I don’t assume this end result will come as a shock to anybody. Web sites that get extra visitors in conventional natural search additionally get talked about extra in AI Search. Widespread websites are fashionable, even when the search system adjustments.
I regarded on the prime 50 web sites talked about in Ahrefs Model Radar for Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. That is throughout ~76.7M AI Overviews, 957k ChatGPT prompts, and 953.5k Perplexity prompts for the month of June 2025.
I in contrast the web site mentions to their worldwide natural search visitors in Ahrefs.
Sidenote.
Model Radar isn’t simply one other AI visibility monitor, we monitor a considerable amount of queries throughout all of those methods and you’ll question for any product, service, or model and examine towards your opponents. It’s extra like Website Explorer than it’s Rank Tracker. Plus, we’ve got net visibility so you possibly can see the way you’re talked about on-line, and search demand to point out your reputation.
Right here’s what Model Radar appears to be like like.
Let’s dig in.
All 3 methods appear to say extra trafficked web sites extra usually, however the power of that relationship varies a bit.
Perplexity mentions are essentially the most aligned with the natural search visitors of the web sites and ChatGPT is the least aligned, but when Wikipedia wasn’t such an enormous outlier, it will be far more aligned.
I’ll give the standard correlation doesn’t equal causation disclaimer, however this correlation makes full sense.
Listed below are the Spearman rank correlations for point out share vs. search visitors throughout the highest 50 domains in every system:
| AI Assistant | Spearman Rho | P-Worth | Correlation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews | 0.47 | 0.0006 | Average |
| ChatGPT | 0.33 | 0.0515 | Weak |
| Perplexity | 0.66 | 0.0000 | Sturdy |
Search is what Google does. Websites that rank nicely and have extra natural search visitors in Google additionally appear to be talked about extra in AI Overviews.
AI Overviews are over-indexed on person generated content material (UGC) websites like YouTube, Reddit, and Quora, in addition to Wikipedia. They’re under-indexed on social media websites like Fb, Instagram, and TikTok.
In a earlier examine, we noticed AI Overviews favored UGC websites like YouTube, Reddit, and Quora probably greater than their subject reputation indicated they need to, and we see it once more right here with search visitors. Google actually appears to be relying closely on these methods, probably greater than they need to. Or perhaps they only have solutions and the kind of content material that folks actually need.
Whereas Wikipedia ranks nicely in Google and reveals prominently right here, it was really under-represented after we checked out it for subject reputation. I’d say that Wikipedia could have really been under-represented in conventional net search. Don’t fear although, Google appears to be correcting that with AI Overviews.
ChatGPT was the wildcard right here. They don’t have a conventional search index, so I wasn’t positive what to anticipate from the outcomes. They nonetheless ended up with an honest correlation to natural search visitors.
The earlier examine confirmed Wikipedia and information websites like Reuters had been under-utilized in comparison with subject reputation, however right here that will get corrected. It appears to be like like they could have been under-represented in conventional natural search by Google.
Wikipedia is extraordinarily dominant for ChatGPT mentions. They’re talked about in 16.3% of the full queries! Information can be higher represented on this index. In truth, with out Wikipedia, the correlation between mentions and search visitors would have been a lot stronger.
Those who aren’t doing as nicely are company and leisure websites. They’re not getting as a lot visibility in comparison with how they carried out on Google.
Regardless of not having a conventional search engine, Perplexity confirmed the strongest correlation to natural search visitors of any of those studied. We noticed the same end result after we checked out mentions versus subject reputation. It makes me marvel in the event that they pulled this information from someplace and skilled their mannequin to align with it.
YouTube and Wikipedia dominate on Perplexity, with 16.1% and 12.5% of the full mentions. A number of well being websites additionally cluster above like Healthline and MedlinePlus.
Underneath-represented are social media websites like Instagram, leisure websites like IMDB, and a few company websites like Google and Microsoft.
Remaining ideas
This shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody. Web sites with extra natural search visitors get talked about extra in AI Search.
From the websites being favored, I’d say creating movies and being lively on boards is a good suggestion. These methods actually appear to need person generated content material.
I’m undecided if writing encyclopedic content material would actually work until you’re Wikipedia. our personal glossary, it will get some, however not many visits from AI Search.
In case you have questions, ask me on LinkedIn or X.
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