The Digiday Podcast: OpenAI's Ad Push Begins, and The Knot is Co-Piloting

Date: March 3, 2026
Host(s): Kamiko McCoy (Senior Marketing Reporter, Digiday), Tim Peterson (Executive Editor, Digiday Media)
Guest: Jenny Lewis (CMO, The Knot Worldwide)

Episode Overview

This episode dives into OpenAI’s move into ad partnerships, spotlighting its first ad tech deal with Criteo, and features an in-depth interview with Jenny Lewis, CMO of The Knot Worldwide. The discussion explores The Knot’s role as an early ChatGPT advertising partner, the emerging landscape of “answer engine optimization” (AEO), and how brands can stay relevant as AI transforms both search and advertising. Jenny details The Knot's experimental foray into generative search, their ChatGPT app, and best practices for marketers in a rapidly changing environment.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. OpenAI’s Military, Ad Deals, and Industry Backdrop

• Pentagon & AI Ethics:

  • OpenAI recently inked a deal with the Pentagon after Anthropic declined due to ethical concerns, specifically around mass surveillance and human control over the use of force.
    • Tim Peterson [02:03]:

      "Anthropic said, 'We'll do a deal with you. We just have two stipulations. One, don't use our technology for mass surveillance. Two, if you're going to use our technology to kill people, we would like to make sure that a human is the one pressing the button.' And the Pentagon is like, nah, that's not going to work for us. And so Anthropic says, all right, no deal then."

  • There is skepticism about OpenAI’s claims of strong “guardrails” in their own deal, with reports indicating the Pentagon did not budge in its terms.
    • Tim Peterson [03:05]:

      "OpenAI agreed to follow laws that have allowed for mass surveillance in the past, while insisting they protect its red lines. So not great."

• OpenAI-Criteo Ad Tech Deal:

  • OpenAI announced its first ad tech partnership with Criteo, signaling that ChatGPT—with its massive 900 million weekly users—is officially scaling advertising.
    • Tim Peterson [04:24]:

      "Normally you do a deal with an ad tech vendor when you have so much supply that you need to fill it with additional demand."

• Audience Backlash:

  • #QuitChatGPT trended due to concerns about AI’s role in surveillance and ethics. However, this hasn’t slowed OpenAI’s commercial push.
    • Kamiko McCoy [04:03]:

      "The hashtag Quit ChatGPT is not surprising to me that that was kind of the response to all that's happened. But it hasn't stopped OpenAI from moving."

2. The Knot's Experience as a ChatGPT Pioneer

A. Becoming One of the First ChatGPT Advertisers

• OpenAI approached The Knot due to their prior experimentation with a ChatGPT-integrated app and willingness to test the platform.

  • Jenny Lewis [08:03]:

    "We were honored to be approached to be a part of the ADS pilot...I think because they knew we were tinkering in the space, they knew that we had interest."

• The partnership is firmly in the test-and-learn phase; even The Knot doesn’t yet know what the big advantage will be, but wants to jump in early.

  • Jenny Lewis [09:05]:

    "It's early days, so I don't know that we know yet what the advantage will look like, but we want to be on the front lines to figure that out."

B. Initial Partnership Logistics and Safety Concerns

• Top Considerations:

  1. Brand and user safety, including handling of user data.
  2. Clarity on data and analytics provided by OpenAI.
  3. True partnership, with regular checkpoints—not just a plug-and-play ad buy.
  • Jenny Lewis [11:27]:

    "I think for us, first and foremost was safety...Second, understanding the data that we would be getting back...and then third is just the level of partnership..."

• Deliverables:

  • The Knot provided ad copy and images, mainly adapted from previous campaigns, with copy customized in-house.
    • Jenny Lewis [15:54]:

      "We were able to pull most of the imagery just from, you know, shoots that we've done in the past...And then the copy we customized for through our in house copywriting team."

C. How ChatGPT Ads Look and Behave ([13:25–15:25])

• Appear as standard but visually integrated ad units beneath ChatGPT responses.
• The Knot is using ads to promote its Vendor Marketplace, matching couples with local florists, DJs, photographers, etc.—a behavior already organically happening within LLM-based searches.
  • Jenny Lewis [14:07]:

    "They have a visual that will do it much better justice than what I will attempt to describe...We focused our ad campaigns specifically on Vendor Marketplace..."

D. Data & Metrics

• The Knot began receiving performance insights about the ChatGPT tests very recently, with the lens on learning rather than expecting immediate performance. Data specifics remain confidential.
  • Jenny Lewis [17:03]:

    "We're still taking them in and kind of contextualizing them...Our assumption going into it...it's not that it's going to be like a fully optimized channel out of the gate."

E. Branding vs. Performance: The Knot’s Philosophy ([17:44])

• The Knot treats all campaigns as serving both brand and performance goals, refusing to rigidly separate them.

  • Jenny Lewis [17:44]:

    "Brand is performance and performance is brand...A consumer is not looking at an ad and saying like what a great brand marketing campaign or like, oh, there's a performance campaign, I must click on it."

• Early OpenAI ads are funded through the Knot's test-and-learn budget, a “slush fund” for experimental channels.

  • Jenny Lewis [19:24]:

    "We try and every year carve out a bit of a slush fund that's just reserved for new channels...This tapped into those dollars."

