“Forty-one visitors. Seven enquiries. That can’t be right.”
That was us looking at a client’s GA4 after setting up custom AI tracking last quarter. We checked the numbers twice. Then a third time. A 17% conversion rate from ChatGPT and Perplexity traffic, when most B2B websites struggle to hit 3%.
The data was right. We just hadn’t understood what was happening.
These visitors weren’t browsing. They weren’t comparing five tabs and bouncing after eight seconds. They were arriving with intent and following through at a rate we typically only see from warm referrals.
Something different was going on. And once we figured out what, it changed how we think about search entirely.
The Way People Search is Changing
You’ve probably heard the noise about AI search. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews. Lots of speculation about what it means for SEO, whether Google is dying, and whether you should panic.
Here’s where we actually are.
According to McKinsey research from late 2025, half of consumers now intentionally use AI-powered search engines. Not accidentally. Intentionally. They’re choosing to ask ChatGPT or Perplexity instead of typing into Google.
More striking: 44% of AI search users say it’s now their primary source of information when making purchasing decisions. That’s ahead of traditional search at 31%.
And Google isn’t standing still. Around 60% of Google searches now include AI Overviews, those summarised answers that appear above the traditional results. That figure is expected to reach 75% by 2028.
This isn’t coming. It’s here. The question isn’t whether AI search matters. It’s whether you’re showing up in it.
Why AI Traffic Converts Better
Back to that 17% conversion rate. Why would visitors from ChatGPT convert at five or six times the rate of visitors from Google?
The answer lies in what happens before they ever reach your site.
When someone searches Google for “marketing agency Manchester,” they get ten blue links. They open five tabs. They scan each homepage for about eight seconds, looking for reasons to close the tab. Most of them leave within moments.
These visitors are comparing. They’re shopping. They’re actively looking for reasons to say no.
AI search works completely differently.
When someone asks ChatGPT, “I need a marketing agency in Manchester that specialises in B2B healthcare,” the conversation unfolds. The AI asks about their goals. Their budget. Their timeline. Then it gives them two or three specific recommendations with reasoning tailored to their exact situation.
By the time they click through to your site, the AI has already told them you’re a good fit for their specific needs. They’re not comparing you to nine other options. They’re checking whether the AI’s recommendation was right.
They’re not shopping. They’re verifying.
This is why the conversion rate is so much higher. The visitor has essentially been pre-sold. They’ve already decided you might be the answer. They just need to confirm you’re legitimate and that your site backs up what the AI said about you.
Sound familiar to anyone who’s received a warm referral from a trusted contact? It should. AI recommendations function almost identically to personal recommendations. The trust transfer happens before the click.
What This Means for Your Website
Here’s the uncomfortable implication.
If ChatGPT told someone you specialise in healthcare marketing, your homepage better demonstrate that immediately. If Perplexity mentioned your case studies as a reason to consider you, those case studies better be easy to find.
Your site needs to confirm what the AI promised. If there’s a disconnect, you’ve just wasted your highest-converting traffic source.
We’re seeing this play out across the clients we track. AI visitors spend longer on site. They view more pages. They engage more deeply with content. But only when the site delivers on the expectation the AI created.
When it doesn’t, they leave just as quickly as anyone else.
What Influences AI Recommendations
So how do you actually get recommended by ChatGPT or Perplexity in the first place?
This is where it gets interesting. Because the factors that influence AI recommendations overlap significantly with traditional SEO. Not completely. But enough that you’re probably not starting from scratch.
Content depth and quality matter enormously. AI systems are trained to identify comprehensive, authoritative content. This is where a proper content marketing strategy becomes essential. Thin pages with surface-level information rarely get cited. Deep, genuinely useful content does. If your blog posts answer questions thoroughly and demonstrate real expertise, you’re already ahead of most competitors.
Authority signals carry weight.
When AI systems decide who to recommend, they’re looking for evidence that you know what you’re talking about. Backlinks from reputable sites. Mentions in industry publications. Reviews and testimonials. The same signals that help you rank in traditional search help you get recommended by AI.
Third-party content influences recommendations more than you’d expect. It’s a reinforcement of what works, particularly for B2B businesses with an SEO foundation.
AI doesn’t just look at your website. It considers what others say about you. Reviews on Google Business Profile. Mentions in forums. References in articles you didn’t write. Your reputation across the web matters, not just what you say about yourself.
Technical factors still apply.
Structured data helps AI systems understand your content. Fast loading speeds and mobile-friendly design affect whether AI can access and process your pages effectively. The basics haven’t gone away.
Freshness counts.
AI systems favour recent, updated content. If your blog hasn’t been touched in two years, you’re less likely to be recommended than a competitor publishing regularly on the same topics.
None of this should surprise anyone who’s paid attention to SEO over the past decade. The fundamentals remain remarkably consistent.
The Good News: Your SEO Work Isn’t Wasted
If you’ve invested in building quality content, earning legitimate backlinks, and maintaining a technically sound website, you’ve already done most of the work needed to show up in AI search.
The foundations are the same. Good content. Clear expertise. Technical competence. Authority built over time.
