AI vs Search Traffic Analysis 2025

Sites Analyzed

74,752

Months Analyzed

Jun '25 - Feb '26

Absolute Traffic Trend

Absolute traffic trend shows the monthly total traffic of 74,752 sites that joined Ahrefs Web Analytics by June 2025, tracking the same fixed cohort each month to show overall traffic changes over time.

Absolute Traffic by Channel

All Traffic Sources Comparison

Comprehensive comparison of all traffic sources showing traffic share and growth trends

February 2026

Latest month's absolute traffic volumes and month-over-month percentage point changes for all tracked sources.

Traditional Search Engines

Google

385.5M (38.72%) -0.20%

Bing

17.2M (1.43%) -0.01%

DuckDuckGo

3.4M (0.24%) -0.05%

AI Assistants

ChatGPT

2.8M (0.22%) -0.01%

Perplexity

241.1K (0.02%)

Gemini

191.6K (0.01%)

Traffic Channels

Direct

480.7M (39.23%) +0.26%

406.1M (40.39%) -0.26%

Paid

214.0M (16.68%) +0.41%

Social

105.5M (7.32%) -0.18%

Unknown

64.5M (4.64%) -0.03%

AI Assistants

3.2M (0.25%) -0.01%

Traffic Share by Category

Aggregated view of traffic sources grouped into major categories: Traditional Search, AI Search, and channel types

Traffic distribution across major categories over time.

40.39% -0.26%

AI Search

0.25% -0.01%

Unknown

4.64% -0.03%

Paid

16.68% +0.41%

Direct

39.23% +0.26%

Social

7.32% -0.18%

Traffic Share by Source

All traffic sources displayed on the same percentage scale for direct comparison

Traffic share percentages on the same scale

Month-over-Month Growth Comparison

% change in visitors sent by each source: (This month − Last month) / Last month. Indicates how fast traffic is growing or declining.

% change in visitors sent by each source: (This month − Last month) / Last month. Indicates how fast traffic is growing or declining.

