# Amazon Ads vs Walmart Connect: which do AI models recommend for retail media, October 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Retail media platforms. Six of fourteen models named Amazon Ads first on the direct prompt; three named Walmart Connect. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/marketing/retail-media-platforms/amazon-ads-vs-walmart-connect/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Ads | 33% | #1 of 9 | 2% | 43 | 14 of 14 |
| Walmart Connect | 16% | #2 of 9 | 18% | 56 | 14 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Mistral Small: both first (first choices: Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect) (alternatives: Pacvue, Quartile)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: both first (first choices: Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect) (alternatives: Criteo, Target Roundel, Teikametrics)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: amazon ads first (first choices: Amazon Ads) (alternatives: Walmart Connect)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: amazon ads first (first choices: Amazon Ads) (alternatives: AdLib, Microsoft Advertising, Walmart Connect)
- MiniMax M2.5: amazon ads first (first choices: Amazon Ads) (alternatives: Best Buy Ads, Criteo Commerce Media Platform, Walmart Connect)
- GPT-6 Luna: amazon ads first (first choices: Amazon Ads) (alternatives: Pacvue)
- GPT-5.4 mini: walmart connect first (first choices: Walmart Connect) (alternatives: Amazon Ads, Criteo, Pacvue)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Faire, Google Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager) (alternatives: Amazon Ads, Walmart Connect)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named (first choices: Demandbase, StackAdapt) (alternatives: Amazon, Home Depot's retail media network)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: Pacvue) (alternatives: CitrusAd, Kevel, Mirakl Ads, Skai)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: StackAdapt) (alternatives: Criteo Retail Media)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Microsoft Advertising) (alternatives: Amazon Business Ads, Criteo, Google Ads, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Moloco Retail Media Platform)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither named (first choices: Criteo, Mirakl Ads) (alternatives: Moloco Retail Media Platform, Osmos)

## What the models said about Amazon Ads

- "Start with Amazon Ads if your B2B products appear on Amazon ... it has the broadest tools, mid-market accessibility, and some B2B extensions." (Grok 4.1 Fast, direct prompt, first choice)
- "Amazon Ads (including Amazon Business and the DSP) is the most practical "best-fit" retail-media platform for most mid-market B2B companies." (MiniMax M2.5, direct prompt, first choice)
- "Amazon remains the default for many brands due to its scale, mature tools, and proven performance. However, it can be competitive and expensive." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, comparative prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Walmart Connect

- "Avoid pure retail media platforms (like standard Amazon Ads or Walmart Connect)" (Kimi K2, direct prompt, hard negative)
- "While platforms like Walmart Connect and Instacart Ads are popular, they are not always the most cost-effective and may require significant investment for smaller teams" (Mistral Small, negative prompt, soft negative)
- "Platforms like Amazon Advertising, Walmart Connect, Target Roundel, and similar retail media networks focus on: Consumer shopping behavior" (Claude Haiku 4.5, paraphrase prompt, soft negative)
- "start with Walmart Connect if you want the best balance of scale, self-service accessibility, and retail-media maturity for a mid-market team" (GPT-5.4 mini, direct prompt, first choice)
- "The best retail media advertising platform for a company with a limited budget is Amazon Advertising or Walmart Connect." (Llama 4 Maverick, budget prompt, first choice)
- "For the smallest budgets, Walmart Connect is typically the best starting point due to lower costs and competition." (MiniMax M2.5, budget prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.