# Retail media platforms: what AI models recommend, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Asked as "retail media advertising platform" and as "platform to run and manage retail media ads", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Added to the November 2026 Edition. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/retail-media-platforms/2026-11

**Standing:** Amazon Ads leads with 62% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 47 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| Rank | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [Amazon Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/amazon-ads/index.md) | 62% | 9% | 55 |
| 2 | [Pacvue](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/pacvue/index.md) | 11% | 10% | 21 |
| 3 | [Amazon Advertising](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/amazon-advertising/index.md) | 6% | 18% | 11 |
| 4 | [Skai](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/skai/index.md) | 4% | 6% | 16 |
| 5 | [Walmart Connect](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/walmart-connect/index.md) | 2% | 12% | 58 |
| 7 | [Criteo](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/criteo/index.md) | 2% | 20% | 10 |
| 13 | [Instacart Ads](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/instacart-ads/index.md) | 0% | 13% | 23 |
| 14 | [Target Roundel](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/target-roundel/index.md) | 0% | 31% | 26 |
| 17 | [Kroger Precision Marketing](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/kroger-precision-marketing/index.md) | 0% | 32% | 22 |

Rank is by share of first choices among all 130 products named; products with the same share are tied, and the order among them carries no meaning. The table lists those with at least 10 labels.

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: StackAdapt; alternatives AdRoll ABM, Demandbase
- GPT-5.4 mini: Pacvue; alternatives 6sense, Intentwise, Skai
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Amazon Advertising; alternatives 6sense, Alibaba.com Marketing Services, Demandbase, Home Depot Pro Xtra
- Perplexity Sonar: Amazon Ads; alternatives Criteo Commerce Max, Pacvue, Walmart Connect
- Grok 4.20: Amazon Ads; alternatives AdLib, Walmart Connect
- Mistral Small: Amazon Ads
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Amazon Ads; alternatives Criteo, Skai
- Llama 4 Maverick: Amazon Ads
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Amazon Advertising; alternatives AdLib, Criteo, Staples Connect, Walmart Connect
- Kimi K2: Criteo; alternatives Amazon Ads, Microsoft Advertising
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Amazon Ads; alternatives AdLib, Walmart Connect
- MiniMax M2.5: Amazon Ads; alternatives Walmart Connect
- GPT-6 Luna: Amazon Ads; alternatives Pacvue, Skai
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Amazon Ads; alternatives Criteo Commerce Max, Criteo Retail Media, Mirakl Ads, Walmart Connect

## Sources the answers cite

74 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- g2.com: 22 answers, 31 citations
- gane.ai/index: 21 answers, 37 citations
- guideflow.com: 21 answers, 21 citations
- digiday.com: 18 answers, 33 citations
- getadlib.com: 17 answers, 17 citations
- skai.io: 16 answers, 19 citations
- emarketer.com: 14 answers, 16 citations
- osmos.ai: 13 answers, 17 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://guideflow.com/blog/retail-media-platforms (21 answers)
- https://gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/retail-media-platforms/2026-09 (19 answers)
- https://getadlib.com/blog/best-retail-media-advertising-platforms (16 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/retail-media-advertising-platforms (13 answers)
- https://stellarising.com/blog/retail-media-networks-guide (13 answers)
- https://aidigital.com/blog/retail-media-networks (11 answers)
- https://emarketer.com/content/faq-on-retail-media-networks-how-marketers-should-allocate-budgets-2026 (11 answers)
- https://fitsmallbusiness.com/guide-to-retail-media-for-smbs (11 answers)
- https://theretailexec.com/tools/best-retail-media-platform (10 answers)
- https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/retail-media-networks (9 answers)

## Warned against

- Walmart Connect: 7 of 58 labels negative. "Any platform that is a strict walled garden with redacted ad IDs and no independent verification, particularly Walmart Connect" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Kroger Precision Marketing: 7 of 22 labels negative. "Also flagged as a "criticized challenger" with a 43% negative rate" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Target Roundel: 8 of 26 labels negative. "This platform has a high negative rate among AI models, with 57% of labels being negative. It is described as a "criticized challenger,"" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Amazon Ads: 5 of 55 labels negative. "some AI models explicitly advise avoiding "pure retail media platforms" like standard Amazon Ads or Walmart Connect" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)

## Movement since October 2026

Floor: 11 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Amazon Ads at 62%.

- Amazon Ads: 33% to 62%, +29. Cleared the floor by 18 points · rank 1 of 130, unchanged.
- Walmart Connect: 16% to 2%, −14. Cleared the floor by 3 points · rank 2 → 5 of 130.
- Pacvue: 7% to 11%, +4. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 4 → 2 of 130.
- Amazon Advertising: 9% to 6%, −3. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 3 of 130, unchanged.
- Instacart Ads: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 9 → 13 of 130.
- Skai: 5% to 4%, −1. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 5 → 4 of 130.
- Criteo: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 10 → 7 of 130.
- Target Roundel: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 19 → 14 of 130.
- Kroger Precision Marketing: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 20 → 17 of 130.

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/gtm.