Google Search is sending far less traffic to publishers (like this one) than it did just a year ago, as AI‑driven results dominate the results page. New data from Chartbeat shows that overall Google Search referrals to publishers fell about 34% year over year, with Google Discover clicks down 15% in the same period.
The impact is uneven across the industry. Small publishers saw search traffic drop by about 60%, mid‑sized outlets by about 47%, and large sites by 22%.
At the same time, AI chatbots send very little traffic to the open web. Chartbeat’s data suggests AI chat referrals still account for less than 1% of publisher page views. Separate research from SEO consultants and platforms like Conductor points to a similar pattern, with AI systems like ChatGPT and Perplexity together driving roughly 1% or less of overall visits for the most tracked sites, per a GSQI report from June 2025.
Last summer, Pew Research Center found that Google Search users tend to engage with “blue links” (normal search results) when AI Overviews are displayed at the top of the page. Only a tiny share of users clicks sources inside those AI summaries, and click‑through rates for the organic listings beneath them also fall.
This change carries real consequences for online publications, as many outlets still rely heavily on search traffic. Google, for its part, says its internal metrics show total organic clicks to websites staying relatively stable; it also claims that Google now offers publications slightly more “quality” clicks that supposedly lead to fewer instant bounces back to search results.
