SMB websites see rising traffic from ChatGPT and other AI engines

As generative AI continues to shape website performance, much of the conversation has focused on its negative impact.

Factors like AI Overviews, increased zero-click searches, and a growing demographic that turns to ChatGPT instead of traditional research methods may all play a role.

While these shifts raise concerns, it’s equally important to examine the traffic these AI engines are driving to websites.

To better understand this, we analyzed traffic data from 391 SMB websites, breaking them down by industry and AI search engine referrals.

Our goal was to see exactly how much traffic these companies were getting – and whether it was significant enough yet to warrant a strategic pivot. 

Key takeaways

Our analysis of traffic data from 391 SMB websites revealed some interesting insights about how generative AI is contributing to visits. 

Key points from this study include:

• Consistent growth in ChatGPT referrals over the last six months. While other AI engines fluctuate month to month, ChatGPT has been up 123% since September and has consistently been the largest referrer.
• Notable increases in AI referral traffic relative to organic traffic over the past six months.
• Industry-specific differences in AI referral traffic patterns. Travel and finance websites see higher AI referral volumes from ChatGPT, while Perplexity and Gemini play more significant roles in health and ecommerce.

Referral traffic from generative AI is on the rise

One significant insight from studying this data is the clear increase in the amount of referral traffic websites are receiving. 

Between September 2024 and February 2025, referral traffic from generative AI rose by 123%.

Comparing this to overall organic traffic highlights why this trend is worth monitoring.

Six months ago, AI referral traffic amounted to 0.54% of organic traffic. 

Today, that ratio is 1.24% of organic traffic. 

This means the share of AI traffic to organic traffic has increased by 130% in the last six months. 

While the share is still relatively small, the pace at which it is growing warrants attention. 

It’s also important to note that organic traffic remained relatively constant during this time. 

Dig deeper: Google Search is 373x bigger than ChatGPT search

Referral traffic trends over time

While overall AI traffic has clearly increased recently, the consistency of referral traffic growth fluctuates depending on the AI engine. 

• ChatGPT has consistently provided more referral traffic month over month for the last six months. 
• Perplexity and Bing (edgeservices) fluctuate wildly month over month.
• Gemini remains flat most months while jumping up every once in a while. 

Despite these fluctuations, ChatGPT has consistently been the largest source of AI referral traffic, incrementally adding an average of 21% more traffic each month.

Industry fluctuations

ChatGPT consistently drives the most AI referral traffic across all industries.

However, as AI referral traffic continues to grow, other platforms like Perplexity and Gemini are also contributing meaningfully.

When examining traffic by industry, notable differences emerge. 

Travel and finance websites receive the highest ratio of AI referral traffic from ChatGPT. 

Meanwhile, Perplexity accounts for nearly 20% of AI traffic to health and ecommerce websites, with Gemini also contributing a notable share to ecommerce.

These patterns raise important questions about user behavior and how AI search engines manage citations and referrals:

• Do different demographics prefer certain AI search engines?
• How does conversational search behavior vary when users inquire about specific industries?
• Why does Gemini refer so little traffic to travel sites but a substantial amount to ecommerce? Could this reveal insights into how AI Overviews prioritize industries?

Next steps

As AI and search evolve, new questions will likely emerge alongside new insights. The impact of AI search engines on website traffic will continue to shift, requiring businesses to stay adaptable.

One key consideration is identifying the threshold at which investing in AI-specific optimization becomes worthwhile. While traditional SEO tactics and AI citation strategies often overlap, they are not identical.

For SMBs, balancing these priorities can be challenging given limited resources. Agencies, therefore, play a crucial role in staying informed and guiding businesses through these changes. 

As AI platforms continue to evolve, ongoing monitoring and strategic pivots will be essential to ensure businesses can benefit from AI-driven traffic – not just mitigate its potential downsides.

About the data

This analysis is based on data from 391 SMB websites, segmented by industry and tracked via Google Analytics to measure AI referral traffic specifically. 

The study focused on the past six months, when referral traffic grew significantly.

Only industries with statistically significant data were included, and only prominent AI search engines were highlighted. 

Engines that referred some traffic but lacked sufficient data for confident reporting include (in order of volume) Jobright AI, Blackbox AI, Allfree AI, and Careerflow AI.

Dig deeper: AI search engines often make up citations and answers: Study