Jan 2026 → Feb 2026

Google

-10.9%

Bing

-9.6%

DuckDuckGo

-25.6%

ChatGPT

-14.8%

Claude

+42.3%

Perplexity

-16.9%

Gemini

-2.2%

Dec 2025 → Jan 2026

Google

+0.2%

Bing

+5.6%

DuckDuckGo

+6.3%

ChatGPT

+9.2%

Claude

+20.7%

Perplexity

-13.8%

Gemini

+53.1%

Nov 2025 → Dec 2025

Google

+2.5%

Bing

-3.5%

DuckDuckGo

+14.0%

ChatGPT

-11.6%

Claude

-17.3%

Perplexity

-18.4%

Gemini

+31.7%

Oct 2025 → Nov 2025

Google

-6.3%

Bing

-7.9%

DuckDuckGo

-4.2%

ChatGPT

-0.5%

Claude

-2.9%

Perplexity

-5.3%

Gemini

-0.7%

Sep 2025 → Oct 2025

Google

-2.3%

Bing

+2.0%

DuckDuckGo

+4.5%

ChatGPT

+5.4%

Claude

-2.2%

Perplexity

-4.1%

Gemini

-0.7%

Aug 2025 → Sep 2025

Google

-3.8%

Bing

+2.6%

DuckDuckGo

+0.9%

ChatGPT

+12.1%

Claude

+8.5%

Perplexity

+25.2%

Gemini

+35.5%

Jul 2025 → Aug 2025

Google

-4.6%

Bing

-2.6%

DuckDuckGo

-2.6%

ChatGPT

+5.7%

Claude

-10.1%

Perplexity

+8.1%

Gemini

-13.1%

Jun 2025 → Jul 2025

Google

+1.5%

Bing

+3.2%

DuckDuckGo

+6.3%

ChatGPT

+5.4%

Claude

+5.6%

Perplexity

+5.1%

Gemini

-1.3%

Period	Google Goo	ChatGPT Cha	Bing Bin	DuckDuckGo Duc	Claude Cla	Perplexity Per	Gemini Gem
Jan 2026 → Feb 2026	10.9%	14.8%	9.6%	25.6%	42.3%	16.9%	2.2%
Dec 2025 → Jan 2026	0.2%	9.2%	5.6%	6.3%	20.7%	13.8%	53.1%
Nov 2025 → Dec 2025	2.5%	11.6%	3.5%	14.0%	17.3%	18.4%	31.7%
Oct 2025 → Nov 2025	6.3%	0.5%	7.9%	4.2%	2.9%	5.3%	0.7%
Sep 2025 → Oct 2025	2.3%	5.4%	2.0%	4.5%	2.2%	4.1%	0.7%
Aug 2025 → Sep 2025	3.8%	12.1%	2.6%	0.9%	8.5%	25.2%	35.5%
Jul 2025 → Aug 2025	4.6%	5.7%	2.6%	2.6%	10.1%	8.1%	13.1%
Jun 2025 → Jul 2025	1.5%	5.4%	3.2%	6.3%	5.6%	5.1%	1.3%
May 2025 → Jun 2025	6.8%	1.6%	4.2%	4.6%	108.7%	8.9%	2.6%
Average	3.4%	1.4%	1.6%	0.6%	17.0%	3.2%	11.7%

Claude 0.00%

Others 51.88%

Traffic Share by Region

Stacked bar chart showing the distribution of each traffic source across geographic regions

Month-over-Month Regional Growth Trends

Displays month-over-month growth rates for each traffic source by geographic region

Traffic Share Across Different Industries

Breakdown of traffic sources across different industry sectors and verticals

January 2026

Food And Drink 66.9%

Google 65.7%

Bing 0.8%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Others 33.1%

Reference 61.0%

Google 49.5%

Bing 7.8%

ChatGPT 1.8%

DuckDuckGo 1.4%

Gemini 0.3%

Perplexity 0.2%

Claude 0.0%

Others 39.0%

Online Communities 57.0%

Google 55.4%

Bing 1.4%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

ChatGPT 0.0%

Others 43.0%

Travel And Transportation 56.4%

Google 55.1%

Bing 1.0%

ChatGPT 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Others 43.7%

Law And Government 55.9%

Google 50.7%

Bing 4.2%

ChatGPT 0.4%

DuckDuckGo 0.4%

Perplexity 0.1%

Gemini 0.0%

Others 44.1%

Health 53.9%

Google 51.3%

Bing 2.0%

DuckDuckGo 0.4%

ChatGPT 0.3%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Others 46.1%

Jobs And Education 50.2%

Google 47.0%

Bing 2.6%

ChatGPT 0.4%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Others 49.8%

Arts And Entertainment 49.9%

Google 49.2%

Bing 0.6%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.0%

Others 50.1%

Books And Literature 49.7%

Google 47.9%

Bing 1.4%

ChatGPT 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Others 50.3%

Pets And Animals 48.8%

Google 46.4%

Bing 1.8%

DuckDuckGo 0.4%

ChatGPT 0.2%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Others 51.2%

Adult 47.7%

Google 47.3%

Bing 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Others 52.3%

Internet And Telecom 47.3%

Google 45.5%

Bing 1.4%

ChatGPT 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Gemini 0.0%

Perplexity 0.0%

Claude 0.0%

Others 52.7%

Autos And Vehicles 46.8%

Google 45.0%

Bing 1.5%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.2%

Perplexity 0.0%

Others 53.2%

Computers And Electronics 46.4%

Google 39.8%

Bing 3.3%

DuckDuckGo 2.8%

ChatGPT 0.4%

Gemini 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Claude 0.0%

Others 53.6%

News 44.8%

Google 43.8%

Bing 0.7%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Others 55.2%

Real Estate 43.1%

Google 41.1%

Bing 1.7%

ChatGPT 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Others 56.9%

Home And Garden 41.0%

Google 39.4%

Bing 1.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.2%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Others 59.0%

Sports 38.8%

Google 38.0%

Bing 0.7%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Others 61.2%

People And Society 38.7%

Google 37.2%

Bing 1.1%

DuckDuckGo 0.3%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Others 61.3%

Business And Industrial 35.8%

Google 32.4%

Bing 2.6%

ChatGPT 0.5%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Perplexity 0.1%

Gemini 0.1%

Claude 0.0%

Others 64.2%

Hobbies And Leisure 35.0%

Google 30.8%

Bing 3.6%

DuckDuckGo 0.4%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Others 65.0%

Finance 34.1%

Google 32.1%

Bing 1.7%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Others 65.9%

Games 29.7%

Google 27.4%

Bing 2.1%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Others 70.3%

Shopping 29.3%

Google 28.3%

Bing 0.8%

ChatGPT 0.1%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Others 70.7%

Science 21.3%

Google 19.8%

Bing 1.2%

ChatGPT 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Others 78.7%

Beauty And Fitness 13.6%

Google 13.4%

Bing 0.1%

ChatGPT 0.1%

DuckDuckGo 0.0%

Others 86.4%

Food And Drink

Google 65.7%

Bing 0.8%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Claude 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 33.1%

