What to know

  • ChatGPT is sending more referral traffic to news websites.
  • The growth in ChatGPT referrals is not enough to offset the decline in search engine traffic.
  • News publishers are still seeing an overall drop in visitors from digital sources.
  • This trend is causing concern for the future of online news revenue.

News publishers are noticing that ChatGPT is sending more users to their websites. The increase in referrals comes as more people use AI chatbots to find information online. However, this growth is not large enough to balance out the sharp decline in traffic from traditional search engines like Google.

Many news sites have relied on search engines for a significant portion of their web traffic. As search referrals drop, these publishers are seeing fewer visitors overall. Even though ChatGPT is becoming a more common way for people to discover news, the total number of visitors coming from AI chatbots remains much smaller than those lost from search engines.

This shift is raising concerns among publishers about the future of their online business. Lower traffic can mean less advertising revenue and fewer subscribers. News organizations are now looking for new ways to reach readers and maintain their digital presence as the way people find news continues to change.