AI Brand Recommendations Drive 2.5x More Website Visits

When people receive a brand recommendation from ChatGPT, they are significantly more likely to visit that brand’s website within the next week. That is the central finding of a new analysis from Similarweb, which reveals that AI-powered recommendations can drive a 2.5x higher likelihood of a site visit compared to brands that are not suggested by the tool.

The study tracked users who were given a ChatGPT recommendation for a specific brand and then checked whether those users subsequently visited the brand’s website. Among those who did, 55.9% of the traffic came through branded searches , meaning users actively looked up the recommended brand by name after receiving the AI suggestion. This behavior underscores how AI tools are increasingly influencing traditional search behavior.

Once on the site, visitors who arrived via a ChatGPT-influenced search tended to be more engaged. They viewed an average of 12 pages and spent roughly 11.8 minutes on the site. In contrast, visitors who found the site through other means viewed only 6.5 pages and stayed for about 5.6 minutes. However, Similarweb cautions that the data shows a correlation, not proof that AI directly caused longer visits.

The pattern suggests that AI recommendations and organic search results are working in tandem. When a user searches for a brand after ChatGPT suggests it, that is a clear signal that businesses still need to own their branded search results. If a competitor ad or reseller page appears instead, the potential visit could be lost.

This finding aligns with a January analysis from SparkToro, in which Rand Fishkin demonstrated that AI tools can return different recommended brands for the same query when repeated. Fishkin contributed insights to the Similarweb report. Taken together, these findings indicate that AI visibility is an unpredictable factor for marketers to plan around, since recommendations can shift so frequently.

The report also echoes earlier coverage from last fall, which noted that branded search traffic was rising for some sites even as AI Overviews reduced other types of clicks. Similarweb’s data offers a plausible explanation: AI tools may be driving some of those branded searches.

The broader takeaway is that SEO remains essential. If AI is prompting more people to search for your brand by name, your branded search results become the critical gateway. They determine whether that visit lands on your site or is intercepted by a reseller, a comparison page, or a competitor’s ad.

For now, the data is limited to US desktop activity and covers the finance, travel, and beauty industries. Similarweb plans to expand the research to include mobile behavior and additional business categories in the future.