{"id":185382,"date":"2025-02-06T10:11:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T15:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=185382"},"modified":"2025-03-25T04:53:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T09:53:39","slug":"ai-traffic-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-traffic-study\/","title":{"rendered":"63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000&nbsp;Sites)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"intro-txt\"> We studied the traffic of 3,000 websites to better understand the size and make-up of AI traffic\u2014including how much of it is being sent, the most common referral sources, and how that differs depending on the size of the&nbsp;site.<\/div>\n<p>We analyzed the traffic differences between sites driving greater than 10,000 visitors, between 1,000 and 9,999 visitors, and below 999 visitors per month, across the following seven AI chatbots: ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, Jasper, and Mistral.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">Here are our top findings:<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<ul>\n<li>63% of sites receive AI traffic overall<\/li>\n<li>98% of AI traffic is sent by three chatbots<\/li>\n<li>ChatGPT is the biggest referrer, accounting for 50% of AI traffic<\/li>\n<li>0.17% of the average website\u2019s traffic comes from AI chatbots<\/li>\n<li>The smallest websites get the greatest % of total traffic from&nbsp;AI<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Thanks to our data scientist <a href=\"https:\/\/sg.linkedin.com\/in\/xibeijia-guan\">Xibeijia Guan<\/a> for aggregating all of the data behind this&nbsp;study.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"63% of sites receive AI traffic\" data-section=\"ai-traffic\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-185382-_m295ibpmercv\"><\/a>63% of sites receive AI traffic<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>We analyzed total traffic data from an anonymized sample of 3,000&nbsp;sites.<\/p>\n<p>Across the total sample, 1,900 sites received at least one visit from an AI source.<\/p>\n<p>Looking at it another way, 63% of the sites in our study had at least one visitor arrive via an AI chatbot.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-185409 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/6-ai-traffic-study.png\" alt=\"Donut chart showcasing 63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/6-ai-traffic-study.png 1400w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/6-ai-traffic-study-443x425.png 443w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/6-ai-traffic-study-768x736.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\"><\/p>\n<p>According to the data we can accurately attribute, you have roughly a 2 in 3 chance of receiving a site visit via&nbsp;AI.<\/p>\n<p>This data relies on the referral source being trackable in analytics, but it\u2019s important to note that some AI traffic will pull through as \u201cdirect\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, this data represents just the <strong>visible<\/strong> AI traffic\u2014the minimum amount of AI visitors a website receives.<\/p>\n<p>While there\u2019s surely more to the story, you can still learn a lot about your AI visibility from the data you <em>can<\/em> track.<\/p>\n<p>Monitoring your AI traffic can show you which sources send users your way, which pages on your site act as AI traffic magnets, and how that traffic is changing or growing over&nbsp;time.<\/p>\n<p>Knowing this, you can optimize your AI referral pages and paths, separating pages that drive vanity traffic from those that actually engage or convert.<\/p>\n<p>In my <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/llm-optimization\/\">article on LLM optimization<\/a>, I discovered a few techniques that can help you work your brand into AI answers.<\/p>\n<p>But, I\u2019d also recommend reading the following posts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/ai-optimization-how-to-optimize-your-content-for-ai-search-and-agents-451287\">AI optimization: How to optimize your content for AI search and agents by Jed&nbsp;White<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7289853478934339584\/\">Guide where LLMs crawl [LinkedIn post] by Jes Scholz<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seerinteractive.com\/insights\/what-drives-brand-mentions-in-ai-answers\">What Drives Brand Mentions in AI Answers? By Christina Blake and Nick Haigler<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/decoding-llms-generative-ai-search-results-448630\">Decoding LLMs: How to be visible in generative AI search results by Olaf&nbsp;Kopp<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">Analyze your own AI traffic with Ahrefs Web Analytics<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n<p>You can see your own referral traffic from AI in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/web-analytics\">Ahrefs Web Analytics<\/a> when you link up your site via a snippet of Javascript.<\/p>\n<p>Watch our full tutorial for more&nbsp;info:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<div data-mode=\"normal\" data-oembed=\"1\" data-provider=\"youtube\" id=\"arve-youtube-o49rwqzcino\" style=\"max-width:900px;\" class=\"arve\">\n\t<div class=\"arve-inner\">\n\t\t<div style=\"aspect-ratio:500\/281\" class=\"arve-embed arve-embed--has-aspect-ratio\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"arve-ar\" style=\"padding-top:56.200000%\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t<iframe allow=\"accelerometer 'none';autoplay 'none';bluetooth 'none';browsing-topics 'none';camera 'none';clipboard-read 'none';clipboard-write;display-capture 'none';encrypted-media 'none';gamepad 'none';geolocation 'none';gyroscope 'none';hid 'none';identity-credentials-get 'none';idle-detection 'none';keyboard-map 'none';local-fonts;magnetometer 'none';microphone 'none';midi 'none';otp-credentials 'none';payment 'none';picture-in-picture;publickey-credentials-create 'none';publickey-credentials-get 'none';screen-wake-lock 'none';serial 'none';summarizer 'none';sync-xhr;usb 'none';web-share;window-management 'none';xr-spatial-tracking 'none';\" allowfullscreen class=\"arve-iframe fitvidsignore\" credentialless data-arve=\"arve-youtube-o49rwqzcino\" data-lenis-prevent data-src-no-ap=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/O49RwqZCINo?