AI Traffic Conversions Untracked
New Study Reveals AI Traffic Converts 11x Higher, Analytics Miss Attribution Data
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Visitors who arrive at websites from AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity sign up at 11 times the rate of people coming from Google search, according to a new analysis by Rankability. The SEO and AI visibility software company found that AI-referred traffic converted to sign-ups at 1.66%, compared to just 0.15% for traditional search traffic — across more than 1,200 publisher sites.
The catch: most analytics platforms cannot even see this traffic. Tools that businesses rely on to track where visitors come from are misclassifying AI referrals as "direct" or "unknown" visits, according to Rankability. That means agencies and their clients are flying blind on one of the fastest-growing acquisition channels available.
AI Traffic to Retail Sites Grew 1,200% in Seven Months
The growth numbers are striking. Traffic to U.S. retail websites from AI sources jumped 1,200% between July 2024 and February 2025, according to Yahoo Finance. That is the steepest rise of any acquisition channel that Adobe Digital Insights tracked over that period. No other channel came close.
Rankability's analysis draws on data from two sources: Microsoft Clarity's study of publisher sites and Adobe Digital Insights' 2025 generative AI referral traffic report. Together, they paint a picture of a channel that is growing fast and punching far above its weight on conversion.
Why Analytics Platforms Keep Missing AI Visitors
The core problem is attribution. When someone clicks a link inside ChatGPT or another AI tool, many analytics platforms do not log the referral source correctly. Instead, they file it under "direct" traffic — the same bucket as someone who typed a URL directly into their browser. Agencies end up with no idea that AI sent those visitors.
This blind spot has real consequences. Without proper attribution data, marketing teams cannot justify shifting budget toward AI visibility. They cannot measure what is working. And they cannot tell clients why sign-up rates are up, according to ADVFN. The data exists — it is just being lost in the wrong category.
What This Means for Agency Strategy and Budgets
The gap between AI and search conversion rates — 1.66% versus 0.15% — suggests AI-referred visitors arrive with more intent. They have already asked a question and got an answer. By the time they click through, they know what they want. That makes them far more likely to act, according to Rankability.
For agencies, the implications touch nearly every part of the business: channel investment, content strategy, and how budgets get split across platforms. As AI traffic keeps growing, agencies that cannot measure it will keep undervaluing it — and their clients will keep missing out on one of the highest-converting traffic sources online.
Rankability Pushes for Better AI Visibility Measurement
Rankability serves digital agencies with SEO and AI visibility software. The company published this analysis to highlight what it sees as a measurement gap that the industry has not yet caught up with. As more consumers use AI tools to research products and services, the referral traffic those tools generate will only grow larger.
The firm argues that fixing attribution is the first step. Agencies need to know which AI platforms are sending traffic, which content those visitors are landing on, and what actions they take. Without that data, optimizing for AI visibility is guesswork — even as the channel delivers conversion rates that dwarf traditional search.
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