ChatGPT traffic to websites is down 52% in a month
Reddit and Wikipedia dominate responses in OpenAI's experiment with answer-first sources using new citation weighting.
Referral traffic from ChatGPT to websites is down 52% since July 21, according to Profound’s Josh Blyskal, who analyzed more than 1 billion ChatGPT citations and 1 million referral visits from a sample of sites across various verticals.
By the numbers. Some of the key findings:
- Reddit citations are up 87% since July 23, now topping 10% of all ChatGPT citations.
- Wikipedia jumped 62% from its July low, grabbing nearly 13% of citation share.
- The top three sites – Wikipedia, Reddit and TechRadar – accounted for 22% of all citations, up 53% in just a month.
ChatGPT now favors a handful of “answer-first” sources, while branded websites are losing visibility – and millions of potential referral clicks.
What’s happening. Blyskal said this isn’t a GPT-5 effect (GPT-5 launched August 7). ChatGPT’s citation consolidation began weeks earlier, suggesting OpenAI manually reweighted its retrieval system to favor helpful answers.
The bigger picture. In his LinkedIn post, Blyskal notes two things that are especially important for B2B marketers to know. First, ChatGPT bypasses branded content that prioritizes conversion (“Schedule a demo”). Second, answer-first platforms like Reddit and Wikipedia are winning by default because they directly address user queries.
“The citation opportunity is massive for brands willing to shift from conversion first to answer first content,” wrote Blyskal.
Bottom line. OpenAI’s citation experiments can trigger big traffic swings. Brands that don’t provide real answers could be squeezed out of ChatGPT answers.
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About the author
Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.