How does customer matching work, and what data is used?

Customer matching helps improve the connection between an order recorded in your shop and an interaction with a ChatGPT ad. It is particularly useful when a click reference alone cannot attribute a conversion.

This option is optional and disabled by default. Enable it only if you have obtained the required consent for the relevant orders.

Data used for matching

When the option is enabled, the module can include, for orders with the required consent:

• the SHA-256 hash of the customer’s email address;
• the SHA-256 hash of the customer ID specific to your shop.

Plain-text contact details are never sent through this option. The module sends only the hashes calculated from the relevant data.

How the hashes are used

The hashes allow OpenAI to match a conversion event with available measurement signals without sending the email address or customer ID in a readable format.

OpenAI states that identifiers used to improve matching must be normalized before they are hashed. For an email address, the value is converted to lowercase and leading and trailing spaces are removed before the SHA-256 hash is calculated.

Improved matching may improve conversion attribution and the quality of the results available in OpenAI Ads Manager. However, it does not guarantee that an order will be attributed to an ad.

Consent and enabling the option

The module includes matching data only for orders that have the required consent. If consent is not granted, the hashes of the email address and customer ID must not be sent for that order.

Before enabling this option, check that your consent collection mechanism is appropriate for your shop and the rules that apply to your business. Hashing does not remove your obligations regarding visitor information and personal data processing.

To learn more about the impact of consent on tracking, see our FAQ How does user consent affect event tracking?.

Do not confuse customer matching with a custom audience

This option is used to improve the measurement of conversions linked to orders in your shop. It is not the same as importing a customer list to create or target an audience in OpenAI Ads Manager.

Customer matching is used with event tracking and the Conversions API. To understand how server-side event delivery works, see our FAQ What is the Conversions API used for, and how does it work?.

For details about accepted matching data and its normalization, refer to the official OpenAI Ads Conversions API documentation and the Conversion Measurement documentation.