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"AI is killing our traffic. What should we do?"
A question asked in most marketing meetings across the globe in recent months.
The future of website traffic may feel bleak, but a recent study by one of the best website builders, Duda, reveals a blueprint for survival: five website must-haves that could increase human traffic by 320% and boost conversions 2.7x.
- Active blogs
- Local schema
- GBP synchronization
- Dynamic pages
- Greater number of pages
With all the doom and gloom around website traffic at the moment, I was intrigued by these findings. So, I caught up with Oded Ouaknine, CRO at Duda, to get the inside scoop on why we are seeing these trends and how businesses can position themselves to benefit from them.
Oded is Chief Revenue Officer at Duda, where he champions customer advocacy and oversees the growth and management of new and existing accounts. In his role as CRO, Oded is instrumental in crafting and implementing revenue strategies, guiding sales, and leading customer success teams to ensure Duda’s offerings align with customer needs.
Owain is a B2B Editor at TechRadar, covering topics ranging from website builders and web hosting to small business and productivity. Throughout his career, Owain has worked for and run his own successful website and marketing agencies. Owain has interviewed key executives from top website builders, including Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, and Webflow.
Many people believe that AI is reducing website traffic. Your study found that AI-crawled sites received 320% more human traffic. Why do you think this disconnect is happening?
So while traffic is being impacted overall, we’re seeing that websites that appear in AI are navigating this transformation much better.
There’s not a complete disconnect. AI is reducing the amount of traffic websites are receiving overall.
While we see in our data that AI-crawled websites receive 320% more human traffic than those with less AI visibility, another way to read that would be that websites that aren’t visible to AI receive 320% less than those that are.
So while traffic is being impacted overall, we’re seeing that websites that appear in AI are navigating this transformation much better.
How does this traffic compare to that which was previously driven by search engines? Is it converting, or is it ‘low-intent’ window shopping?
One unique thing about AI search is that it seems to eliminate a lot of the “window shopping” aspect of organic traffic.
One unique thing about AI search is that it seems to eliminate a lot of the “window shopping” aspect of organic traffic. Visitors are coming into the website far more informed than ever before.
In our data, analyzing over 850,000 sites, AI-crawled websites earned 2.7X more form submissions and 2.5X more click-to-call events. We see this in third-party research, too. A study by Microsoft Clarity saw similar numbers to ours, that AI traffic converts at 3X the rate of normal traffic.
The report notes a shift from local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to local AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) as primary traffic sources for small businesses. What do you think is the driving force behind this shift? Is it a change in how Google works, or a change in how humans are asking questions?
It’s undoubtedly a change in how Google works. A study by Whitespark found that 68% of local searches now contain AI Overviews.
Local search, in particular, is a vitally important lead acquisition channel for SMBs, and we know that when an AI Overview appears in a search result, clicks drop significantly. These businesses must adapt so that they can continue appearing in front of their customers.
Do your findings highlight AI as becoming a gatekeeper to small businesses? If AI doesn’t like your site’s structure, does it hide you from potential customers?
Absolutely. AI isn’t an endless list of links like traditional search; it’s a much narrower list of recommendations.
If I were to ask ChatGPT to help me find mechanics that specialize in hybrid vehicles in the Boulder, Colorado area, for example, businesses that offer these services but don’t specifically mention them on their website have no chance of appearing. No matter how many times you ask ChatGPT for more options.
SMBs need to ask themselves what questions their customers are asking, and make sure those answers exist on their websites if they want to be found.
Out of the five ‘must-haves’ you identify for local AEO, which do you consider the most important? How can businesses practically roll this out?
Expanding the number of website pages may be the most important.
While I think all of the optimizations are worth implementing, expanding the number of website pages may be the most important.
Transforming your website into a deep well of knowledge for AI systems is the only way to appear as an answer for those more specific questions. However, this may come across as the most overwhelming recommendation, too. Thankfully, many modern website builders offer the ability to create website pages in bulk.
What the SMB needs to do is reflect on their customers and on the conversations they have with those customers. Questions like “What questions are we constantly being asked over the phone, or at the counter?” and “What are we known for in the community?” Then, compile the answers to those questions and leverage one of those bulk page generation tools to ensure the content appears online in a discoverable and structured way.
How can agencies be evolving services to better meet small business needs in 2026 and beyond?
Agencies should prioritize developing a more consultative relationship with their clients.
An underlying story in this AEO study is that the impacts of AI, like AI search, are trickling down to SMBs. However, SMBs may not be reaping the benefits. Research we recently conducted with Siinda shows that SMBs feel comfortable using AI, but that this comfort is currently limited to only shallow tasks.
The most successful agencies will be those that can meet their clients where they are today, then educate and guide them toward what's next. Agencies may incorporate their clients deeper into the process by granting them access to the AI tools they already feel capable of using, such as blog and content generation. These agencies can then leverage AI themselves to streamline more complex routines by implementing new agentic workflows.
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