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"505.8\" loading=\"lazy\" name referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/O49RwqZCINo?feature=oembed&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;autohide=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;autoplay=0\" title=\"How to track AI search traffic in Ahrefs\" width=\"900\"><\/iframe>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"98% of AI traffic is sent by three chatbots\" data-section=\"ai-traffic-distribution\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-185382-_zcx26d8qno2m\"><\/a>98% of AI traffic is sent by three chatbots<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>We studied seven of the most popular AI chatbots, and there was a very clear trinity leading the&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n<p>ChatGPT sent over half of all AI traffic, followed by Perplexity which sent just shy of a third, and then Gemini which referred ~18%.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-185404 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1-ai-traffic-study.png\" alt=\"A graphic showcasing the breakdown of AI chatbot traffic distribution. ChatGPT has 50%, Perplexity has 30.7%., and Gemini has 17.6% share\" width=\"1600\" height=\"548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1-ai-traffic-study.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1-ai-traffic-study-680x233.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1-ai-traffic-study-768x263.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/1-ai-traffic-study-1536x526.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p>The remaining AI chatbots\u2014Claude, Copilot, Mistral, and Jasper\u2014passed on less than 2% of AI traffic between them.<\/p>\n<p>Copilot\u2019s lack of referral traffic surprised me given that it\u2019s connected to the open web, and has real-time retrieval capabilities\u2014not to mention a <a href=\"https:\/\/firstpagesage.com\/reports\/top-generative-ai-chatbots\/\">market share<\/a> that exceeds even Gemini or Perplexity.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s clear that if you want traffic from AI, you need to focus your attention on the \u201cbig three\u201d chatbots driving 98% of AI traffic: ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.<\/p>\n<p>ChatGPT, in particular, should be your main focus, since it drives half of all AI referrals.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"0.17% of the average website's traffic comes from AI chatbots\" data-section=\"ai-traffic-share\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-185382-_m48yuq9s7oek\"><\/a>0.17% of the average website\u2019s traffic comes from AI chatbots<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>As a percentage of average monthly traffic, 0.12% of a site\u2019s views, and 0.17% of its visitors come from&nbsp;AI.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-185405 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/2-ai-traffic-study.png\" alt=\"A table with a row for views and a row for visitors, with a column for overall traffic, and another for AI traffic. Overall traffic views: 143,173 AI traffic views: 175 (0.12%) Overall traffic visitors: 47,034 AI traffic visitors: 81 (0.17%)\" width=\"1600\" height=\"701\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/2-ai-traffic-study.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/2-ai-traffic-study-680x298.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/2-ai-traffic-study-768x336.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/2-ai-traffic-study-1536x673.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p>This aligns with what many other marketers are seeing in early-stage LLM traffic studies\u2026<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_185389\" style=\"width: 699px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7285950308118122496?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A%28urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7285950308118122496%2CFEED_DETAIL%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse%29\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-185389\" class=\"wp-image-185389\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-7.png\" alt=\"A post from Flow Agency Founder, Viola Eva, showing that less than 1% of traffic came from AI, based on her study of 26 B2B SaaS sites.\" width=\"689\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-7.png 689w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-7-680x342.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-7-400x200.png 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 689px) 100vw, 689px\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-185389\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A post from Flow Agency Founder, Viola Eva, showing that less than 1% of traffic came from AI, based on her study of 26 B2B SaaS&nbsp;sites.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_185390\" style=\"width: 637px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7285950308118122496?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A%28urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7285950308118122496%2CFEED_DETAIL%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse%29\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-185390\" class=\"wp-image-185390\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-8.png\" alt=\"A comment from Kevin Indig on Viola Eva's post, revealing he is also seeing minimal amounts of traffic from AI\/LLMs right now.