Though still <1% of total traffic, it’s now our highest converting channel at 10%+ CVR (going by our new custom event tracking in Web Analytics).
I wanted to see if other sites were experiencing any AI traffic growth–especially now that zero-click search has taken hold.
We decided to update the findings of our March AI traffic research while we were at it.
With the help of Xibeijia, Ahrefs’ awesome data scientist, we’ve analyzed 81,947 sites (up from ~35K sites in March), to understand more about AI traffic today.
AIO/AIM traffic currently gets tracked as “Search” traffic in site analytics tools. In the words of Patrick Stox, these features are not “broken out in a way that can be reliably tracked.”
In other words, we can’t yet filter between “traditional search” and “AI search”. So, while we have compared “search traffic” and ”AI traffic” in this study, some of that “search traffic” will technically be driven by AI features.
Despite what we’ve seen in Ahrefs data, average AI traffic doesn’t seem to have grown much over the last few months. We saw a peak in April, but May and June figures dipped again.
AI traffic now represents 0.25% of a site’s total traffic, on average. It’s still a drop in the ocean, but as we’ve acknowledged before, it’s likely AI referral traffic is at least somewhat underestimated.
Sidenote.
Bear in mind that this isn’t a perfect like-for-like comparison with our March study, as the dataset size has increased.
Google sends a whopping 210x more traffic than the “Big three” AI platforms–though the gap has narrowed since March, when Google sent 345x more traffic.
But what immediately jumped out at me from this latest data capture was ChatGPT’s growth.
In our previous study, Reddit was out-referring all three major AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini) combined.
Now, ChatGPT alone sends out marginally more traffic than Reddit (+0.05%) and LinkedIn (+0.06%).
The bar isn’t exactly high here. Reddit and LinkedIn are famously zero-click platforms, designed to disincentivize off-site visits. But it shows clear growth, nonetheless.
And it doesn’t end there.
ChatGPT has driven AI traffic growth almost single-handedly, growing 85% since January.
It has further cemented its status as the top AI referrer–sending >80% of AI traffic–up ~30% since our last study.
The “big three” AI traffic referrers have also changed since we last looked–Copilot is back in business following a referral outage, and now sends on more AI traffic than Gemini.
In all, this new trio refer 0.19% of a site’s total traffic on average (up from 0.12% in March).
Wrapping up
AI traffic is still marginal–nothing has changed there–but the makeup of that traffic is shifting, and we’ve witnessed some moderate growth.
While it has levelled out for now, I’m confident there’s still more to come.
As search clicks decline, AI clicks are on the up–but as I’ve said before, AI is never going to be a significant source of traffic for most sites.
And there isn’t a world where AI traffic will replace the traffic we’ve enjoyed from search.
The MO of any AI platform is to answer a user’s questions natively, after all.
So, overlook search at your peril…
In the words of Glenn Gabe:
“I think site owners run the risk of missing the forest for the trees by heavily focusing on AI search right now and ignoring Google Search…the fact of the matter is that Google still drives the most traffic to sites by a mile.”
Of course, AI is not just about traffic–it drives brand awareness, and can hand over more informed users.
But we all need to weigh AI’s value to us, individually, and be strategic about how we allocate our resources to it.
If you choose to actively pursue AI traffic, our data shows that ChatGPT is the platform to focus on.
We’ve only just released conversion tracking in Ahrefs Web Analytics, but as soon as we have enough data, I’m hoping to dig into AI conversions.
Until then, we’ll keep tracking the trends and sharing what we find.
Further reading
Similar Posts
Digital Marketing Analytics Made Simple With This Free AI Tool
Digital marketing analytics helps you understand which of your marketing tactics work and which don’t. The more you know about the effects of your efforts, the better you can allocate your time and budget. Basic digital marketing analytics is easier than it sounds and provides enough information to evaluate your performance, create reports, and plan…
The Long-Form Content Illusion: Why Longer Content Isn’t Better
You’re looking for this article because you think long-form content works right? Or at least that’s what you’ve heard from many marketers. You might even have seen it for yourself. You’re trying to make a simple pasta dish (like aglio e olio) but you have to scroll through a piece that’s thousands of words long,…
What Are the Parts of a Domain Name, and What Do They Do? A Clear Guide to Knowing It All
Aristotle once said, ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” But it’s the parts of a domain name we care about. Learn about them in our guide. Even if technology isn’t your jam, you probably know how to find a particular website: you type the company name into your browser, plus a…
My Favorite Wayback Machine Alternatives
The internet never forgets… unless the page vanishes, the site goes offline, or the content quietly changes overnight. That’s where web archiving tools come in. They allow you to access saved versions of web pages, even if they get taken offline. The Wayback Machine is the best-known option, but it isn’t perfect—it’s slow, sometimes misses…
The 50 Fastest-Growing Companies (January 2025)
We’ve analyzed 2,500 startups to identify the fastest-growing companies in search over the last year. 2024 was an especially challenging year for startups. Investors exerted extra caution in the face of inflation and rising interest rates, leading to a 26% decline in funding compared to 2023. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Sectors like AI and…
