It is endemic to Ecuador and as currently understood, only known with certainty from its type locality, Mount Mirador near the border between Carchi and Sucumbíos Provinces.

[2][3][4] Records from elsewhere (e.g., IUCN Red List[1]) represent other species, including Pristimantis lutzae.

[3] The specific name riveti honors Paul Rivet, French physician[5] who collected the holotype.

[3] There are distinctive big white irregular blotches dispersed over the dorsal surface.

[4] Pristimantis riveti occurs in páramo habitats on the ground or low in vegetation (Cortaderia and terrestrial bromeliads).