AI-driven referral traffic to ecommerce sites is reshaping competitive dynamics among large language models. In July 2026 alone, AI-associated referral traffic to ecommerce sites rose by 62% year over year, and shoppers referred by AI tools generated 53% more revenue per visit than other shoppers (Digital Commerce 360 - AI). OpenAI's ChatGPT, previously dominant, saw the number of retailers relying on it as their top AI traffic source drop from 844 in Q1 to 722 in Q2 (Digital Commerce 360 - AI).
Anthropic's Claude emerged as the fastest-growing platform, climbing from just one retailer in Q1 to 15 in Q2 (Digital Commerce 360 - AI). Google Gemini also gained ground, doubling from 16 retailers to 32, while Perplexity added 12 retailers as a top traffic source (Digital Commerce 360 - AI). For commerce practitioners, this fragmentation means investment in AI shopping features must now span multiple platforms rather than betting on a single LLM.
Claude's rise coincides with Anthropic's expanded commerce strategy, including product cards for shoppable recommendations and a partnership with Salesforce to create Claudeforce (Digital Commerce 360 - AI). If Claude's growth trajectory continues, it could rival ChatGPT and Gemini as a top referral source within eight quarters, forcing retailers to diversify their AI commerce investments.