\" width=\"627\" height=\"223\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-185390\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A comment from Kevin Indig on Viola Eva\u2019s post, revealing he is also seeing minimal amounts of traffic from AI\/LLMs right&nbsp;now.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_185391\" style=\"width: 829px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/rdalchow_a-recent-case-study-from-kevin-indig-on-llm-activity-7276886012117540864-Vhwc?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-185391\" class=\"wp-image-185391\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-9.png\" alt=\"R\u00fcdiger Dalchow found that B2B SaaS sites were receiving 0.2% and 1.02% of their traffic from AI.\" width=\"819\" height=\"392\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-9.png 819w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-9-680x325.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-9-768x368.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-185391\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">R\u00fcdiger Dalchow found that B2B SaaS sites were receiving 0.2% and 1.02% of their traffic from&nbsp;AI.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_185392\" style=\"width: 601px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/olafkopp_how-important-is-traffic-from-chatgpt-activity-7251837491308105728-jicZ?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-185392\" class=\"wp-image-185392\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-10.png\" alt=\"Olaf Kopp saw that AI traffic share stood at just 0.57% of total sessions\" width=\"591\" height=\"705\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-10.png 591w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-10-356x425.png 356w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 591px) 100vw, 591px\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-185392\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Olaf Kopp saw that AI traffic share stood at just 0.57% of total sessions<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Your analytics may show similar or even higher AI traffic numbers.<\/p>\n<p>Across all three cohorts, we noticed the top sites picking up roughly 6% of their total traffic from AI, with one site earning as much as&nbsp;18%.<\/p>\n<p>While ~0.17% might seem negligible, true figures are likely north of this, since AI visits can get bundled in with \u201cdirect\u201d traffic.<\/p>\n<p>With these kinds of reporting quirks, finding other ways to attribute your AI traffic and conversions is a&nbsp;must.<\/p>\n<p>One avenue you can go down is setting up qualitative tracking methods like \u201cHow did you hear about us?\u201d forms, to catch what analytics might&nbsp;miss.<\/p>\n<p>For example, we collect qualitative feedback on registration, and to date we\u2019ve seen 14K+ self-attributed new users from ChatGPT.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_185393\" style=\"width: 1124px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/timsoulo_we-got-over-14000-self-attributed-new-activity-7284850555623981056-6Cp3?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-185393\" class=\"wp-image-185393\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-11.jpg\" alt=\"Ahrefs registration feedback data, shared by Tim Soulo, proving AI visits can lead to conversions\" width=\"1114\" height=\"1496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-11.jpg 1114w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-11-316x425.jpg 316w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-11-768x1031.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1114px) 100vw, 1114px\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-185393\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahrefs registration feedback data, shared by Tim Soulo, proving AI visits can lead to conversions<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Now that we\u2019ve analyzed average AI traffic across our entire sample, let\u2019s dig deeper into individual cohorts.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"AI traffic is more important for small websites\" data-section=\"small-websites\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-185382-_qwk028sxtiu6\"><\/a>AI traffic is more important for small websites<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Predictably, the sites earning more visits were also the ones picking up the most AI traffic.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-185406 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/3-ai-traffic-study.png\" alt=\"A table with a row for AI views and a row for AI visitors, with a column for the following cohorts: <999 visitors 7 (0.37%) 4 (0.56%) 1,000 - 9,999 visitors 35 (0.19%) 17 (0.29%) >10,000 visitors 379 (0.09%) 175 (0.13%)\" width=\"1600\" height=\"748\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/3-ai-traffic-study.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/3-ai-traffic-study-680x318.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/3-ai-traffic-study-768x359.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/3-ai-traffic-study-1536x718.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p>One thing marketers and SEOs have noted about AI tools is that they seem to have a penchant for larger brands\u2026<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">\n<p><em>\u201cAI loves mentioning brand names, regardless of whether a brand is included in the prompt. There are some brands that AI can\u2019t stop talking about. This means that as AI usage grows, some brands will have a big marketing head start. Now is the best\/easiest time to become one of these brands because the competition is the sparsest.