‘AI Is Killing Web Traffic’ Is The Wrong Narrative. Here’s The Right One

If AI is killing web traffic, as every marketer seems to believe, the race is on to keep brand engagement alive.

Maybe you’ve already increased your PPC spend this quarter.

Those SEO posts the content team was developing? Perhaps you’ve pressed ‘pause’ in favor of other tactics.

Before making any hasty decisions, however, research from WordPress VIP shows that organic search referral traffic hasn’t completely died off, but is shifting from one channel to another. For enterprise marketers in particular, this data offers a more hopeful outlook, where they can return to treating AI as one of their greatest opportunities — not a scapegoat.

How much is AI affecting business website traffic, on average?

According to WordPress VIP’s Future Of The Web Report, which includes survey responses from 800 enterprise decision-makers, 60% say traffic arriving from AI search engines and answer platforms has increased over the past year. This signifies AI is emerging as a new referral channel. 

This shows why it’s worth learning about answer engine optimization (AEO) techniques and ensuring your content gets scraped by large language models (LLMs). As AI reshapes the way people search, getting noticed and cited within answers and summaries will become increasingly important. That’s why three-quarters of those we surveyed said AI discovery is a top priority.

The reality, though, is that AI isn’t killing all web traffic, but is changing how some people discover a brand.

Do users still click through to websites from AI summaries?

Don’t be too sure about the shift to ‘zero-click’ search behaviors: The Future of the Web Report also surveyed 12,000 U.S. adults, and 86% say they always or sometimes click through to the original sources cited in an AI-generated summary or overview.

This makes intuitive sense, especially if you’re an enterprise buyer doing some initial online research. Information from ChatGPT, Claude, or Google’s AI mode may provide the basics about a particular product or service. 

To get the go-ahead to purchase a product or service worth thousands or even millions of dollars, however, you have to dig a lot deeper, which means visiting vendors’ websites.

AI summaries and overviews can save time, but they can’t replace the due diligence that buying committees expect. What matters from a conversation perspective is when those searching online click through to a website to validate AI answers and summaries and look for more in-depth information, and whether the digital experience you deliver builds trust.

Even Google recognizes this, which is why it recently announced AI overviews will include more links to suggest “where to go next.” That means brand websites remain critical in the decision journey. Having quality landing pages, blog posts, and resource sections matters more than ever.

The risk of renting vs. owning access to enterprise buyers

AI search has become just another layer between enterprise brands and their target audiences, along with social networks, publishers, and ads. Enterprise marketers told us 60% of their audience reach comes through third-party platforms.

While some degree of investment in these channels is necessary, there is often no guarantee whether it will pay off the way enterprise brands expect. In fact, almost half (48%) of marketers we surveyed said they’re concerned about paying for reach they can’t control. You can pay to push a social media post, but that doesn’t mean it will get liked or reshared, for example.

AI search platforms make reach even more challenging because they decide:

• Which content is surfaced: While AEO techniques are actively being developed, it’s ultimately up to a given platform’s LLM to determine whether your content will inform the answers to a given question or prompt.
• How it’s summarized: Sometimes brand names are mentioned in a summary or overview, but not always. Sources may be included with URLs, but they could include your site as well as competitors’.
• Whether users click through: AI search tools aim to satisfy those looking for information as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. Even the most AEO-optimized pages don’t guarantee any referral traffic back.
  

Control comes through owned channels, and there’s one that deserves a second look.

Why it’s time for brands to reinvest in their websites as a key marketing channel

Your digital presence should never be an afterthought, but the Future of the Web report found that just 17% of organizations rank owned websites as a top priority. Social media, AI search, and even traditional search all ranked higher.

The risk is that putting so much emphasis on these channels weakens the one where brands have full control over data, experience, and conversion.

Enterprises may overlook the potential of their website to attract and convert audiences because they’ve had one in place for so long. A lot of work goes into launching a website, and there can be trepidation about the complexity and work involved in changing it.

With an enterprise-grade CMS that includes managed infrastructure, developer tooling, and content-friendly workflows, however, large organizations can make updates while maintaining high performance. There’s every reason for websites to move to the top of the enterprise marketing agenda.

What owning customer relationships with an enterprise website looks like

Strengthening owned digital experiences requires a truly customer-centric approach that makes them feel recognized, helps them learn more about themselves, and enables them to accomplish what they want with ease. Your website helps through:

• Personalized content journeys: As you optimize content for LLMs, think about creating blog posts or landing pages aimed at specific customer segments where you can answer FAQs and speak to their unique business needs.
• First-party data capture: Forms, CTAs, and live chat tools are all opportunities to get to know each visitor better, from their communication preferences to business goals and even their budget.
• Seamless conversion paths: WordPress VIP makes it easy for enterprise content teams to create offers and trials without turning to their dev team. They can then fine-tune how conversion journeys unfold by turning a demo button into a form or leading prospects to a webinar, without rebuilding a section or their entire site.

Your ultimate goal should be reducing dependency on external platforms for repeat engagement. When your website becomes the content hub for all journeys, you can run campaigns and everyday content operations with greater confidence and certainty.

Developing content experiences that drive customer engagement and demand

Brands should continue creating content that LLMs will scrape and cite in AI answers and overviews. But they should be equally mindful of having a back-end CMS that:

• Simplifies content orchestration across multiple sites and other channels: Think of your website as the hub and other channels as spokes on the wheel. Look for architectural options, such as headless and hybrid, that give you omnichannel capabilities.
• Eases integration with AI tools and data sources: A CMS that supports standards like MCP and offers plug-ins to leading providers will allow you to evolve your site as AI innovation continues.
• Provide strong governance and control over the digital brand experience: Your CMS should simplify review and approval processes and offer strong version control and logging that allows for AI auditability and explainability.

What marketers should be asking themselves instead of ‘Is AI killing web traffic?’

Even if AI is driving more traffic to enterprise sites, you need to look beyond the initial numbers.

Analytics platforms like Parse.ly can provide a more detailed look at visitor behavior once they click through and land on your site, which lets you develop more informed strategies. You’ll know when it’s time to refresh content, create new content, or simplify the navigation across your website for a smoother digital journey.

Enterprise marketers should still recognize AI’s growing role as an entry point. That doesn’t mean it’s always the endpoint. That’s why forward-looking brands will invest in owned platforms to convert visibility into durable engagement.

For more details on how AI is changing the way we browse, click and convert, read the full WordPress VIP Future of the Web report.