Reference

Google 49.5%

Bing 7.8%

ChatGPT 1.8%

DuckDuckGo 1.4%

Gemini 0.3%

Perplexity 0.2%

Claude 0.0%

Others 39.0%

Online Communities

Google 55.4%

Bing 1.4%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

ChatGPT 0.0%

Claude 0%

Perplexity 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 43.0%

Travel And Transportation

Google 55.1%

Bing 1.0%

ChatGPT 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Claude 0%

Others 43.7%

Law And Government

Google 50.7%

Bing 4.2%

ChatGPT 0.4%

DuckDuckGo 0.4%

Perplexity 0.1%

Gemini 0.0%

Claude 0%

Others 44.1%

Health

Google 51.3%

Bing 2.0%

DuckDuckGo 0.4%

ChatGPT 0.3%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Claude 0%

Others 46.1%

Jobs And Education

Google 47.0%

Bing 2.6%

ChatGPT 0.4%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Claude 0%

Others 49.8%

Arts And Entertainment

Google 49.2%

Bing 0.6%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.0%

Claude 0%

Perplexity 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 50.1%

Books And Literature

Google 47.9%

Bing 1.4%

ChatGPT 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Claude 0%

Perplexity 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 50.3%

Pets And Animals

Google 46.4%

Bing 1.8%

DuckDuckGo 0.4%

ChatGPT 0.2%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Claude 0%

Others 51.2%

Adult

Google 47.3%

Bing 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

ChatGPT 0%

Claude 0%

Perplexity 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 52.3%

Internet And Telecom

Google 45.5%

Bing 1.4%

ChatGPT 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Gemini 0.0%

Perplexity 0.0%

Claude 0.0%

Others 52.7%

Autos And Vehicles

Google 45.0%

Bing 1.5%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.2%

Perplexity 0.0%

Claude 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 53.2%

Computers And Electronics

Google 39.8%

Bing 3.3%

DuckDuckGo 2.8%

ChatGPT 0.4%

Gemini 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Claude 0.0%

Others 53.6%

News

Google 43.8%

Bing 0.7%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Claude 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 55.2%

Real Estate

Google 41.1%

Bing 1.7%

ChatGPT 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Claude 0%

Others 56.9%

Home And Garden

Google 39.4%

Bing 1.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.2%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Claude 0%

Others 59.0%

Sports

Google 38.0%

Bing 0.7%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Claude 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 61.2%

People And Society

Google 37.2%

Bing 1.1%

DuckDuckGo 0.3%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Claude 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 61.3%

Business And Industrial

Google 32.4%

Bing 2.6%

ChatGPT 0.5%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Perplexity 0.1%

Gemini 0.1%

Claude 0.0%

Others 64.2%

Hobbies And Leisure

Google 30.8%

Bing 3.6%

DuckDuckGo 0.4%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Claude 0%

Others 65.0%

Finance

Google 32.1%

Bing 1.7%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Claude 0%

Others 65.9%

Games

Google 27.4%

Bing 2.1%

DuckDuckGo 0.2%

ChatGPT 0.1%

Claude 0%

Perplexity 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 70.3%

Shopping

Google 28.3%

Bing 0.8%

ChatGPT 0.1%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Claude 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 70.7%

Science

Google 19.8%

Bing 1.2%

ChatGPT 0.2%

DuckDuckGo 0.1%

Perplexity 0.0%

Gemini 0.0%

Claude 0%

Others 78.7%

Beauty And Fitness

Google 13.4%

Bing 0.1%

ChatGPT 0.1%

DuckDuckGo 0.0%

Claude 0%

Perplexity 0%

Gemini 0%

Others 86.4%

Key Insights from the Data

Important observations and trends extracted from the traffic data analysis

•

February sees broad traffic pullback across all sources

February's shorter month drives declines across the board: ChatGPT (-14.8%), Perplexity (-16.9%), and DuckDuckGo (-25.6%) see notable drops. Claude bucks the trend with 42.3% growth, though from a small base.