\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Garrett Sussman,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">Marketing Lead,  <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/monitor-brand-visibility-ai-search-channels-448697\" target=\"_blank\">iPullRank<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">\n<p><em>\u201cIn the future, large brands are likely to hold substantial advantages in search engine rankings and generative AI outputs due to their superior PR and marketing resources.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Olaf Kopp,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">Co-founder,  <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/decoding-llms-generative-ai-search-results-448630\" target=\"_blank\">Aufgesang<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>But our data shows that smaller brands (&lt;999&nbsp; monthly visitors) actually capture more AI traffic as a <strong>percentage<\/strong> of their total traffic.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-185407 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-ai-traffic-study.png\" alt=\"A triple bar chart showing AI traffic as a % of average traffic. The chart shows 6 bars\u20143 for &quot;AI views&quot; and 3 for &quot;AI visitors&quot;. The data shows: <999 Views: 0.37% Visitors: 0.56% 1,000 - 9,999 Views: 0.19% Visitors: 0.29% >10,000 Views: 0.09% Visitors: 0.13%\" width=\"1664\" height=\"1539\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-ai-traffic-study.png 1664w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-ai-traffic-study-460x425.png 460w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-ai-traffic-study-768x710.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/4-ai-traffic-study-1536x1421.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1664px) 100vw, 1664px\"><\/p>\n<p>AI optimization isn\u2019t just for the big&nbsp;dogs.<\/p>\n<p>While smaller sites get minimal traffic from AI tools, proportionally, they pick up more of it\u2014meaning they need to pay just as much attention to their AI referrals.<\/p>\n<p>The data also show a difference in the makeup of AI referral sources across the cohorts.<\/p>\n<p>Sites with fewer visits see less diversity\u2014note how ChatGPT sends a greater proportion of AI traffic to smaller websites than it does to larger ones.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-185442\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AI-traffic-distribution-donut-charts-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"The chart shows 3 separate donut charts, displaying AI traffic distribution by cohort. The data shows: >10,000 cohort ChatGPT 43.4% Perplexity 32.4% Gemini 21.3% Claude 1.1% 1,000 - 9,999 cohort ChatGPT 52.9% Perplexity 30.9% Gemini 16.8% Mistral 0.2% <999 cohort ChatGPT 67.4% Perplexity 24.8% Gemini 7.6%\" width=\"2560\" height=\"972\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AI-traffic-distribution-donut-charts-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AI-traffic-distribution-donut-charts-680x258.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AI-traffic-distribution-donut-charts-768x292.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AI-traffic-distribution-donut-charts-1536x583.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AI-traffic-distribution-donut-charts-2048x778.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\"><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s wise for any site to focus its <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/llm-optimization\/\">AI optimization<\/a> efforts on ChatGPT, but smaller sites in particular need to pay special attention to this source\u2014not only will it send them the most AI traffic, it\u2019s also one of the few chatbots that sends over <strong>visible<\/strong> traffic that\u2019s able to be monitored in analytics tools.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Why we are (probably) underestimating traffic from AI\" data-section=\"underestimating-ai-traffic\">\n<h2><a id=\"post-185382-_gbazepfqu3my\"><\/a>Why we are (probably) underestimating traffic from&nbsp;AI<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>Earlier on, I said I was surprised by Copilot\u2019s lack of AI referral traffic. I mentioned its dominant market share and the fact that it has the ability to cite its sources.<\/p>\n<p>But I was <strong>mostly<\/strong> surprised because I know that Copilot has historically sent over high volumes of referral traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, for instance, Ahrefs was receiving a healthy amount of traffic from Copilot\u2014in fact, it was our second-highest AI referrer.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-185416 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/A-screenshot-of-Ahrefs-Copilot-traffic-in-Ahrefs-Web-Analytics.-The-numbers-are-blurred-out-but-the-visitors-trend-line-which-starts-in-June-shows-a-pronounced-drop-off-in-traffic-in-October-2024.-.png\" alt=\"A GA4 analytics instance also shows a trend line for Copilot traffic (starting from August 2024) which displays a clear decline around October 2024. The real traffic figures on the chart are censored.\" width=\"1598\" height=\"909\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/A-screenshot-of-Ahrefs-Copilot-traffic-in-Ahrefs-Web-Analytics.-The-numbers-are-blurred-out-but-the-visitors-trend-line-which-starts-in-June-shows-a-pronounced-drop-off-in-traffic-in-October-2024.-.png 1598w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/A-screenshot-of-Ahrefs-Copilot-traffic-in-Ahrefs-Web-Analytics.-The-numbers-are-blurred-out-but-the-visitors-trend-line-which-starts-in-June-shows-a-pronounced-drop-off-in-traffic-in-October-2024.--680x387.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/A-screenshot-of-Ahrefs-Copilot-traffic-in-Ahrefs-Web-Analytics.-The-numbers-are-blurred-out-but-the-visitors-trend-line-which-starts-in-June-shows-a-pronounced-drop-off-in-traffic-in-October-2024.--768x437.