AI-Driven Website Referrals Surge 357% YoY to 1.13 Billion in June 2025
AI-Powered Referrals See Explosive Growth in 2025
Artificial intelligence is transforming how users discover websites, with AI-generated referrals experiencing a dramatic surge. According to new insights from Similarweb, global AI platforms drove more than 1.13 billion visits to the top 1,000 websites in June 2025—a staggering 357% increase compared to June 2024.
Comparing AI Referrals to Traditional Search
Despite this impressive growth, AI-driven traffic still lags far behind traditional search. In the same period, Google Search remained the dominant referral source, sending 191 billion visits to these sites. However, the rapid rise of AI referrals highlights a notable shift in how people find content online.
Impact on News & Media Publishers
The news and media sector is feeling these changes acutely. Online publishers have seen traffic declines and are preparing for a potential future where "Google Zero"—a scenario where Google sends little or no traffic to publishers—becomes reality. Recent coverage revealed that Google's AI-powered content summaries are already impacting site visits for major publishers.
According to a Pew Research Center study, when AI Overviews appear in Google results, users clicked links only 8% of the time, compared to 15% when no AI summary was shown. This shift is causing many publishers to rethink their strategies and even block AI platforms from accessing their content, as The New York Times has done due to ongoing legal disputes.
Top News Sites Benefiting from AI Traffic
Some news sites are still seeing significant AI-driven traffic. In June 2025, the leaders were:
- Yahoo: 2.3 million referrals
- Yahoo Japan: 1.9 million
- Reuters: 1.8 million
- The Guardian: 1.7 million
- India Times: 1.2 million
- Business Insider: 1.0 million
Overall, AI referrals to news and media sites were up an astonishing 770% year-over-year.
How Are AI Referrals Counted?
Similarweb defines AI referrals as visits to a website originating from platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok, Perplexity, Claude, and Liner. ChatGPT alone is responsible for more than 80% of these referrals to the top 1,000 domains.
AI Referral Trends Across Other Sectors
The analysis also examined other industries benefiting from AI traffic:
- E-Commerce: Amazon led with 4.5 million AI referrals, followed by Etsy (2.0M) and eBay (1.8M).
- Tech & Social Media: Google topped the list with 53.1 million, then Reddit (11.1M), Facebook (11.0M), and Github (7.4M).
- Other categories: YouTube (31.2M), Wikipedia (10.8M), Research Gate (3.6M), and more also saw substantial AI-driven visits.
What This Means for Businesses and Publishers
The rapid rise of AI-generated referrals is reshaping digital traffic flows. While traditional search engines like Google remain essential, AI platforms are becoming crucial sources of high-intent visitors, especially for news, e-commerce, and tech sites. Businesses and publishers should monitor these trends and adapt their SEO, content, and platform strategies to capture this emerging audience.
