According to data from Similarweb (via Pressgazette), referrals from ChatGPT grew to 14 top news sites to about 3.5 million in January from 435,000 in August. But ChatGPT still only made up 0.1% of the visits on those sites. Press Gazette compiled the report and there are some important points. The report found that traffic sent by ChatGPT on mobile and desktop grew eight times within six months but it still doesn’t make a big portion of websites’ overall traffic. In January, the New York report received 143.5 million total monthly visits. But only 760,000 visits there were from ChatGPT. Forbes and the Guardian saw good growth in monthly visits from ChatGPT, with 560,000 and 730,000 referrals respectively.
In January, Perplexity was leading the referral traffic to news sites. The most referrals were 139,000 to CNN, 146,000 to The New York Times, and 117,000 to India Times in January 2025. Overall in six months, ChatGPT led the referral traffic to news websites. Most of the traffic went to Forbes (1.7 million), followed by The Guardian and the New York Times (1.6 million each).
OpenAI has also introduced web search on ChatGPT which links and cites to publishers, but is optional. Perplexity didn’t have any consistent month-over-month growth even though it has sent referral traffic of 850,000 and 450,000 visits per month to same the 14 news websites as ChatGPT has.
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In January, Perplexity was leading the referral traffic to news sites. The most referrals were 139,000 to CNN, 146,000 to The New York Times, and 117,000 to India Times in January 2025. Overall in six months, ChatGPT led the referral traffic to news websites. Most of the traffic went to Forbes (1.7 million), followed by The Guardian and the New York Times (1.6 million each).
OpenAI has also introduced web search on ChatGPT which links and cites to publishers, but is optional. Perplexity didn’t have any consistent month-over-month growth even though it has sent referral traffic of 850,000 and 450,000 visits per month to same the 14 news websites as ChatGPT has.
Read next: Fake ‘Sadcore’ Posts on Facebook Monetize Sympathy Through Stars and Ads
