern Detected

Limited AI-tag history shows a positive price response to prior AI product news.

Recent Company History

Over recent months, Criteo combined corporate actions, financial updates, and AI initiatives. The company reported Q4 2025 revenue of $541M and FY 2025 revenue of $1.945B, plus a share repurchase program. It also advanced a legal redomiciliation from France to Luxembourg. On Feb 05, 2026, an AI shopping assistant initiative with up to 60% better recommendations saw shares rise about 2%. Today’s OpenAI ChatGPT ad pilot expands that AI-led commerce positioning.

Historical Comparison

+2.0% avg move · In the last AI-tagged release, CRTO’s AI shopping assistant launch saw a 2% move. This OpenAI ChatGP...

AI

+2.0%

Average Historical Move AI

In the last AI-tagged release, CRTO’s AI shopping assistant launch saw a 2% move. This OpenAI ChatGPT ad pilot continues that AI commerce trajectory.

AI efforts progressed from launching an Agentic Commerce Recommendation Service to integrating with OpenAI’s ChatGPT advertising pilot for commerce-focused discovery.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement highlights Criteo’s role as the first ad tech partner in OpenAI’s ChatGPT ad pilot...

Analysis

This announcement highlights Criteo’s role as the first ad tech partner in OpenAI’s ChatGPT ad pilot, extending its commerce-focused AI strategy. Together with its prior AI shopping assistant launch and scale of $4 billion in media spend across 17,000 advertisers, it underscores a push into conversational discovery surfaces. Investors may watch for concrete metrics on ChatGPT-driven conversions, adoption by key advertisers, and updates alongside future earnings or AI product milestones.

Key Terms

large language model (llm), conversational ai

2 terms

large language model (llm) technical

"how advertising can support discovery and consideration within Large Language Model (LLM) platforms"

A large language model (LLM) is a type of artificial intelligence trained on massive amounts of text to read, write and analyze language, behaving like a very well-read assistant that can draft reports, answer questions and summarize information. For investors it matters because LLMs can boost productivity, enable new products or cost savings, and change competitive dynamics, while also creating risks around accuracy, bias and regulatory compliance that can affect a company’s value.

conversational ai technical

"including emerging discovery surfaces like conversational AI"

Conversational AI is technology that allows computers to understand, process, and respond to human language in a way that feels natural and interactive, similar to chatting with a person. It enables machines to hold conversations, answer questions, and assist with tasks automatically. For investors, it matters because this technology can improve customer service, streamline operations, and create new opportunities across many industries.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

The integration enables brands to leverage Criteo's digital advertising platform as part of OpenAI's ad pilot

NEW YORK, March 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO), the global platform connecting the commerce ecosystem, today announced it is the first advertising technology partner integrating with OpenAI's advertising pilot in ChatGPT Free and Go versions in the United States.

"This integration with OpenAI represents an exciting step forward in advancing advertising in an emerging AI experience," said Michael Komasinski, Chief Executive Officer of Criteo. "Through this pilot, we are helping 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."

Aggregated insights observed across Criteo's U.S. clients show that users referred from LLM platforms like ChatGPT convert at approximately one and half times¹ the rate of other referral channels, reinforcing the high-intent nature of these AI experiences. As conversational discovery grows, this pilot represents an opportunity to thoughtfully evaluate how brands can participate in advertising within ChatGPT while also driving incremental demand back to retailer and brand destinations.

Criteo activates more than $4 billion in annual media spend and works with 17,000 advertisers globally, connecting brands, retailers, and publishers through commerce intelligence and AI-driven decisioning technology to drive cross-channel outcomes. This unique combination enables Criteo to support commerce-focused advertising across a wide range of categories and environments, including emerging discovery surfaces like conversational AI.

The integration will begin rolling out in the coming weeks as part of the ongoing advertising pilot in ChatGPT.

To learn more about Criteo's vision for the future of agentic commerce, click here.

¹ Observed on a sample of 500 Criteo retailers in the U.S., February 2026.