•

Content-rich industries dominate referral traffic

Food And Drink, Reference, Online Communities lead traffic generation, representing prime opportunities for content optimization and SEO investment.

•

Traditional search declines in February's seasonal dip

February shows Google down -10.9%, Bing -9.6%, and DuckDuckGo -25.6%. The across-the-board decline reflects February's shorter month and seasonal patterns rather than a structural shift.

•

AI search holds 0.22% combined traffic share

ChatGPT leads AI-powered search with 0.22% share, followed by Perplexity at 0.00%. Despite February's volume dip, AI's share of total traffic remains stable.

•

Google maintains 38.7% traffic share

Google holds 38.7% share despite a -10.9% visitor decline in February. Traffic share stays nearly flat, indicating Google's drop is proportional to the overall market contraction.

•

Claude stands out with 42.3% growth in February

While most sources decline, Claude posts 42.3% growth — the only AI platform gaining visitors in February. Gemini shows resilience at just -2.2% decline, while ChatGPT (-14.8%) and Perplexity (-16.9%) see steeper drops.

Strategic Marketing Implications:

February 2026's broad decline is seasonal, not structural. Key strategic priorities for marketers:

• Don't Overreact to February Dips: The -10.9% Google decline and similar drops across all sources reflect a shorter month, not a fundamental shift
• Watch Claude's Momentum: Claude's 42.3% growth makes it the only AI platform gaining visitors. Monitor Anthropic's search features as a potential optimization channel
• Google Remains Foundation: At 38.7% share, Google's dominance is unchanged. Traditional SEO fundamentals remain essential for sustainable traffic
• Multi-Platform AI Strategy: The 0 websites analyzed show AI's 0.22% combined share is holding steady. Continue optimizing for ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude

February 2026's across-the-board decline is a seasonal pattern, not an inflection point. AI search share remains stable — the long-term trajectory hasn't changed.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2026 3:22 PM •

Update frequency: Monthly

Absolute Traffic Trend

Absolute Traffic by Channel

All Traffic Sources Comparison Comprehensive comparison of all traffic sources showing traffic share and growth trends

Traditional Search Engines

AI Assistants

Traffic Channels

Traffic Share by Category Aggregated view of traffic sources grouped into major categories: Traditional Search, AI Search, and channel types

Traffic Share by Source All traffic sources displayed on the same percentage scale for direct comparison

Month-over-Month Growth Comparison % change in visitors sent by each source: (This month − Last month) / Last month. Indicates how fast traffic is growing or declining.

Traffic share within different regions Shows how web traffic is distributed across different continents and regions

South America

Asia

Africa

Europe

North America

Oceania

Traffic Share by Region Stacked bar chart showing the distribution of each traffic source across geographic regions

Month-over-Month Regional Growth Trends Displays month-over-month growth rates for each traffic source by geographic region

Traffic Share Across Different Industries Breakdown of traffic sources across different industry sectors and verticals

Food And Drink

Reference

Online Communities

Travel And Transportation

Law And Government

Health

Jobs And Education

Arts And Entertainment

Books And Literature

Pets And Animals

Adult

Internet And Telecom

Autos And Vehicles

Computers And Electronics

News

Real Estate

Home And Garden

Sports

People And Society

Business And Industrial

Hobbies And Leisure

Finance

Games

Shopping

Science

Beauty And Fitness

Key Insights from the Data Important observations and trends extracted from the traffic data analysis

All Traffic Sources Comparison

Comprehensive comparison of all traffic sources showing traffic share and growth trends

Traffic Share by Category

Aggregated view of traffic sources grouped into major categories: Traditional Search, AI Search, and channel types

Traffic Share by Source

All traffic sources displayed on the same percentage scale for direct comparison

Month-over-Month Growth Comparison

% change in visitors sent by each source: (This month − Last month) / Last month. Indicates how fast traffic is growing or declining.

Traffic share within different regions

Shows how web traffic is distributed across different continents and regions

Traffic Share by Region

Stacked bar chart showing the distribution of each traffic source across geographic regions

Month-over-Month Regional Growth Trends

Displays month-over-month growth rates for each traffic source by geographic region

Traffic Share Across Different Industries

Breakdown of traffic sources across different industry sectors and verticals

Key Insights from the Data

Important observations and trends extracted from the traffic data analysis