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/A-screenshot-of-Ahrefs-Copilot-traffic-in-Ahrefs-Web-Analytics.-The-numbers-are-blurred-out-but-the-visitors-trend-line-which-starts-in-June-shows-a-pronounced-drop-off-in-traffic-in-October-2024.--1536x874.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1598px) 100vw, 1598px\"><\/p>\n<p>But our traffic from Copilot started to drop off around Q4 2024. And this drop wasn\u2019t unique to us. I validated the same trend in other companies\u2019 analytics instances.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-185417 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/A-GA4-analytics-instance-also-shows-a-trend-line-for-Copilot-traffic-starting-from-August-2024-which-displays-a-clear-decline-around-October-2024.-The-real-traffic-figures-on-the-chart-are-censored.jpg\" alt=\"A GA4 analytics instance also shows a trend line for Copilot traffic (starting from August 2024) which displays a clear decline around October 2024. The real traffic figures on the chart are censored\" width=\"1600\" height=\"851\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/A-GA4-analytics-instance-also-shows-a-trend-line-for-Copilot-traffic-starting-from-August-2024-which-displays-a-clear-decline-around-October-2024.-The-real-traffic-figures-on-the-chart-are-censored.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/A-GA4-analytics-instance-also-shows-a-trend-line-for-Copilot-traffic-starting-from-August-2024-which-displays-a-clear-decline-around-October-2024.-The-real-traffic-figures-on-the-chart-are-censored-680x362.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/A-GA4-analytics-instance-also-shows-a-trend-line-for-Copilot-traffic-starting-from-August-2024-which-displays-a-clear-decline-around-October-2024.-The-real-traffic-figures-on-the-chart-are-censored-768x408.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/A-GA4-analytics-instance-also-shows-a-trend-line-for-Copilot-traffic-starting-from-August-2024-which-displays-a-clear-decline-around-October-2024.-The-real-traffic-figures-on-the-chart-are-censored-1536x817.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/p>\n<p>Since roughly October, it\u2019s possible Copilot has been holding back referrer information.<\/p>\n<p>I ran a very small-scale test to find out how Copilot traffic is getting reported in Ahrefs Web Analytics today, as it no longer seems to be coming from the original source:<\/p>\n<pre>copilot.microsoft.com.<\/pre>\n<p>From the Copilot chatbot, I engineered a prompt that would allow me to navigate to an obscure page on the Ahrefs site\u2014one that hadn\u2019t received any traffic on the day of testing.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-185401\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-19.png\" alt=\"A screenshot of a query in copilot reading &quot;Who is sam underwood at ahrefs?&quot;. Copilot responds with a description about sam underwood, a guest writer at Ahrefs, and links through to an author profile on the Ahrefs site.\" width=\"1098\" height=\"674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-19.png 1098w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-19-680x417.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-19-768x471.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1098px) 100vw, 1098px\"><\/p>\n<p>Then I viewed the traffic report in Ahrefs immediately after.<\/p>\n<p>I was able to do this because Ahrefs\u2019 Web Analytics tracks real-time data, meaning I could instantly see website visitors within 1 minute of an&nbsp;event.<\/p>\n<p>The source of the visit showed up as \u201cDirect\u201d (see&nbsp;below).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-185402\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-20.png\" alt=\"A screenshot of Ahrefs Web Analytics. A page filter has been added for the author profile of sam underwood, and the data shows &quot;1 unique visitors&quot;. An arrow on the screenshot points to the traffic source, which reads &quot;Direct\/None&quot;\" width=\"942\" height=\"866\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-20.png 942w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-20-462x425.png 462w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-20-768x706.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 942px) 100vw, 942px\"><\/p>\n<p>I repeated this same test a few times, and in all cases, the visit registered as \u201cDirect\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>This aligns with what we\u2019d expect to see from websites that don\u2019t pass on referrer information, according to Patrick Stox.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">\u201cWebsites <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.mozilla.org\/en-US\/docs\/Web\/HTTP\/Headers\/Referrer-Policy\">have control over what info they send<\/a>. They can send the full path, just the origin, or nothing\u2014it\u2019s up to them. We report whatever referrer we\u2019re told to report. If they don\u2019t send us one, then it would go in the \u2018Direct\u2019 bucket.\u201d<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Patrick Stox\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/patrick-stox.jpeg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Patrick Stox,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">Product Advisor, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ahrefs.com\" target=\"_blank\">Ahrefs<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>Patrick also points out that this might not be a strategic move by Copilot, but rather a mistake.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">\u201cSometimes it\u2019s a mistake. There was a time when the Google app on mobile stripped the referrer, for example.