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Contents

Overview

There’s no shortage of noise in the search landscape right now. AI Overviews. ChatGPT. SGE. Perplexity. AI Mode…Everyone has questions — and the truth is, no one has all the answers.

You don’t have to know it all. You don’t have to chase every shiny object.

But you do need to know where to focus.

That’s why we built this executive-ready report — to help you stay sane amidst the uncertainty, and ground your strategy in real data across hundreds of brands and millions of searches.

This study doesn’t just outline what’s happening. It shows you why it matters, and where the next big moves are happening — so you can act with clarity.

Our original research also serves as the foundation for every new development for Clarity ArcAI, our AI Search Optimization Suite, because we believe data, not speculation, drives innovation.

Key Takeaways

  • AI search traffic remains small but is growing rapidly, with a minimum of 49% growth month over month. 
  • Industries like Education (46.17%), Health (14.42%), and B2B (12.14%) are seeing the highest share of AI search traffic so far.
  • Visibility is now as important as traffic, with an estimated 20 background searches for every click in AI interfaces — making mentions and citations essential.
  • Click-through rates have collapsed beyond the top two positions, with Position 3 dropping from 4.88% to 2.47% as AI Overviews push results below the fold.

 

AI Search Continues Its Meteoric Rise

In less than nine months, we’ve seen over 16.5 million visits from the top four AI search engines (across the brands we monitor). But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Based on our estimates, for every 1 click driven by an AI search result, there are approximately 20 searches happening in the background. 

This means AI search visibility—not just traffic—is now a critical KPI. You need your brand to be seen, cited, and present even when no direct click occurs.

ChatGPT and Perplexity Drive the Majority of AI Search Traffic

Our traffic analysis shows:

  • ChatGPT and Perplexity lead in AI-driven traffic to brands.
  • Gemini and Microsoft Copilot are, so far, not major drivers of traffic.

While it might be advantageous to prioritize ChatGPT and Perplexity in your AI search strategy — the ecosystem is evolving fast.

Visibility in Gemini and Perplexity today could mean market advantage tomorrow.

 

~2.5% of All Searches Happen on ChatGPT​

Even as AI search traffic grows quickly, it’s still early days compared to traditional search with around 2.5 percent of searches taking place on ChatGPT (the leading driver of AI search traffic). 

To put things in perspective, according to Cloudflare:

  • ChatGPT only ranks #45 among global websites
  • Pinterest (which ranks #44) has ~10M more monthly users than ChatGPT
  • Bing (which ranks #15) drives 2–3x more search traffic than ChatGPT

This isn’t to downplay the shift — it’s to ground the conversation. AI search is gaining traction, but it hasn’t overtaken traditional search. Yet.

That said, now that Google’s AI Mode has begun rolling out more broadly, adoption is sure to accelerate.
 

AI Mode Nears Presence of AI Overviews, But With Minimal Topic Overlap

We have detected AI Mode as an option across all major countries — and even for non-logged-in users. This significantly expands its reach, instantly putting it in front of a wider audience than ChatGPT.
 
In the U.S., 25% of all keywords in our dataset now show the AI Mode option. For comparison, AI Overviews appear for 29% of the same keyword set — placing AI Mode nearly on par in terms of coverage.
 
Surprisingly, there’s very little overlap between keywords that trigger AI Overviews and those that activate AI Mode. Only 9% of keywords currently trigger both features — a much lower intersection than anticipated given their shared focus on search intent.
 
Bottom line: AI Mode is just rolling out — and it’s already shaping up to be a major force in the future of search.
 

Education, Health, and B2B Dominate AI Search Traffic

Some industries are already feeling the shift to a more AI-driven search landscape more acutely:

  • Education: 46.17% of AI-driven traffic
  • Health: 14.42%
  • B2B: 12.14%

If you’re in these spaces — AI search is no longer optional. It’s a primary channel.

