By Aijaz Alam
How much traffic does AI send to websites?
Traffic from generative AI tools to US retail sites rose 693.4% in the 2025 holiday season (1 November to 31 December) compared with 2024, according to Adobe Analytics data covering over 1 trillion visits. Growth is slowing from a small base: AI traffic was up 393% year over year in January to March 2026.
- +693.4%Visits to US retail sites from generative AI tools, 2025 holiday season vs 2024Adobe Analytics, 1 Nov-31 Dec 2025 (vendor)
- +393%AI traffic to US retail sites, Jan-Mar 2026 vs a year earlierAdobe, Apr 2026 (vendor)
- +539%AI traffic to travel sites, 2025 holiday seasonAdobe, Jan 2026 (vendor)
- 31%Higher conversion for AI visits than other traffic, 2025 holiday seasonAdobe, Jan 2026 (vendor)
- BillionsClicks a week Google says its AI features in Search send to websitesAlphabet Q2 2026 earnings remarks (no exact figure)
The numbers
The full breakdown
Rise in AI-driven traffic by industry, 2025 holiday season vs 2024
| Industry | Rise in AI traffic |
|---|---|
| Retail | 693% |
| Travel | 539% |
| Financial services | 266% |
| Tech and software | 120% |
| Media and entertainment | 92% |
Adobe Digital Insights, 2025 holiday season (Nov-Dec), US sites, year over year. Retail's exact figure is 693.4%. Rates of growth from a small base, not shares of total traffic.
How AI visits to US retail sites convert, compared with other traffic
| Period | AI visits compared with other traffic |
|---|---|
| March 2025 | Converted 38% worse |
| 2025 holiday season (Nov-Dec) | Converted 31% more |
| Thanksgiving 2025 | Conversions 54% higher |
| Black Friday 2025 | Conversions 38% higher |
| March 2026 | Converted 42% better |
Adobe Analytics, US retail sites. Conversion means a visit that ends in a purchase. Vendor data.
AI traffic to US retail sites during the 2025 holiday season
| Period | Rise vs a year earlier |
|---|---|
| November 2025 | 769% |
| December 2025 | 673% |
| Cyber Monday 2025 | 670% |
| Whole season (1 Nov-31 Dec) | 693.4% |
Adobe Analytics, over 1 trillion visits to US retail sites. Adobe says the base of users remains modest.
Over time
Growth in AI traffic to US retail sites, as reported by Adobe
| Period | Rise in AI traffic | Compared with |
|---|---|---|
| Nov-Dec 2024 | 1,300% | Same period a year earlier |
| January 2025 | 1,100% | July 2024 |
| February 2025 | 1,200% | July 2024 |
| April 2025 | 3,100% | July 2024 |
| May 2025 | 3,500% | July 2024 |
| July 2025 | 4,700% | July 2024 |
| Nov-Dec 2025 | 693.4% | Same period a year earlier |
| Jan-Mar 2026 | 393% | Same period a year earlier |
| March 2026 | 269% | March 2025 |
Adobe compared early-2025 months with July 2024 because AI traffic was too small to use as a baseline before then, so those rows are not year-over-year rates. Percentages are growth rates, not levels: the falling rates since 2025 reflect a larger base, not less AI traffic. Adobe forecasts a 130% rise for the 2026 holiday season.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| +693.4% | Nov-Dec 2025 | Adobe | Growth in clicks from AI tools to US retail sites; a rate of change from a small base, not a share of traffic. |
| Billions of clicks a week | Q2 2026 | Alphabet | Clicks from AI features in Google Search to all websites; no exact figure or method. |
| 1% of visits | Mar 2025 | Pew Research Center | Google results pages with an AI summary where a link inside the summary was clicked. |
| 9.5 billion visits a month | Jun 2025 - May 2026 | Similarweb | Web visits to generative AI platforms, not traffic they send on to other sites. |
There is no single public figure for how much of the web's traffic comes from AI tools, and the numbers that exist measure different things.
Adobe gives growth rates. Its 693.4% is the rise in clicks from generative AI tools to US retail sites that use Adobe Analytics, compared with the same weeks a year earlier. A big rate from a small base can still be a small share of total visits, and Adobe says the base of users remains modest. Adobe does not publish AI's share of all retail traffic.
Google says its AI features in Search now send billions of clicks to websites every week, but gives no exact count and no comparison with ordinary search results. Pew's browsing data shows how rarely people click links inside Google's AI summaries: on 1% of visits that showed one.
Similarweb's 9.5 billion counts visits to AI platforms themselves, not traffic they pass on. Quote each figure with what it counts.
What it means
How to use these numbers
AI tools now send real visitors to websites, and those visitors are worth more than they were. Clicks from AI tools to US retail sites rose almost eightfold in the 2025 holiday season, and by the end of 2025 those visits converted better than other traffic, a reversal from early 2025.
The growth rate is falling because the base is larger, not because AI traffic is shrinking: from 1,300% in the 2024 holidays to 693.4% in 2025 and 393% in early 2026. Retail and travel gain the most.
The absolute amount is still small for most sites. Neither Adobe nor Google publishes AI's share of all website visits, and inside Google, people rarely click the links in AI summaries.
For site owners, track AI referrals as a separate channel in your analytics: visits from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and similar tools. For journalists, report Adobe's figures as growth rates from a small base, and give the period and the industry.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Adobe
- Adobe Analytics, over 1 trillion visits to US retail sites, 100 million SKUs, 18 product categories; AI traffic means shoppers clicking a link from a generative AI chat service or browser. Releases and Adobe blog posts of 17 Mar 2025, 16 Jun 2025, 21 Aug 2025, 7 Jan 2026, 12 Jan 2026, 16 Apr 2026 and 28 Sep 2026; vendor data
- Alphabet Q2 2026 earnings call remarks, 22 Jul 2026; company statement
- Pew Research Center
- Browsing data of 900 US adults, 68,879 Google searches, March 2025
- Similarweb
- Web traffic panel, average monthly visits to generative AI platforms, Jun 2025 to May 2026; vendor data, re-read on Similarweb's own page 31 Oct 2026
- Checked at source
- 23 Oct 2026 (repo stats); 31 Oct 2026, the Adobe releases and posts listed above, the Alphabet Q2 2026 remarks and the Similarweb page
- Last changed
- 31 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- Adobe Digital Insights / Adobe Analytics press releases, Adobe Vendor data
- Google and Alphabet official announcements (I/O keynote, earnings call remarks), Google / Alphabet Vendor data
- Pew Research Center Survey
- Similarweb AI search statistics (2026 Generative AI Landscape), Similarweb Vendor data
Cite this page
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FAQ
More questions people ask
Do visitors from AI tools buy more?
They now do on US retail sites. Adobe found AI visits converted 31% more than other traffic in the 2025 holiday season and 42% better in March 2026, after converting 38% worse in March 2025.
Which industries get the most AI traffic growth?
Retail, up 693% in the 2025 holiday season, then travel (539%), financial services (266%), tech and software (120%) and media and entertainment (92%), per Adobe.
Will AI traffic keep growing?
Adobe expects AI traffic to US retail sites to rise 130% in the 2026 holiday season, with the biggest rise on Thanksgiving (159%).
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (Adobe, Google / Alphabet, Pew Research Center, Similarweb). Free to cite with a link to this page.