Google vs AI: Traffic Reality Check, Reddit’s Rise & ChatGPT’s Google Dependence
SEO TL;DR #82 25/08/2025
This week’s update turned out to be all about AI. I dig into how much traffic the AI search engines drive, what Google’s global AI Mode rollout means, and why Reddit deserves your attention even as the AI hype rolls on.
AI X SEO
AI Mode In 180 Countries
Google has expanded AI Mode to 180 countries, adding new agentic capabilities like restaurant reservations, with local service bookings and ticketing to follow.
The expansion is still English-only, but it now combines real-time web data, Google’s Knowledge Graph and Shopping Graph, using a “query fan-out” method to stitch together answers from multiple sources.
💡 Takeaway: It’s worth noting this week in your Google Analytics annotations, especially if you’re ranking for a lot of informational intent traffic - who, what, how, etc.
If you want to learn more about how the query fan-out process works, (also on Substack) has a great article on running query fan-out analysis in Screaming Frog using Gemini.
It’ll show you the kind of related questions the likes of Gemini or GPT can use.
For example, starting with the search “sustainable marketing strategies for e-commerce”, this question then fans out into related questions like: “What makes a marketing strategy sustainable?”, “How much budget do small e-commerce businesses need?”, “What are real-world success stories?” and so on.
You can then use this information to fill gaps in your content by answering related queries, creating comparison tables or adding step-by-step guides, for example.
SEO X AI
AI vs Search Traffic Analysis
Ahrefs has launched this handy comparison tool, which compares traffic share percentages from all the major search engines. It’s a stark reminder that while AI citations are growing, they’re still wildly overhyped by the usual LinkedIn hype crowd.
💡 Takeaway: Google still commands around 42% of search traffic, with Bing at 1.62% and Gemini scraping just 0.01%. AI referrals tick upward each month, but sacrificing long-term organic strategy for the promise of citations is a mistake in my books.
AI X SEO
ChatGPT Referrals Collapse as Reddit and Wikipedia Dominate
Joshua Blyskal shared data showing that ChatGPT referral traffic is down 52% since late July, with citation patterns consolidating around a few big domains. Reddit citations surged 87%, Wikipedia rose 62%, and together with TechRadar, they now capture 22% of all ChatGPT citations.
This shift isn’t linked to GPT-5, but to OpenAI adjusting its retrieval weighting to prioritise “answer-first” sources. Branded sites are losing ground because too many pages pitch products instead of directly answering user queries.
💡 Takeaway: If you want visibility in AI-driven search, think like a utility. Answer the question first, sell second. Detailed comparisons, FAQs, and customer-language guides have a far better chance of earning citations than demo pages or glossy brand copy.
SEO X AI
ChatGPT Leans on Google Search to Fill the Gaps
OpenAI has been using Google Search results via SerpApi to strengthen ChatGPT’s real-time answers in areas like news, sport and finance. That’s despite Google previously refusing OpenAI direct access to its index during the DOJ antitrust case.
Tests from an ex-Googler suggest ChatGPT responses sometimes pull directly from Google snippets, confirming that scraping is part of the workflow. While OpenAI has its own crawler and uses Bing’s API, those sources aren’t yet enough to cover long-tail or time-sensitive queries at Google’s level of accuracy.
💡 Takeaway: For SEOs, the line between Google and ChatGPT is thinner than it looks. If your content is optimised for featured snippets and direct answers, it’s not just Google where you’ll gain visibility, but also LLMs leaning on those same snippets.
The overlap reinforces why answer-first content and structured clarity are more valuable than ever.
👋 Work With Me. I help e-commerce brands grow through technical SEO, smarter content and better UX. If you’re looking for support with a migration, audit or ongoing strategy, get in touch.