Referral traffic from ChatGPT to websites is down 52% since July 21, according to Profound’s Josh Blyskal, who analyzed more than 1 billion ChatGPT citations and 1 million referral visits from a sample of sites across various verticals.
By the numbers. Some of the key findings:
- Reddit citations are up 87% since July 23, now topping 10% of all ChatGPT citations.
- Wikipedia jumped 62% from its July low, grabbing nearly 13% of citation share.
- The top three sites – Wikipedia, Reddit and TechRadar – accounted for 22% of all citations, up 53% in just a month.
Why we care. ChatGPT seems to now favor a handful of “answer-first” sources, while branded websites are losing visibility – and millions of potential referral clicks.
What’s happening. Blyskal said this isn’t a GPT-5 effect (GPT-5 launched Aug. 7). ChatGPT’s citation consolidation began weeks earlier, suggesting OpenAI manually reweighted its retrieval system to favor useful answers.
The bigger picture. Some takeaways from Blyskal’s LinkedIn post:
- Branded content that prioritizes conversion (“Schedule a demo”) is getting passed over.
- Answer-first platforms like Reddit and Wikipedia win by default because they directly address user queries.
- “The citation opportunity is massive for brands willing to shift from conversion first to answer first content,” wrote Blyskal.
Bottom line. OpenAI’s citation experiments can trigger big traffic swings. Brands that don’t provide real answers could be squeezed out of ChatGPT answers.