Ahrefs just rolled out a new public dashboard that tracks referral traffic from two big players: Google Search and ChatGPT. It shows how much traffic websites get from each, updated every month. The first look covers three full months and over 44,000 sites using Ahrefs’ free Web Analytics tool. Here’s the scoop on July stats: Google still brings in the vast majority of traffic at 41.9%, while ChatGPT trails with 0.19%. But the growth rates tell an exciting story! ChatGPT’s referral traffic jumped by 5.3% that month, compared to Google's 1.4%. While Google’s traffic remains dominant, ChatGPT is growing roughly 3.8 times faster than Google right now. Ahrefs emphasizes that ChatGPT is creating a whole new traffic channel that didn’t even exist two years ago. That means digital marketing teams and small businesses can start paying attention to this fresh source as it evolves. The tracker focuses on sites that stayed consistent across all months, so the growth numbers are reliable. However, bear in mind that some AI systems or browsers block referral info, which might cause some AI-driven visits, like from ChatGPT, to slip under the radar. Bottom line: Google Search still leads by a wide margin, but ChatGPT is carving out a place to bring visitors to websites. This new dashboard lets you keep an eye on both players over time so you can spot trends and adjust your strategies accordingly. Whether you're running a digital marketing agency or managing a small business, this tracker gives you a handy tool to monitor where your traffic comes from and figure out the impact of AI-powered search traffic. It's a fresh way to understand the evolving landscape of web traffic sources and where opportunities might be headed next. 🚀📊 Happy tracking and adapting!

Think SEO is no longer worth your time because of AI and social apps? Think again. With all the scary headlines and changing trends, it’s easy to feel lost. Here’s what’s actually happening and how you can keep delivering results for your clients and business. Let’s Clear the Air: SEO Isn’t Going Anywhere 🌍 Despite all the changes, SEO remains one of the best ways to connect with lots of folks online. Sure, AI-powered summaries now pop up at the top of search results, and it might feel like websites are losing traffic. But even as search gets smarter, people (and the tech they use) still rely on well-made web content. What’s Changing: Less Clicks, Higher Quality Traffic 📉➡️💎 - AI-generated answers appear in about 16% of US searches, up from earlier this year. - When these summaries show up, website clicks can drop by about a third. - Total search traffic fell by 21% over the past year. But here’s the plot twist: folks who do visit your site after seeing an AI summary are often ready to read more, take action, or sign up. They’re not just looking for quick info—they want the real deal. Everyone’s Creating with AI… But So Can You 🤖✏️ About three-quarters of new web content now use generative tools. That means the playing field is busier than ever. The trick isn’t to crank out more text; it’s to offer something people and algorithms both value: unique ideas, helpful resources, and relatable stories. Search Is Everywhere—Not Just on Google 🔎➡️📱 Gen Z and Millennials are searching differently. Nearly half of younger users (and over a third of Millennials) look on social apps like TikTok and Instagram instead of traditional search engines. People want: - Short, punchy videos over long articles - Authentic opinions and real-life experiences - Quick tips instead of big blocks of text But don’t count out Google—it's still responsible for almost 90% of global searches and drives way more visits than AI bots or other discovery channels. Build a Brand, Not Just Content 🏗️✨

I have a new book that is almost done... the title is: The SPARK Framework™ - The Blueprint for AI Search Dominance I will release the first few chapters and some research/resources I am including in the book here before official book release and launch :) Today, I am attaching some key statistics that I compiled in my research for the book. These are important to digest and can also be used in marketing if you're an agency. If you're a business owner, understand the game of grabbing eyballs and customers from search is changing!

How Google Actually Ranks Websites (It’s Simpler Than You Think) A Google engineer just revealed in court testimony how their ranking algorithm actually works—and it’s way simpler than most SEO “experts” make it sound. The ABC Framework That Rules Search Google uses what they call the “ABC framework”: **A = Anchors** (backlinks pointing to your page) **B = Body** (how well your content matches what people search for) **C = Clicks** (how long people stay before bouncing back to Google) Google calls this “topicality”—their fancy way of saying “how relevant is this page to what someone searched for?” While most people obsess over 200+ ranking factors, this shows you really only need to nail these 3 core elements: get quality links, write relevant content, and keep visitors engaged. The Game-Changing Revelation About Authority The testimony also revealed that quality scores are **static**. Once Google decides your site is trustworthy, that authority sticks across ALL your related content. They’re not recalculating your trustworthiness for every single search. This means you should focus on site-wide signals instead of trying to game individual pages: ** Build brand mentions:** Reach out to industry publications, podcasts, and roundup articles to get your name mentioned alongside established competitors. **Create content hubs:** Build clusters of related articles around each main topic, then interlink them strategically to show Google you own that subject. **Establish expertise markers:** Add detailed author bios, link to original studies, and showcase real client work across multiple pages. Your Action Plan This Week Take a step back from chasing every shiny SEO tactic and focus on: - Auditing your site’s overall trustworthiness signals - Checking how long people actually stay on your pages (not just bounce rate) - Mapping whether your backlinks make sense for your topic - Ensuring your content matches actual search intent **Bottom line:** Master the ABC framework, build real authority, and create content humans actually want to read. Everything else is just noise.

The Reality Check: 74% of new web pages now contain AI content. But can we spot it? Ahrefs just tested 8 popular AI detectors on human, AI, and mixed content. Here's what they found: 🏆 THE WINNERS Ahrefs AI Detector & Copyleaks - 72% accuracy - Best at catching pure AI content - Rarely flag human writing as AI - Can even identify which AI model was used! 🥈 SOLID PERFORMERS ZeroGPT & Originality.ai - 67% accuracy - Reliable for most content - Occasionally confused by mixed human-AI writing 😬 THE STRUGGLERS Grammarly (33% accuracy) and Writer (22% accuracy) - Often mistake human writing for AI - Miss obvious AI content 💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS ✅ Good news: False positives are rare (only 8% of human content flagged) ⚠️ Challenge: ALL tools struggle with human-edited AI content 🎯 Best practice: Use multiple detectors, not just one The Bottom Line No AI detector is perfect. They're probabilistic tools, not crystal balls. Use them as part of your content evaluation, not the final word.