\u201d<\/div><div class=\"quote-info clearfix\"><div class=\"quote-photo\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Patrick Stox\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/patrick-stox.jpeg\"><\/div><div class=\"extra-box\"><span class=\"quote-author\">Patrick Stox,<\/span> <span class=\"quote-author-job\">Product Advisor, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ahrefs.com\" target=\"_blank\">Ahrefs<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n<p>I did the same check on Mistral and Jasper, and found that their AI referral traffic also pulls through as \u201cdirect\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The implication of this is AI traffic is likely being <strong>vastly underestimated<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>And if AI traffic is being underestimated, you can be sure AI conversions are too\u2014particularly since converting users don\u2019t always click through from&nbsp;AI.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_185403\" style=\"width: 671px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/posts\/otsokarvinen_this-is-happening-in-seo-right-now-people-activity-7289537695654064129-3y9d?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-185403\" class=\"wp-image-185403\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-21.png\" alt=\"Otso Karvinen asserts that AI users don't always click directly from AI tools through to websites, and that visits may happen at a later date.\" width=\"661\" height=\"648\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-21.png 661w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/word-image-185382-21-434x425.png 434w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 661px) 100vw, 661px\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-185403\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Otso Karvinen asserts that AI users don\u2019t always click directly from AI tools through to websites, and that visits may happen at a later&nbsp;date.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>AI tools really come into their own when driving brand awareness. While it\u2019s still possible to convert users from AI, that doesn\u2019t always happen in one neatly packaged conversion journey.<\/p>\n<p>Knowing the limitations in tracking AI traffic and conversions is crucial if you\u2019re setting campaign expectations or reporting results to clients and stakeholders.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"post-185382-_qivxoza9mm6\"><\/a>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>You can use the data in this study to benchmark your own AI traffic and manage expectations.<\/p>\n<p>While you shouldn\u2019t expect tons of AI visits right now, your AI traffic is likely to be greater than your analytics is able to&nbsp;show.<\/p>\n<p>With that in mind, keep an eye on your \u201cdirect\u201d traffic. If platforms like Copilot are holding back referrer information, interesting things might be hiding in&nbsp;there.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, pay attention to direct traffic spikes for individual pages\u2014this might just be a sign that untraceable AI sources are referencing that content.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve learnt that larger sites get more traffic from AI\u2014but if your site is small, your AI referrals are going to account for a larger share of your total traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Find and optimize your most-cited content, create more of it, then focus on incremental gains from ChatGPT.<\/p>\n<p>If you found this study interesting, check back on the blog for more AI traffic research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We analyzed the traffic differences between sites driving greater than 10,000 visitors, between 1,000 and 9,999 visitors, and below 999 visitors per month, across the following seven AI chatbots: ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, Jasper, and Mistral. Thanks to our<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[414],"tags":[],"coauthors":[464,467],"class_list":["post-185382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-data-studies","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000 Sites)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We studied 3,000 sites to work out how much traffic you should expect from AI, and which chatbots are the most generous AI referrers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-traffic-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000 Sites)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We studied 3,000 sites to work out how much traffic you should expect from AI, and which chatbots are the most generous AI referrers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/ai-traffic-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-06T15:11:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-25T09:53:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/6-ai-traffic-study.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1342\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Louise Linehan, Xibeijia Guan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ahrefs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ahrefs\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/ai-traffic-study\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/ai-traffic-study\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Louise Linehan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/444b3643c35b16b94b763446c5562388\"},\"headline\":\"63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic (New Study of 3,000&nbsp;Sites)\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-06T15:11:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-25T09:53:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/ai-traffic-study\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2103,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/ai-traffic-study\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/63-of-websites-receive-ai-traffic-by-louise-linehan-data-studies.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Data &amp; 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