Google Gemini has overtaken Perplexity to become the world’s second-largest source of AI chatbot referrals to websites for the first time, according to independent web analytics company Statcounter.

A report from SE Ranking looks at changes in AI referral traffic. Gemini referral traffic to websites increased, with the jump starting around the same time Google rolled out Gemini 3. ChatGPT ...

Publishers have struggled with the lack of referral traffic from AI chatbots to websites from one of the most used traditional search engines worldwide.

One thing became clear this year: AI platforms are changing where, how and how much referral traffic gets sent to publishers’ sites. The five graphs below illustrate where AI referrals stand today — ...