Does AI search make business websites less important? I think the opposite.

Recently, SEO researcher Marie Haynes analysed 12 months of GA4 data from 100 websites with more than 145 million sessions. ChatGPT generated traffic equivalent to only 0.62% of Google organic traffic. On the websites where conversions were measured, ChatGPT visitors converted at a higher rate - 13.8% compared with Google's 3.02% - yet Google still generated 27 times more conversions than all LLM sources combined.

It is a useful reminder that we should not abandon what works today simply because a new channel has appeared. But I find another question even more interesting.

I increasingly use AI myself to find products, compare services and evaluate companies. But that does not mean I immediately click the recommended link and make a purchase. Quite often, I later return to Google, open several websites, read reviews, look at previous projects and only then make a decision.

In analytics, that customer journey may look very different from what actually happened in my mind. That is why, in my opinion, AI referral traffic alone is not enough to understand AI's real role in the purchasing process.

The SEO Works analysed 95 websites and found that organic search still generated 39 times more traffic than AI assistants. At the same time, Google AI Overviews traffic appears in analytics as regular organic traffic, meaning that part of AI's influence cannot currently be separated into its own channel.

For AI systems to understand what a company does, what experience it has and why it may be worth recommending, that information needs to exist somewhere in a clear, structured and credible form. Very often, that place is still the company's website - its service pages, project descriptions, expert content, data, reviews and concrete examples.

That is why I certainly do not see AI Search or AI SEOas something insignificant. Quite the opposite. I believe AI search raises the standard for a company's entire digital presence.

This is where website strategy becomes even more important than before. If the structure is unclear, services are poorly explained, expertise is not demonstrated and useful information is missing, the problem is no longer only that a potential customer may not understand the company. Search engines and AI systems may struggle to understand it too.

That means thinking about whether the website structure is clear enough, whether every important service has its own properly developed page, whether search engines and AI systems can understand what the company actually does, whether expertise is demonstrated through real projects and results, and whether the content answers the questions potential customers are genuinely asking.

It also means looking at internal links, content freshness, clarity, structure and the quality of the information being published. This is not about creating content for an algorithm. It is about making the company easier to understand.

They may discover a company through ChatGPT, an AI Overview or another AI assistant, but afterwards they can still visit Google, compare competitors, read reviews, check portfolios and return to the company's website before making a decision.

That is where the website becomes even more important - not simply as a place to "exist online", but as the place that reinforces the customer's decision.
At Brandsite, these changes are also making us review our processes, test new tools and work much more deeply with AI Search, AEO and content structure. But the more I explore this area, the more convinced I become that the goal is not to implement every new AI tool as quickly as possible.

The more important question is how to connect AI Search with a strong website strategy, high-quality content and a real business objective.

AI search does not reduce the importance of a strong website. It raises the standard for its strategy, structure and content.

If your company is also trying to understand AI Search, SEO or how your website structure and content should adapt to the changing search landscape, get in touch with us or me personally. Brandsite can help assess your current situation and identify which improvements will genuinely support your business.


Marie Haynes - GEO is a distraction

https://www.mariehaynes.com/geo-is-a-distraction/

The SEO Works - AI referral traffic benchmark

https://www.seoworks.co.uk/downloads/ai-referral-traffic-benchmark/