ChatGPT Ads are live in South Africa. Here’s how Criteo fits in.
On 21 October 2026, OpenAI switched on ChatGPT Ads in South Africa as part of a 26-country expansion that takes the platform to 89 markets (Securities.io). For South African brands, that opens a new place to reach shoppers: inside the conversation where they ask for advice, compare options and decide what to buy.
Criteo, one of OpenAI’s advertising technology partners since March 2026, already runs ChatGPT Ads for more than 2,000 brands worldwide. South African brands buy them through Criteo, via 365 Digital, using their existing Criteo account.
ChatGPT Ads South Africa, How it works?
Ads appear only for people on ChatGPT's Free and Go plans; Plus, Pro and Enterprise stay ad-free (Securities.io, citing OpenAI).
- Who sees them: people on ChatGPT’s Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro and Enterprise stay ad-free (Securities.io, citing OpenAI).
- Placement: a sponsored unit shown with ChatGPT’s answer, clearly labelled and visually separate from it (Campaign Middle East).
- Relevance: Ads are triggered by intent signals in the conversation, not only by explicit product searches. Someone asking what to cook for a family braai could see a relevant ad from a grocery retailer alongside the recipe suggestions.
- Independence: OpenAI states that ads do not influence ChatGPT’s answers.
- Privacy: conversations stay private from advertisers and user data is not sold. Users can switch off ad personalisation, clear ad data or move to an ad-free plan.
- Safeguards: OpenAI has said ads will not show to users stated or predicted to be under 18, or next to sensitive topics such as health, mental health and politics.
Why Criteo: intent plus action
ChatGPT knows what people are asking. Criteo knows how they shop.
Take a shopper who asks, “Gift ideas for my dad under R1,500?” ChatGPT supplies the context: the need, the occasion and the budget. Criteo adds commerce intelligence, built on data from 17,000+ advertisers and 200+ retailers, to turn that intent into an ad for the right product.
What Criteo adds:
- Prompt smart ads. These combine a brand’s product catalogue with the context of the prompt and write ad copy in the language of the conversation. They also create multiple variations automatically, so there is no need to hand-build context hints for every product.
- Automated bidding. Bids optimise continuously towards your campaign objective.
- Measurement beyond the platform. Criteo’s identity resolution and conversion tracking link ChatGPT ad exposure to on-site behaviour and sales, with product-level path-to-purchase reporting.
- Cross-channel reach. ChatGPT campaigns run alongside Criteo’s Open Web and Social campaigns in one platform, so brands can find new shoppers in AI and retarget them further down the funnel.
- Commerce Audiences (coming Q1 2027). Segments built from real shopping behaviour, such as gift buyers, seasonal shoppers, deal seekers, lookalikes or your own CRM data, will let brands layer who they reach on top of what the conversation is about.
- Reach shoppers ahead of Black Friday on 27 November and the festive season that follows.
- Get in front of people researching and comparing options in their category, before a shortlist forms.
- Feed new prospects into their wider Criteo campaigns, then retarget them across Open Web and Social.
"More than 80% of ad-driven ChatGPT traffic comes from shoppers new to the brand"Early results from Criteo's international markets point the same way. Click-through rates run two to three times higher than comparable formats elsewhere, and more than 80% of ad-driven ChatGPT traffic comes from shoppers new to the brand (Criteo). In the US, visitors referred from AI assistants converted at about 1.5 times the rate of other referral channels. Apparel, home furnishings, consumer electronics, automotive and beauty lead adoption so far.
These are global figures from a young channel. South African benchmarks will take time to build, which is why a structured test, with clear success measures set up front, is the sensible first step.
How buying works
- One IO, billed monthly. No credit card required. Campaigns are booked through 365 Digital, Criteo’s exclusive South African partner.
- No technical friction. Existing Criteo clients need no new contract, integration or separate invoicing. Brands already connected through OneTag or server-to-server (S2S) are ready for ChatGPT Ads. Brands new to Criteo can be onboarded by our team.
- Managed service. We handle set-up, prompt strategy, feed optimisation, conversational insights and reporting.
Getting started with 365 Digital
365 Digital is Criteo's exclusive partner in South Africa. We help brands plan, activate and measure ChatGPT Ads alongside their wider Criteo campaigns, from audience strategy and catalogue set-up to reporting.
Start your ChatGPT ads campaign → Contact our team.
Download our Guide on how this works
