Despite growing concerns that generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are cannibalizing traffic to news websites, fresh data suggests the opposite may be true.
A new report by TechCrunch, citing web analytics firm Similarweb, shows that referrals from AI platforms to news and media websites have soared by 770% since June 2024. In June 2025 alone, AI tools directed over 1.13 billion visits to the world’s top 1,000 websites — a 357% increase year-over-year.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is responsible for a staggering 80% of those AI-driven referrals, underscoring its dominance in the space. Other platforms contributing to the traffic spike include Google’s Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok, Claude, Liner, and Perplexity.
These AI referrals occur when users are shown citations or links to original sources within AI-generated responses.
While the data reveals promising traffic trends from AI sources, Google Search still remains the primary driver of online traffic, accounting for 191 billion referrals during the same period.
The findings challenge the prevailing narrative that AI tools are eroding website visits — instead suggesting they may be reshaping, not replacing, digital discovery.
