Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how people discover content online. While the shift is driving less traffic to websites, the quality of that traffic is improving.
As a website content creator, here’s what you should know to stay relevant in the changing ecosystem of online search. Plus, your Matomo analytics dashboard now segments AI search into its own “AI assistants” channel. We’ll show you how to monitor your website analytics to identify AI traffic.
AI and its relation to search
You've probably heard of people using large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini to get answers online. These LLMs are advanced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms trained on large datasets. They appear as chatbots built with natural language processing, which is a fancy way of saying they are designed to provide human-like text in a conversational format.
How people receive results from LLMs differs significantly from traditional search engines such as Google or Bing, which generally return a page of potential results with linked titles and descriptions. The searcher then selects which source to view for further information.
The benefits of quick, concise answers from LLMs mean time saved by avoiding the need to scan page after page for answers that may or may not address their search intent. The generative conversation style also adds a personal touch to each response, building trust quickly with situational results that can sometimes be hard to find.
Of course, the answers provided by these chatbots are not perfect and often come with a disclaimer: "this is AI and may make mistakes." These imperfect responses may make searchers wonder why the chatbot didn’t provide the specific details they expected in response to their prompts.
In the example screenshot above, I ask, “Which college should I go to if I want to study computer science?”
Google Gemini provided a list of reasonable options and included strengths for each option.
But one may ask, “Why didn’t you mention Iowa State University?”
That’s because although these AI chatbots present as personas, they are not actually people. You or I make conscious decisions about whether to mention a specific university, based on what we think is important. However, chatbots generate the most statistically likely responses based on the word patterns learned during training. It didn’t “decide” to leave an option out; the option just wasn’t part of the most likely map of words for that answer.
Still, this trade-off seems worth it to many, as AI users continue to grow.
For everyday users, this is a convenience upgrade. For website owners and content creators, it’s a fundamental shift in how your content is found.
Major search engines have competition
Google has long been the leader in online search, with its latest reporting showing over five trillion searches a year. But since their 2022 entrance, LLMs have grown rapidly, with estimates that AI now represents 34% of search activity in the U.S.
There's no denying that these LLMs are competing for market share of online search traffic. ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini are becoming household names, and major search engines such as Google are even implementing AI search overviews directly into their existing result pages to stay competitive. These changes make AI search all but unavoidable.
The impact of LLMs on your website
According to one study by Semrush, searching using AI will surpass traditional organic search by 2028. As more users begin to switch from traditional search to AI, you may notice a change in your website’s performance.
Trends indicate that if you haven't already seen a decrease in traffic from traditional search engines, it's coming. If your site is heavily reliant on search engine traffic, the rise of AI search means fewer clicks and less traffic to your website.
Less traffic does not mean fewer conversions
It's not all bad news for search traffic, though. AI chatbots are adapting their responses to show links to where they found their answers, and visitors are clicking these links.
The same Semrush study found that visitors who click through to your website from AI chatbots are 4.4 times more likely to convert (complete the desired website action) than visitors from traditional search. That's because they’ve already been given much of the information they need up-front and are much further along in their decision-making process than the traditional organic searcher.
Matomo analytics research
If you're interested in whether your website has seen a drop in search engine traffic, refer to your Matomo analytics dashboard.
Set your date selector to the previous year, then navigate to the Acquisition Overview in the left sidebar menu. Here, you’ll see an overview of where your website traffic comes from. Narrow in on your search engine data and determine if there’s a significant drop in traffic that you can’t account for.
New AI Assistants report
Your Matomo dashboard now segments traffic from LLMs into its own trackable channel called “AI assistants”. Note that this feature was added in November 2025 and the data reflects this.
Set your date selector to the previous month, then navigate to the Acquisition > AI Assistants report in the left sidebar menu.
You can change the way the data is displayed using the data visualization button at the top. For your reference, this example uses the “Display a table with Visitor engagement metrics” view.
Explore the impact each LLM has on your website traffic and even see which pages they are entering from.
How to prepare your website for the changing search ecosystem
We know that users are finding information using this new search method, and data indicates that this trend will continue to grow. We also know that this is moving faster than anyone can accurately predict. This can feel overwhelming for any level of marketing professional.
- Know where your target audience is searching – It's important to know who your audience is and where they find information online (social media, search engines, LLMs, etc.) so that you can create content that reaches them.
- Continue SEO – Traditional organic search is not going away. Continue producing high-quality content that’s valuable for all types of searchers.
- Create content that AI crawlers can read – Do this by crafting highly structured content. That means use descriptive headings (H2s, H3s, H4s), bullet points for lists, and tables for comparisons. Consider where you can add Q&A-formatted content as well. That means a question (formatted as a heading) and a three or four-sentence answer. People are "chatting" with these AI chatbots using human language. Their searches are often question-based rather than keyword-based. Make your content valuable by answering their questions.
- Tracking – Understand where your website traffic is coming from and how that changes over time (ideally quarter over quarter). If organic search traffic is declining, see how traffic from other sources (AI assistants, direct entry, visitors coming from other websites that link to yours) is changing.