Be careful how quickly you try to pivot, leaving behind old optimization methods!
After reading Glenn Gabe’s excellent piece, “AI Search Traffic Compared to Google Search”, I’m both encouraged and grounded. Gabe presents hard data from Google Analytics 4 showing that AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude are contributing very little in terms of referral traffic. Most sites see under 1 percent, and often far less.
This is not to say AI search is not evolving or that it lacks long-term promise. It clearly is evolving. Major players are working quickly to turn these tools into discovery engines. But what Gabe highlights, and what more people need to hear, is the reality check. It is easy to get swept up in AI hype and start optimizing for ecosystems that are still forming. The temptation is especially strong for those of us who follow these updates closely and see every release as a breakthrough.
But breakthroughs do not always bring traffic.
Gabe makes a strong case for sticking with traditional SEO best practices. Google Search continues to deliver the majority of traffic for most sites. I would add that the core principles still matter. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is important in both traditional and AI-driven search. What shows up in AI-generated results often reflects what already performs well in other channels. If your content is not strong in Google, it likely will not show up in AI results either.
That said, it makes sense to monitor AI search trends closely. Not because we should panic, but because early patterns matter. Track when and where your content is being surfaced. Ask yourself whether your format lends itself to summarization and attribution. Would an AI tool extract value from your content and cite you? If not, consider focusing more on usefulness to human readers. The AI tools are trained on that kind of content.
Gabe’s recommendation to track AI referrers in GA4 is essential. Even if the volume is low, it helps isolate signal from noise. The future shift will not happen all at once, and it will not come from hype. It will come from the data. Right now, the data still belongs to Google.
Be sure to read his full article, as he also links to a super fast and easy GA4 tutorial from Dana DiTomaso- where you can start tracking AI-sourced traffic in about 2 to 3 minutes.
Glenn Gabe’s full writeup: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/ai-search-traffic-compared-to-google