AI Referrals to News Sites Skyrocket 770% as Search Landscape Shifts
In that month, AI sources delivered 1.13 billion visits to the top 1,000 websites globally.
AI-driven platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity now send massive traffic to media sites—with referrals surging 770% year-over-year in June, according to Similarweb data.
In that month, AI sources delivered 1.13 billion visits to the top 1,000 websites globally, marking a 357% increase compared to June 2024. ChatGPT alone generated over 80% of all AI referrals to these domains.
Still, Google continues to dominate—accounting for 191 billion referrals in the same period, nearly 170 times more traffic than AI-driven channels.
News publishers face a growing “Google Zero” crisis where AI-generated summaries in search results reduce click-through rates. A Pew Research Center study found that when search results include AI Overviews, users clicked linked content only 8% of the time, compared to 15% when no AI summary appeared.
Top recipients of AI referrals include Yahoo (2.3 million), Yahoo Japan (1.9 million), Reuters (1.8 million), The Guardian (1.7 million), India Times (1.2million), and Business Insider (1 million).
Despite these gains, many outlets report overall drops in search-based traffic, highlighting the urgent need for new visibility strategies.
Publishers are now exploring alternative user acquisition models—including direct audience engagement, paid subscriptions, and licensing deals. Meanwhile, Google has introduced features like Offerwall to enable monetization amid declines in click-based referrals.
