LLM Optimisation
Why ChatGPT Traffic Converts 9× Higher Than Google And What That Means for Brands
According to a new case study from Seer Interactive, traffic referred from ChatGPT converted at 15.9%, compared with 1.76% from Google Organic. That’s a 9× lift in conversion rate. Small volume, but huge intent. It’s an early glimpse into how AI-driven discovery behaves differently from traditional search.
24 October 2025
8 min read
The signal
When users click through from ChatGPT, they’ve already filtered. They’ve asked, clarified, compared, and refined inside the chat before they ever reach your site.
By the time they arrive, they’re not exploring — they’re validating.
Google traffic, by contrast, still captures the top and middle of the funnel: research queries, comparisons, browsing. It’s broad reach, but lower intent.
ChatGPT sits at the opposite end: narrow reach, deep readiness.
The shift
AI agents are changing the discovery stack.
They compress multiple search moments into one conversation, and that compression creates a new kind of traffic, pre-qualified, context-rich, and primed to act.
This means the value of a single AI referral can be 5×, 10×, even 20× higher than a normal search click.
Not because users changed, but because the interface changed and with it, the funnel.
The play (LMO7 version)
Build for model visibility. Make sure your product data, schema, and Q&A are clean, factual, and structured. AI systems pull from clarity, not creativity.
Optimise for answerability. Instead of optimising for a keyword ranking, optimise to be the confident answer a model can cite.
Treat AI referrals like gold. Track them separately, measure AOV and conversion behaviour, and tune your on-site experience for decisive users.
Prepare for scale. Volumes are still small, but when agent-driven traffic grows, you’ll want your content already aligned.
The take
We used to measure marketing by reach.
In the AI era, we’ll measure it by readiness.
ChatGPT traffic converts higher because it’s built on intent, not exposure.
The brands that learn how to speak clearly to models will own that intent and the next wave of digital discovery.
Source: Seer Interactive, “6 Learnings About How Traffic From ChatGPT Converts” (2025).
When users click through from ChatGPT, they’ve already filtered. They’ve asked, clarified, compared, and refined inside the chat before they ever reach your site.
By the time they arrive, they’re not exploring — they’re validating.
Google traffic, by contrast, still captures the top and middle of the funnel: research queries, comparisons, browsing. It’s broad reach, but lower intent.
ChatGPT sits at the opposite end: narrow reach, deep readiness.
The shift
AI agents are changing the discovery stack.
They compress multiple search moments into one conversation, and that compression creates a new kind of traffic, pre-qualified, context-rich, and primed to act.
This means the value of a single AI referral can be 5×, 10×, even 20× higher than a normal search click.
Not because users changed, but because the interface changed and with it, the funnel.
The play (LMO7 version)
Build for model visibility. Make sure your product data, schema, and Q&A are clean, factual, and structured. AI systems pull from clarity, not creativity.
Optimise for answerability. Instead of optimising for a keyword ranking, optimise to be the confident answer a model can cite.
Treat AI referrals like gold. Track them separately, measure AOV and conversion behaviour, and tune your on-site experience for decisive users.
Prepare for scale. Volumes are still small, but when agent-driven traffic grows, you’ll want your content already aligned.
The take
We used to measure marketing by reach.
In the AI era, we’ll measure it by readiness.
ChatGPT traffic converts higher because it’s built on intent, not exposure.
The brands that learn how to speak clearly to models will own that intent and the next wave of digital discovery.
Source: Seer Interactive, “6 Learnings About How Traffic From ChatGPT Converts” (2025).