Key findings
60%
of enterprises have seen AI-driven referral traffic increase in the last year
48%
of leaders are concerned about losing control of how AI engines surface their content
17%
of enterprises rank owned websites as their top investment priority for next year, compared with 32% for social platforms and 30% for AI search
80%
of consumers say it is important that information online remains openly accessible and not controlled by a few large organizations
51%–61%*
of consumers across generations say openly accessible information is “very important”
*51% of Gen Z, 54% of Millennials, 58% of Gen X, and 61% of Boomers
AI is becoming a real referral channel, joining social and search as a route to the audience. The problem brands aren’t talking about is that none of those channels are theirs.
Audiences are arriving through platforms that set the rules and change them without warning. The companies setting those rules are the same ones consumers across every generation say they’re worried about.
The old channels were never yours. AI is the newest version of the same problem.
Traffic is getting more complicated. AI search engines are now real referral sources for most enterprises, and consumers are clicking through AI summaries to verify what they see.
What’s harder to see: the audience continues to arrive through rented platforms instead of channels brands own, and the budget for next year keeps reinforcing the dependency.
Referral growth
of enterprises say traffic from AI search & answer platforms has increased over the past year
48%
of leaders are concerned about losing control of how AI engines surface their content
17%
say owned websites are their top investment priority next year, compared to 32% for social platforms and 30% for AI search and answer engines
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An open web is one of the few things every generation agrees on.
Consumers who want an open web want a web where information stays openly accessible. Where answers aren’t shaped by who paid to surface them. Where there’s a clear path from question to source.
That position is becoming mainstream across every age group at once. Cross-generational consumer agreement is rare, so when it shows up, whoever moves first becomes the reference point everyone else has to compete with later.
Open web
of consumers say information online should stay open and distributed, not controlled by a few large organizations
75%
are concerned that online information is being controlled, summarized, or prioritized by a small number of platforms
51%–61%
across Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers agree that keeping information openly accessible is “very important”
“There’s going to be a renaissance of authenticity. People are going to want to click through, to leave the world of AI — Google and the Anthropics — and go to the brand’s website to understand whether their values align. The open web is authentic and original. The AI web is a summary layer that sits on top of that.”
– Johann Wrede, UserTesting
The cultural current is already running toward an open web. Marketers haven’t caught up.
Consumers are saying they want a less gatekept web. The budgets enterprises are approving for next year head in the other direction, putting reach dollars into the channels consumers are most concerned about.
The brands resolving this are doing structural work. They build on open standards, own their audience relationships directly, and have somewhere to take their business when platforms change the rules.
WordPress VIP runs on exactly this principle: open by default. An open content platform on infrastructure you own, with editorial governance and audience relationships that stay with you.
“Open unlocks the ability to say yes when your competitors have to say no.”
– Brant Williams, Enterprise Account Executive, WordPress VIP
See it in action: Recurrent Ventures
When Recurrent Ventures acquired Popular Science, Domino, and a growing portfolio of media brands, each one came with its own CMS, its own hosting contract, and its own set of platform dependencies. Scaling meant multiplying complexity.
Recurrent consolidated 20+ sites onto WordPress VIP — one open-source stack, one content operation, full ownership of the infrastructure and audience data. When a platform changes its terms or an algorithm reshuffles reach, the content layer doesn’t move.
20+ publications on one platform. Plus, no vendor lock-in on the content that drives the business.
“A migration is always an opportunity to improve. We’ve not only solved tech debt, but also built a foundation for interactive tools, subscriptions, commerce — whatever comes next. And WordPress can scale with that.”
– Aaron Segal, Principal Product Manager, Recurrent Ventures
What this means for 2027
Soon, consumers will start asking the same questions about platform dependency that they started asking about data privacy in 2019. Brands with an open-web track record will have a clean answer ready. Brands still building reach on rented platforms will spend 2027 defending the strategy the way some companies spent 2020 defending their data practices, long after the public conversation had already moved on.
Open-web posture will become a brand attribute consumers actively reward. Companies moving toward owned infrastructure now are positioning ahead of a trend already in motion.
Continue reading
Chapter 1
The internet feels less human.
Chapter 2
Brands chase AI visibility. Consumers chase the source.
Chapter 4
The website is still the default trust layer.
Chapter 5
The next website doesn’t look like a website.
FAQs about the open web
Is AI becoming a real referral channel?
Yes. WordPress VIP’s 2026 survey of 800 enterprise decision-makers found 60% report traffic from AI search engines and answer platforms has increased over the past year. AI is joining organic search and social as one of the routes audiences take to the content. The net effect on overall enterprise traffic is mixed because AI summaries also reduce some click-throughs, but the channel itself is real and growing. Enterprise teams treating AI as a discovery surface rather than a passing trend are the ones with measurable referral data going into 2027.
Do consumers want an open web?
Across every generation, yes. WordPress VIP’s 2026 survey of 1,200 U.S. consumers found 80% say it’s important that information online stay openly accessible, and 75% are worried about how a small number of platforms now control online information. The cross-generational agreement is the part most enterprises haven’t caught up to: Boomers report the strongest preference (61% say openly accessible information is “very important”), followed by Gen X (58%), Millennials (54%), and Gen Z (51%). When every generation lands on the same side of a question, it tends to become a mainstream position quickly.
Are enterprises investing in owned channels?
Not at the level the consumer data warrants. WordPress VIP’s 2026 enterprise survey found only 17% of leaders rank owned websites as their top investment priority for next year, compared to 32% for social platforms and 30% for AI search and answer engines. Most enterprise budgets continue to flow into the rented channels consumers are most concerned about. The brands closing the gap are treating their website as the one piece of audience infrastructure that doesn’t reset when a platform changes its rules.