What’s different is how AI systems evaluate and present that information. They’re synthesising across sources rather than just ranking pages. They’re matching recommendations to specific user contexts rather than returning generic results.
But they’re still looking for the same underlying signals of quality and relevance.
This is actually good news for businesses that have done things properly. If you’ve built genuine authority rather than gaming algorithms, you’re better positioned for AI search than competitors who relied on tricks.
The work you’ve already done isn’t wasted. It’s the foundation everything else builds on.
There’s a reason this aligns with what we’ve always believed about marketing. Traffic without conversion is vanity. Conversion without traffic is limitation. The businesses that win are the ones where both work together.
AI search just makes that connection more obvious.
How to Track AI Traffic in Your Analytics
Here’s the practical problem. Most businesses have no idea whether they’re getting AI traffic right now.
By default, visits from ChatGPT and Perplexity often appear in your analytics as “direct” traffic or get lumped into generic referral categories. Without custom tracking, you’re flying blind.
Setting up proper AI traffic tracking in GA4 takes about fifteen minutes. The basic approach involves creating custom channel groupings that identify referrals from AI platforms specifically. You’re looking for traffic from domains like chat.openai.com, perplexity.ai, and similar sources.
Once you’ve separated AI traffic from everything else, you can see exactly how many visitors are coming from these sources, which pages they’re landing on, how long they’re staying, and whether they’re converting.
The patterns are usually consistent with what we’ve seen. Lower volume than traditional search. Significantly higher engagement and conversion rates. Growing month over month, even if the absolute numbers are still small.
That last point matters. AI search traffic is growing. The businesses tracking it now will understand the patterns. The ones who aren’t will be surprised when it becomes a significant channel and they have no baseline data to work from.
Want help setting this up? We’re offering free AI traffic audits. We’ll check your current analytics, identify whether you’re already getting AI referrals, and show you how to track it properly going forward. This takes about fifteen minutes of your time and you’ll know exactly where you stand. Just get in touch and mention “AI tracking.”
Practical Steps to Improve Your AI Visibility
If you want to increase your chances of being recommended by AI search tools, focus on these areas.
Audit your content for depth and clarity
AI systems favour comprehensive answers over superficial ones. Look at your key service pages and blog posts. Do they genuinely answer the questions your target audience asks? Or do they skim the surface hoping Google will rank them anyway? Depth wins in AI search.
Build authority beyond your own website
What shows up when someone searches your company name? Are you mentioned in industry publications? Do you have reviews on relevant platforms? Have others linked to your content? AI systems consider your entire web presence, not just your site. Work on building genuine authority across multiple sources.
Structure content for AI extraction
Clear headings. Logical organisation. Direct answers to specific questions. When AI systems process your content, they’re looking for extractable information they can cite. Make it easy for them to understand what you’re saying and who you’re saying it for.
Keep content fresh
Regular updates signal ongoing expertise. If your last blog post was eighteen months ago, you’re telling AI systems you might not be current. Consistent publishing, even at modest frequency, demonstrates that you’re actively engaged in your field.
Ensure your site confirms what AI might say about you
This is the conversion piece. If AI recommends you for a specific reason, your site needs to immediately reinforce that reason. Clear positioning. Visible proof of expertise. Easy paths to the information visitors expect to find.
What This Means for Your Marketing Strategy
AI search traffic is still relatively small for most businesses. The visitors from ChatGPT and Perplexity might number in the dozens per month, not thousands.
But the quality is exceptional. And the volume is growing.
More importantly, the principles that help you succeed in AI search are the same principles that build sustainable marketing success. Quality content. Genuine expertise. Authority built over time. A website that converts visitors into enquiries.
This isn’t a separate strategy requiring completely new skills. It’s a reinforcement of what works.
The businesses showing up in AI recommendations right now are building a meaningful advantage. They’re capturing high-intent traffic that competitors don’t even know exists. They’re learning what content gets cited and what gets ignored. They’re establishing presence before the competition catches on.
The ones who aren’t visible in AI search? They’re missing an increasingly valuable segment of buyers. And they probably don’t realise it because they’ve never set up the tracking to see what they’re missing.
Your Next Step
AI search optimisation isn’t about abandoning everything you know about marketing. It’s about recognising that how people find information is evolving, and the businesses that evolve with it will capture opportunities others miss.
The 17% conversion rate we saw wasn’t magic. It was the result of a visitor who had already been told this business was right for them. They arrived ready to confirm, not to compare.
That’s the opportunity AI search creates. Visitors who convert at five times the normal rate because they’ve been pre-qualified by a trusted source before they ever see your homepage.
The question is ‘are you showing up in those recommendations?’
Free AI Traffic Assessment: We’ll review your current analytics, identify any AI referral traffic you’re already receiving, and show you how to track it properly. You’ll know exactly where you stand and what the opportunity looks like. No charge, no obligation. Get in touch and mention “AI traffic.”
GA4 AI Tracking Setup Guide: Step-by-step instructions for configuring your analytics to track AI search traffic separately. Fifteen-minute setup that gives you visibility into your highest-converting traffic source.
