Even as AI’s takeover of search gets so much attention, it’s important to remember one of the insights made clear by BrightEdge’s recent research: AI referral traffic does not necessarily mean real-life conversions.
“AI search functions as a research channel, not a conversion channel,” says the BrightEdge report, which analyzed thousands of search queries and sites from January through August, only to find “near-zero direct conversions tracked.”
Compared to organic search, which consistently saw between 1.2% and 1.4% conversion rates, AI search is seeing an “efficiency gap [that’s] actually increasing over time.”
“While AI search doesn’t drive direct conversions today, it matters for two critical reasons:”
- “It’s growing [and] creating new touchpoints with potential customers”
- “[It’s] influencing decisions that lead to conversions through other channels”
BrightEdge’s LLM Referral 3 Month Traffic Patterns (Photo Source: MediaPost)
That growth, at what BrightEdge calls “unprecedented rates,” is led by ChatGPT as it “significantly outpaces” competing LLM engines. Of note, Grok saw 1279% growth in July.
So while Google may “command 90%+ search market share,” BrightEdge’s look at other emerging AI engines over the last few months shows “a period of experimentation … both in how users are connecting to websites and how AI engines are managing how they send referrals.”
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