AI Search Traffic Is a Sliver of Organic, But It’s Growing Fast

Yes, AI search traffic still represents a small fraction of total organic traffic— currently less than 0.5% across hundreds of client domains. But it’s accelerating quickly, and the growth signals are impossible to ignore. Across multiple verticals, we're seeing early signs of adoption, disruption, and shifting user behavior.

Here’s what we’re seeing across real enterprise sites:

  • B2B SaaS Site: AI search now accounts for ~4.5% of overall organic traffic, following a 127% increase over the last three months. Momentum is building fast.
  • Healthcare Site: AI-driven traffic contributes ~1% of overall organic traffic, with ChatGPT dominating as the primary traffic source by a wide margin.
  • Ecommerce Site (health industry): AI search currently drives just ~0.5% of organic traffic — but visibility in emerging health-related AI queries may soon shift that.
  • Travel Site: Week-over-week, AI search traffic is climbing steadily — up ~12%, with ChatGPT still leading the pack in share.
Putting aside outliers like schema.dev, which sees 42.8% of its traffic from AI Search, the maximum AI search traffic for sites with at least one million organic visits a month is around 5%.

That being said, it's important to note that traffic isn’t the key performance indicator for AI search— 

what matters most is whether your brand is mentioned and cited.

CTR Is Collapsing as AI Overviews Crowd the SERP

Based on our research, CTR for traditional search results is declining sharply as increasingly crowded SERPs—with AI Overviews (AIOs) as a massive factor—push organic results lower.

CTR for Positions 1 and 2 remains relatively stable on desktop from 2024 to 2025:

  • Position 1: from 13.06% to 12.40%
  • Position 2: from 4.74% to 4.59%

But CTR for Positions 3–6 has collapsed:

  • Position 3: from 4.88% to 2.47%
  • Position 4: from 2.79% to 1.05%

This underscores a critical shift: earning clicks below the top two organic positions is becoming increasingly difficult in AI-first SERPs.

 

Research Methodology

This analysis is based on data from 300+ client analytics accounts, aggregated to identify trends across industries. 

Insights are further supported by millions of clickstream queries, providing a detailed view into real search behavior and AI search impact at scale.

AI search visibility insights reflect traffic and behavior across top AI platforms, including OpenAI, Perplexity, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot — collected between September 2024 and April 2025.

Note: Data related to Google’s AI Mode is based on early observations from June 2025, following its recent rollout and initial tracking in Clarity ArcAI.

Conclusion

Traffic from platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity is climbing. CTRs are dropping off sharply below the top positions. And in high-impact industries like education, health, and B2B, AI visibility is already a meaningful share of organic performance.

The takeaway is clear: traditional SEO alone isn’t enough. In a world where brand mentions, citations, and AI-generated summaries influence user decisions, visibility must be redefined.

That’s why we built Clarity ArcAI — the platform designed to help you master both AEO (AI Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization).

So you're not just seen in the age of AI search — you're selected.

Not currently an seoClarity client? Learn more about how our platform can help you monitor and strategize for AI search by scheduling a quick demo.

Schedule a Demo

 

 

Mitul GandhiAbout the Author: Mitul Gandhi

 As a longtime data-driven serial entrepreneur, information architect and SEO veteran, Mitul has developed a blend of vast technical expertise and intense marketing insight. His variety of experience, gained in positions in in-house SEO, search marketing, and software development, affords him the ability to efficiently assess how to use software tools to meet challenges and drive ROI. As the Co-Founder and Chief Architect of seoClarity, Mitul currently oversees day-to-day operations, and provides strategic direction to all departments. His well of knowledge includes 10+ years of consulting experience with Fortune 500 and top Internet retailers concerning online search marketing. He has several patents pending for analyzing cause and effect in SEO. Mitul holds an MBA in direct marketing from Rochester Institute of Technology. Additionally, he has spoken at conferences in the United States and the U.K., including SES, SMX and Pubcon. He has also been quoted in MSN Money, USA Today, Time Online, Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Land and Web Pro News. Connect with him on Twitter or LinkedIn.

 

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