Triple Whale Acquires Anteater: A Strategic Move to Dominate EC Visibility in the AI Search Era

Triple Whale's First Acquisition Strengthens AI Search Analytics

Triple Whale Acquires Anteater to Expand AI-Powered Commerce Intelligence

Triple Whale, the complete intelligence platform used by more than 50,000 ecommerce and retail brands, today announced it has completed their first acquisition.

On January 20, 2026, Triple Whale, provider of an intelligence platform for e-commerce, announced its acquisition of AI search visibility platform Anteater. This marks Triple Whale's first corporate acquisition since founding and represents a strategic move into the AI-driven commerce intelligence space.

Triple Whale is currently used by over 50,000 e-commerce and retail brands, has raised a cumulative $52.7 million in funding, and reached annual revenue of $21.6 million as of June 2025.

Triple Whale co-founder Maxx Blank commented: "AI visibility is still in its early stages, but its growth is accelerating rapidly, and we see a clear path for it to become a critical layer in the e-commerce funnel in 2026."

Consumer Purchasing Behavior Shifts to AI Search

Behind this acquisition lies a dramatic change in how consumers discover products.

Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity are emerging as new information sources replacing traditional search engines. According to Business of Fashion, shopping-related generative AI searches grew 4,700% from July 2024 to July 2025.

Even more notable is the remarkable growth shown by Triple Whale's internal data. Merchants on the platform recorded over 424,000 orders from direct LLM referrals in Q4 2025 alone. Compared to approximately 7,000 orders for all of 2024, this represents explosive 60x year-over-year growth.

OpenAI also released shopping research features in November 2025, evolving ChatGPT into a "personal shopping assistant." Adobe Analytics research reports that traffic to retail sites from ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity increased approximately 700% year-over-year during the 2025 holiday season.

Consumer purchasing behavior is also changing, with survey results showing 41% trust AI search results more than traditional advertising, and 48% use AI in purchase decision-making.

Anteater's Features and Integration with Triple Whale

What is Anteater?

Anteater is a specialized platform that visualizes how LLMs display and recommend brands and products. Key features include:

Monitors eight major AI platforms across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI, and Google AI Overviews.

Analyzes thousands of consumer-style prompts to identify when brands are mentioned, which sources are cited, and competitive ranking comparisons.

Tracks positive, negative, and neutral sentiment toward brands across each AI model, with competitor comparisons.

Identifies information sources that AI models trust and compares your site's citation frequency with competitors to clarify where influence lies.

Integration Plans with Triple Whale

Over the coming weeks, Anteater will be deeply integrated into Triple Whale's platform. Post-integration, the following features are planned:

• Visibility Scoring: Quantifies your brand's exposure in AI search
• Citation Tracking: Continuous monitoring of sources AI references
• Moby Recommendations: Triple Whale's AI agent "Moby" will suggest specific actions to improve AI visibility

Moby AI is an AI agent system with a conversational interface that allows natural language data queries, providing actionable insights including creative fatigue diagnosis, customer retention optimization, and budget allocation automation. With Anteater integration, Moby will also be able to automatically provide AI search visibility improvement recommendations.

Impact on E-commerce Operators: The New Territory of AI Engine Optimization (AEO)

1. AI Search as a New Marketing Channel

AI search is establishing itself as the "third discovery channel" after SEO and advertising. According to Semrush, "AI Engine Optimization (AEO)" is predicted to become a critical marketing initiative in 2026.

While traditional search engines return links and ads, LLMs generate direct answers. This difference fundamentally changes how brands gain exposure. When searching "recommended running shoes," Google displays 10 links, but ChatGPT returns an answer including specific brand names and reasons.

2. Actions to Take Now

AI models preferentially reference structured data. It's important to organize product specs, reviews, and FAQs and publish them in machine-readable formats (such as Schema.org).

AI emphasizes reliable third-party information. Amazon reviews, Reddit, and industry forum mentions influence LLM responses, making reputation management on these platforms necessary.

Understanding "how your brand appears in AI search" is the starting point. Utilize tools like Anteater and Triple Whale's integrated features for regular monitoring.

3. Tailwind for Shopify Merchants

Through the OpenAI-Shopify partnership, instant checkout within ChatGPT has been realized. Shopify merchants can display products on ChatGPT at no additional cost, with only a small fee charged when purchases occur. A new purchasing pathway is emerging where discovery through AI search leads directly to purchase.

Summary: Visibility That Determines E-commerce Competitiveness in the AI Search Era

Triple Whale's acquisition of Anteater symbolizes that the definition of "discovery" in e-commerce is changing.

Beyond traditional SEO and advertising operations, securing visibility in AI search will determine future competitiveness. Particularly noteworthy is that Triple Whale aims to be the only platform that "connects AI visibility with actual revenue outcomes."

The 60x year-over-year increase in LLM-driven orders in Q4 2025 indicates that this change has already begun. For e-commerce operators, AI search optimization is no longer a "future challenge" but a "current priority."

As Ridge CEO Sean Frank stated in Business of Fashion: "This will be the biggest change in e-commerce since the mobile phone"—words that succinctly express the importance of this turning point.