A six-month analysis of 54 websites found that traffic from large language models converts at almost the same rate as organic search. The research, carried out by Amsive[1], used Google Analytics 4 data from sites with validated purchases or form fills.
Conversion Rates
Organic visits converted at 4.6 percent. LLM referrals came in at 4.87 percent. On the surface that looked like a gain for LLMs, but statistical testing showed the difference was not significant. In other words, both channels brought in users who converted at nearly identical rates.
Site-Level Differences
Results varied from one website to another. Some saw LLM referrals converting better than their averages, others saw weaker performance. Just over half of the sample leaned positive for LLM, but not by a wide margin. The split highlighted how much outcomes depend on how AI tools select and surface content.
Higher-Volume Sites
Filtering for larger websites, those with at least 100,000 sessions and enough LLM traffic to test, produced a bigger gap: organic at 5.81 percent and LLM at 7.05 percent. Even then the edge failed to clear statistical tests. The analysis showed that the apparent lift could be explained by random variation.
Business Models
Breaking the data into B2B and B2C websites did not change the picture. B2B sites converted at 2.03 percent from LLM referrals and 1.68 percent from organic. B2C sites converted at 10.31 percent from LLM and 8.50 percent from organic. Neither difference was large enough to be reliable once tested for significance.
Industry Patterns
By industry, outcomes were mixed. Financial services and travel recorded higher conversion rates from LLMs. E-commerce and consumer services leaned toward organic. Because sample sizes in each vertical were small, no firm conclusion could be drawn.
Traffic Share
The study found scale to be the critical factor. LLM referrals accounted for less than one percent of total sessions across the dataset. Organic search made up nearly a third of all visits and conversions. In fact, about nine out of ten websites saw LLM traffic contribute less than 0.6 percent of sessions.
Study Limits
The research measured only macro conversions such as purchases and lead forms. It did not track how many leads became paying customers. Conversions were counted on a session basis and attributed to the last click, so earlier touchpoints were not included.
Key Takeaway
For now, organic search remains the leading channel for both scale and consistency. LLM referrals may grow in importance as usage expands, but current evidence shows they are not outperforming search in conversion terms. Businesses may want to monitor LLM traffic closely while continuing to treat search as the foundation of their digital strategy.
Notes: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools.
Read next:
• Bad Sign-Up Flows Cost SaaS Companies Customers Before They See the Product[2]
• How Many Prompts Can You Run on Gemini Each Day? Google Finally Sets the Numbers[3]
References
- ^ Amsive (www.amsive.com)
- ^ Bad Sign-Up Flows Cost SaaS Companies Customers Before They See the Product (www.digitalinformationworld.com)
- ^ How Many Prompts Can You Run on Gemini Each Day? Google Finally Sets the Numbers (www.digitalinformationworld.com)