Ahrefs: ChatGPT vs Google Referral Traffic Compared
▼ Summary
– Ahrefs released a public dashboard tracking referral traffic from Google Search versus ChatGPT, with monthly updates covering 44,421 sites.
– In July, Google drove 41.9% of total web traffic across the cohort while ChatGPT drove only 0.19%.
– ChatGPT grew 5.3% month-over-month in July versus Google’s 1.4% growth, showing AI-powered search is evolving rapidly.
– The data only includes sites appearing in all months for comparability and may undercount AI traffic due to referrer stripping.
– While Google still dominates, ChatGPT represents an emerging traffic channel that can be monitored with real data over time.
A new public dashboard from Ahrefs offers a monthly comparison of referral traffic from Google Search and ChatGPT across thousands of websites. This tool provides a clear look at how these two sources stack up against each other, offering valuable insights for marketers and site owners tracking evolving search trends.
The initial dataset spans three full months and includes 44,421 websites that use Ahrefs’ free Web Analytics tool. This carefully selected sample ensures consistency and reliability in the month-to-month comparisons.
During July, Google accounted for 41.9% of total web traffic within the group, while ChatGPT contributed just 0.19%. While Google’s share is undeniably dominant, the growth rates tell a more dynamic story. Last month, Google’s traffic increased by 1.4%, while ChatGPT saw a 5.3% rise. Interestingly, the previous month showed an opposite pattern, with Google growing 6.8% and ChatGPT increasing by 1.6%. These fluctuations highlight that growth rates can shift significantly from one month to the next, even as Google maintains a vastly larger overall share.
According to the dashboard, ChatGPT is growing 3.8 times faster than Google. With a 5.3% monthly growth rate compared to Google’s 1.4% in the most recent period, it’s clear that AI-powered search is expanding rapidly. Perhaps more importantly, ChatGPT now sends measurable referral traffic to websites, a channel that simply didn’t exist two years ago.
To ensure accuracy and comparability over time, the tracker only includes sites that appear in every month of the analysis. This approach guarantees that growth metrics are both statistically significant and reliable. The dashboard is updated monthly, with a clear timestamp indicating the latest refresh.
It’s important to note a key limitation: the dashboard only measures traffic that includes a referrer. Some AI platforms and in-app browsers strip referrer information, which means visits originating from AI tools may be undercounted. Ahrefs has previously highlighted this blind spot in analytics when measuring traffic from AI assistants and Google’s AI Overviews. This should be kept in mind when comparing AI-driven visits to traditional search traffic.
Additionally, the scope of the data is limited to sites using Ahrefs Web Analytics. Earlier research from Ahrefs using different samples estimated AI referrals at around 0.17% of a typical site’s traffic, which aligns closely with the 0.19% shown in this dashboard.
Looking forward, Google remains the overwhelming leader in referral traffic, and that shouldn’t be overlooked. At the same time, ChatGPT’s growth in July points to an emerging channel that deserves attention. By monitoring both trends over time, website owners can make informed decisions about where to focus testing and optimization efforts.
(Source: Search Engine Journal)
One Comment