Contrary to Anthropic’s Claude, who has promised to avoid ads, OpenAI has begun testing ads in ChatGPT for a limited set of U.S. users. According to OpenAI, the ads do not influence ChatGPT’s answers and run on separate systems from the chat models. The company also says that ads are separated and clearly labeled, and advertisers have no ability to shape, rank, or alter ChatGPT’s responses.
This represented a significant milestone as consumers increasingly get their information from AI chatbots rather than relying on traditional search and social media. Brands are scrambling to figure out how to appear within LLMs by using generative engine optimization tactics.
When OpenAI announced its ad program last month, it was only open for major agencies and was joined by Omnicom Media, Dentsu, WPP Media, Publicis and more. The company then went directly to brands, many of which were already close enterprise partners. Now OpenAI has partnered with Criteo, a commerce marketing platform with about 17,000 advertisers in its network and more than $4bn in annual media spend.
“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 platforms, grounded in experiences that are additive, relevant, and built on user trust.”
Criteo is offering advertisers ChatGPT ads for minimum commitments of $50,000 to $100,000 (much lower rates than the $200,000+ OpenAI set for the first advertisers).
“ChatGPT scales discovery and Criteo optimizes downstream cross-channel conversion.” Komasinski said. “Criteo’s integration allows advertisers’ campaign information to be passed to ChatGPT, which can then determine contextually relevant opportunities to surface ads.”
Criteo has been working on advertisements inside LLM for some time now. In late 2025, Criteo teased some of its early experiments with LLM including embedding AI into campaign setup and optimization workflows, with tools like its “audience agent” allowing marketers to describe objectives in plain language.
“The capability in the engine drives the full funnel… our deep learning capability can make sense of scattered interactions to uncover product recommendation opportunities,” said Komasinski.
Check out the 17-slide pitch deck Criteo shared with advertisers introducing the ChatGPT ads.
What were the slides in the Criteo deck?
Check out the exact pitch deck slides Criteo used to sell advertisers on ChatGPT ads.
AI-Assisted Shopping
Driven by artificial intelligence and LLMs, online shopping has gone from basic product listings and static search bars to dynamic, personalized shopping experiences, and companies are racing to be part of this experience.
Perplexity has launched ‘Buy with Pro’, which lets users seamlessly purchase products from select merchants within the Perplexity website. Microsoft Copilot can take users’ specific constraints such as budget, must-have features, and deal-breakers, and return a focused shortlist. Meta has also launched a shopping assistant whose recommendations are tailored to what Meta already knows about the user’s location and to the gender it infers from their name.
Pinterest Assistant’s proactive recommendations fit the user’s style by analyzing the diverse content and actions from nearly 600 million monthly active users. Finally, before launching ads, ChatGPT launched shopping research. Instead of sifting through dozens of sites, users can just describe what they’re looking for and shopping research will build a thoughtful guide to help them decide.
Combined, these platforms have billions of users and, according to Criteo’s Global Shopper Survey, AI assisted shopping is already being used by millions of users. Criteo’s deck breaks down this massive opportunity for advertisers and marketers through a classic sales funnel. The sleek visuals also help to elevate the message, with an easy-to-understand triangle funnel diagram depicting the user journey and a large circle highlighting the main message. The bold, high-contrast colors draw attention to the key statistics and make the data stand out.
The AI Search Takeover
Experts agree that AI chatbots capture a significant share from traditional search engines and social advertising. According to Gartner, traditional search engines are expected to lose 25% of search volume this year to AI chatbots. Google search market share has already dropped below 90% for the first time in a decade. Some experts are even predicting that by 2030, AI-native search could capture more than 60% of all search queries.
This shift in the market will result in increased spend on AI search advertising. According to one estimate, AI search advertising is projected to grow at a 90% compound annual growth rate, from $1.1 billion in 2025 to $26 billion in 2029. This translates into 13.6% of U.S ad spend by 2029 going to AI search advertising, an impressive increase from the current 0.7% market share.
With all these facts in mind, it’s not hard to understand why AI advertising is projected to be one of the most important marketing channels in the coming years. Criteo’s deck is on the right track, but the slide doesn’t present the scope of opportunity. The visuals don’t particularly add any deeper context or value to the story. To really drive the point home, the slide should’ve shown momentum through hard data and visuals. The heading is also too passive and doesn’t quite hook the audience the way it needs to.
Managing Security Concerns
Although this new advertising channel is exciting for advertisers and marketers, ads within LLMs can only work if the format respects why people are using these tools in the first place. Users are either looking for non-biased information, or in case of shopping, want AI to help them make informed decisions based on very specific requirements. If the ads feel like they are directing people’s opinions or nudging them towards a particular option, it can break consumer trust.
“Advertising in LLMs will only work if users trust what they’re reading. Conversational AI feels neutral and authoritative – so the moment commercial messaging blurs that perception, effectiveness drops. If platforms are transparent about what’s sponsored and how data informs responses, ads can deliver. But in AI, opacity isn’t just a compliance issue, it’s a performance risk.” says Tilman Harmeling, Strategy & Market Intelligence at Usercentrics.
In addition to these ethical concerns, there are valid security concerns for both users and the brands trying to reach them. Users want to protect their privacy including personal data, chat histories, and their digital identities, while advertisers want to protect their sensitive business information including campaign spend, shopper IDs, and targeting data. Criteo focuses on advertisers’ privacy concerns by explaining that their data is safe and they are ‘always in control’. The deck is very transparent about which information Criteo sends or doesn’t send to OpenAI.
Design-wise, this slide is really simple and intuitive. Instead of hitting you with a wall of text, the slide uses a side-by-side layout to make the message instantly understandable. Bold heading, short text, and punchy colors all work together to make a slide that’s easy to scan through, ensuring the audience leaves with a clear and reassuring message.
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