---
title: "ChatGPT Referral Traffic Stalls: Insights from Marie Haynes’ Analysis"
url: https://adtech.lol/articles/7a47ef11-2155-47ee-a4b1-09a79c250cac
source_url: https://searchengineland.com/google-vs-chatgpt-traffic-497705/
source_site: searchengineland
author: "Danny Goodwin"
published: 2025-09-01T00:00:00+00:00
tags: ["AI Search", "ChatGPT", "Google Organic", "Web Traffic", "Conversion Rates", "Generative AI"]
publisher: AdTech Radar
---

# ChatGPT Referral Traffic Stalls: Insights from Marie Haynes’ Analysis

> According to Marie Haynes' analysis, ChatGPT drove just 0.62% of the traffic compared to Google organic search. Despite a higher conversion rate for ChatGPT visitors, Google still vastly outperformed in overall conversions.

ChatGPT drove just 0.62% as many sessions as Google organic search, according to Marie Haynes’ analysis of 100 websites. The study covered 12 months of GA4 data and more than 145 million sessions.

Including referrals from other LLMs raised that figure to 0.73% of Google organic traffic — not 0.73% of all website traffic.

## Why we care.
Haynes called [GEO](https://searchengineland.com/what-is-generative-engine-optimization-geo-444418) “a distraction.” But today’s referral numbers don’t tell us how important AI search visibility will become. Focus on the Google traffic you get today, but don’t lose sight of where search is heading and the many ways customers may find your brand or business.

## Higher conversion rates, fewer conversions.
Among the 55 sites tracking conversions, 13.8% of ChatGPT visitors converted, compared with 3.02% of Google organic visitors. Despite ChatGPT’s higher conversion rate, Google organic drove 27 times as many conversions as all LLMs combined.

- “The AI search that is actually sending people to businesses today isn’t ChatGPT. It’s Google,” Haynes wrote.

## ChatGPT referral growth stalled.
ChatGPT referrals across the sampled sites stopped growing exponentially in August 2025. Haynes reported that referrals declined afterward.

## About the data.
Haynes’ [analysis](https://www.mariehaynes.com/geo-is-a-distraction/) covered websites of varying sizes. However, it didn’t specify exact reporting dates, industry mix, or how conversions were defined. It also didn’t measure changes in Google organic traffic.

## _Dig deeper:_
_[Does AI drive more direct traffic?](https://searchengineland.com/does-ai-drive-more-direct-traffic-497294)_

Explore more on

- [ChatGPT](https://searchengineland.com/topic/chatgpt/)
- [Conversion rate](https://searchengineland.com/topic/conversion-rate/)
- [Google](https://searchengineland.com/topic/google/)
- [Google Search](https://searchengineland.com/topic/google-search/)
- [Web traffic](https://searchengineland.com/topic/web-traffic/)
- [Artificial intelligence](https://searchengineland.com/topic/artificial-intelligence/)
- [Generative AI](https://searchengineland.com/topic/generative-artificial-intelligence/)
- [Google Analytics](https://searchengineland.com/topic/google-analytics/)
- [Large language model](https://searchengineland.com/topic/large-language-model/)

Source: [https://searchengineland.com/google-vs-chatgpt-traffic-497705/](https://searchengineland.com/google-vs-chatgpt-traffic-497705/)