3. The Rise of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and GEO ([24:38–28:04])

• In Jan 2025, The Knot’s SEO team rebranded themselves as “Search Everywhere Optimization," including not just Google but LLM search engines and social search.

• Early lessons in AEO:

  1. Tech Fundamentals: Enable proper crawling/bot access for AI models without compromising proprietary data.
  2. Intent-driven Content: Focus content on answering direct questions—understand, via tools like Profound, what users actually ask.
  3. Content Distribution: Don't limit optimization to your own website—leverage forums, social platforms, reviews (Trustpilot), and press to establish authority and sentiment.

• The Knot's historical investment in search and content positioned the brand well for visibility in AI-driven environments.

  • Jenny Lewis [28:04]:

    "We have built such credibility and authority on Google over such a long period of time...So our visibility out the gate was reasonably strong."

• ChatGPT and similar platforms have changed content marketing from a “front door” (Google) into a world with “no walls":

  • Jenny Lewis [32:46]:

    "Google's the front door and now it's like you have a front door, a side door, a garage door, a back door."

  • Jenny Lewis [32:57]:

    "No walls. You're just in like the middle of a campsite..."

• Help centers and FAQ schemas play an increasingly important role as LLMs crawl and ingest answers to questions.

4. Marketer Takeaways & Budgeting Amid AI Search Disruption

• Budgeting:
  • The Knot’s shift toward social has been driven by consumer behavior rather than just AI search. There hasn’t been a dramatic overhaul in allocations specific to AI so far, but the brand ensures it has budget flexibility for emerging opportunities.
    • Jenny Lewis [34:57]:

      "I'd say as I look at our media budget and allocations overall, we've seen a bit more of a skew towards social than we have in the past...But I wouldn't say that was spurred by AI search necessarily more by consumer behavior at large."

5. The Knot’s ChatGPT App: Early Experiments ([36:02–39:05])

• The Knot released a ChatGPT app so users can pull vendor suggestions directly inside ChatGPT. Marketing around the app is intentionally light, allowing the team to observe organic adoption.

  • Jenny Lewis [37:23]:

    "It's new and like any good beta product, you're not going to do a massive go to market to promote it..."

  • Jenny Lewis [39:05]:

    "What we're really trying to most understand is user adoption and behavior, especially with such light marketing..."

• The team wants to learn how users interact natively and how the app funnels back to The Knot’s main site or app.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the brand’s test-and-learn philosophy:

  • Jenny Lewis [09:05]:

    "We want to be on the front lines to figure that out. And so hopefully this will allow us access to be able to do so and to provide feedback to help shape the product and help OpenAI figure out what's going to be most valuable for marketers and ultimately for customers."

• On AEO and the changing nature of content marketing:

  • Jenny Lewis [28:04]:

    "It is exactly as that executive said, you know, like ensuring, like doing some of the dirty work in understanding, like what are you allowing them to crawl? What do you not want them to crawl..."

  • Jenny Lewis [32:46]:

    "It's like, you know, they used to say, like, Google's the front door and now it's like you have a front door, a side door, a garage door, a back door."

• On search behavior and strategy:

  • Jenny Lewis [24:38]:

    “In probably January 2025, I actually rebranded our internal SEO team for the acronym to stand for Search Everywhere Optimization and broaden their aperture to think beyond just Google.”

• On data transparency challenges in AI search:

  • Jenny Lewis [22:57]:

    "It's hard to tell because of the way the data that we're getting is structured...It's not as straightforward as this ran in an AI spot or this ran in an organic search spot."

Important Timestamps

• 02:03 — Anthropic and OpenAI deals with the Pentagon; ethics and surveillance.
• 04:24 — OpenAI's first ad tech partnership with Criteo and implications for ad inventory.
• 07:29 — Start of Jenny Lewis (CMO, The Knot) interview.
• 08:03 — How The Knot was selected as a ChatGPT ad pilot partner.
• 11:27 — The Knot’s considerations: brand safety, data transparency, partnership structure.
• 13:25 — The first sightings of The Knot ads in ChatGPT and what they look like.
• 14:07 — Explanation of The Knot’s Vendor Marketplace ad focus.
• 17:44 — Discussion on whether ChatGPT ads are performance or brand marketing.
• 24:38 — The Knot’s rebrand of their SEO team to include AI and social search.
• 28:04 — AEO best practices, lessons learned, and importance of diversified digital footprint.
• 32:46 — Analogy of new search environment: “no walls” in digital marketing.
• 37:23 — The Knot’s ChatGPT app: strategy and early stage learnings.
• 39:05 — The Knot’s hopes for learning user behavior from their ChatGPT app.

Conclusion

This episode offers a rare window into the real-time, tactical decision-making by major brands confronted with the generative AI revolution in search and advertising. The Knot’s collaboration with OpenAI exemplifies a nimble, test-and-learn approach, while their experience in AEO gives practical guidance to other marketers. The future of brand building and performance in the age of AI will demand even more experimentation, flexibility, and a keen eye on where consumer attention is heading.

Host’s closing thought: "You all are definitely on the front lines. One of the first brands to advertise on ChatGPT, a brand that was thinking about AEO and GEO in January of 2025..."

Additional Resources

• Profound: Third-party tool mentioned for AEO insights
• Criteo: Ad tech partner for OpenAI’s ChatGPT monetization

(Note: Ads, intro/outro, newsletters not included.)