Contacts  

Criteo Public Relations
Jessica Meyers, j.meyers@criteo.com   

Criteo Investor Relations
Melanie Dambre, m.dambre@criteo.com  

About Criteo 

Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO) is the global platform connecting the commerce ecosystem for brands, agencies, retailers, and media owners. Its AI-powered advertising platform has unique access to more than $1 trillion in annual commerce sales—powering connections with shoppers, inspiring discovery, and enabling highly personalized experiences. With thousands of clients and partnerships spanning global retail to digital commerce, Criteo delivers the technology, tools, and insights businesses need to drive performance and growth. For more information, please visit criteo.com.

Forward Looking Statements Disclosure

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including our expectations regarding our market opportunity and future growth prospects and other statements that are not historical facts and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: failure related to our technology and our ability to innovate and respond to changes in technology, uncertainty regarding our ability to access a consistent supply of internet display advertising inventory and expand access to such inventory, disruption of current plans and operations by our planned transfer of the company's legal domicile from France to Luxembourg via a cross-border conversion (the "Conversion"), failure to satisfy any of the conditions to and complete the Conversion, investments in new business opportunities and the timing of these investments, whether the projected benefits of acquisitions or strategic transactions, including the Conversion, materialize as expected, uncertainty regarding international operations and expansion, including related to changes in a specific country's or region's political or economic conditions (such as changes in or new tariffs), the impact of competition or client in-housing, uncertainty regarding legislative, regulatory or self-regulatory developments regarding data privacy matters and the impact of efforts by other participants in our industry to comply therewith, the impact of consumer resistance to the collection and sharing of data, our ability to access data through third parties, failure to enhance our brand cost-effectively, recent growth rates not being indicative of future growth, client flexibility to increase or decrease spend, our ability to manage growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, our ability to grow our base of clients, and the financial impact of maximizing Contribution ex-TAC, as well as risks related to future opportunities and plans, including the uncertainty of expected future financial performance and results, changes in general political, economic and competitive conditions and specific market conditions; adverse changes to the marketing industry, changes in applicable laws or accounting practices, and those risks detailed from time-to-time under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's SEC filings and reports, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 26, 2026, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and in the proxy statement/prospectus filed with the SEC under Rule 424(b)(3) on January 22, 2026 in connection with the Conversion, as well as future filings and reports by the Company. Importantly, at this time, macro-economic conditions including inflation and fluctuating interest rates in the U.S. have impacted and may continue to impact Criteo's business, financial condition, cash flow and results of operations. Accordingly, a forward-looking statement is neither a prediction nor a guarantee of future events or circumstances and those future events or circumstances may not occur. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release.

Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events, changes in expectations or otherwise.

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SOURCE Criteo

FAQ

What did Criteo (CRTO) announce about OpenAI integration on March 2, 2026?

Criteo announced it is the first ad-tech partner integrating with OpenAI's ChatGPT advertising pilot in the U.S. According to the company, the rollout to ChatGPT Free and Go begins in the coming weeks, enabling commerce-focused ads within conversational AI experiences.

How significant is the CRTO and OpenAI pilot for advertisers?

The pilot offers brands early access to advertising in ChatGPT, opening new discovery channels. According to the company, LLM-referred users in a 500-retailer sample convert at about 1.5 times other referral channels, suggesting higher-intent traffic for advertisers.

What scale does Criteo (CRTO) bring to the ChatGPT ad pilot?

Criteo brings its commerce ad platform activating over $4 billion in annual media spend and 17,000 advertisers. According to the company, that scale enables integration across retailers, brands, and publishers for commerce-focused ad placements.

When will Criteo's (CRTO) integration with ChatGPT begin rolling out?

The integration will begin rolling out in the coming weeks as part of the ongoing ChatGPT ad pilot. According to the company, initial availability covers ChatGPT Free and Go versions in the United States.

Does Criteo (CRTO) provide evidence that LLM referrals convert better?

Criteo reports aggregated insights showing LLM-referred users convert at roughly 1.5x the rate of other channels. According to the company, this observation comes from a sample of 500 U.S. retailers in February 2026.

What limitations should investors note about the CRTO–OpenAI pilot?

The pilot is U.S.-only and limited to ChatGPT Free and Go, which may restrict immediate audience reach. According to the company, conversion data is sample-based, implying further validation is needed across broader clients and geographies.