ChatGPT converts better than Google. So why is it losing?

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Good Morning {{first_name}}!

It’s Tuesday - which means it’s time for The Lifecycle Brief! This week, we’re talking about a research report that was released last week. It’s all about AI search and traffic.

A new study by Marie Haynes shows ChatGPT visitors convert at more than four times the rate of Google organic visitors. Google still delivered about 27 times more conversions because ChatGPT sends almost nobody. Those that do come from ChatGPT are more inclined to convert on forms, etc (or whatever your GA4 conversions are set up to track). But 27 times the conversions is a high number that can’t be ignored.

So, what the heck do we do here? 👀

Let’s dive in.

Let me just get one thing clear here - one thing I absolutely hate about conversion reports is that they never talk about what the conversion is. Is it a click? A phone call? A form submission? Is there a difference between newsletter subscriber or actual contact-form inquiry? Is it a sale?

So, just keep that in mind when reading these “conversion” research reports.

Whenever you log into LinkedIn or read the news, you’re probably hearing that you absolutely have to invest in AI search - or you are doomed.

Well, the math ain’t mathing. The hype of what people are saying to do to stay ahead of the AI game isn’t what the data tells us.

Among the 55 sites tracking conversions, 13.8% of ChatGPT visitors converted, compared with 3.02% of Google organic visitors. Raw counts: Google organic drove 964 conversions, while all AI chatbots combined drove 36. Despite ChatGPT’s higher conversion rate, Google organic drove 27 times as many conversions as all LLMs combined. 964 ÷ 36 = 26.8, so the two numbers agree according to SearchEngineLand.

Does this mean you should drop AI search? Not at all. Just be cautious about spending and putting all eggs in one basket.

Now, I’m a big data person. I do believe in tracking everything, but I also know that things are never truly perfect in the data world. And Direct traffic is one of those buckets I don’t like - but understand.

This month, it appears that ChatGPT stopped including the utm_source=chatgpt.com parameter that OpenAI introduced in June. And this, obviously, affects your analytics and attribution. And this means that most of this traffic probably got lumped into Direct traffic.

This was a bug, and fixes supposedly started rolling out on October 15. So, any contact created between October 8 and 15 who came from ChatGPT likely shows “hs_analytics_source” = Direct Traffic instead of AI Referrals.

While analytics can give us a lot to work with, it can also be a mess. The best solution is to leverage your analytics for first-touch and last-touch attribution, while asking your leads how they heard about you. With the additional qualitative response, you may be able to piece together how they found out about you.

Add a simple “How did you hear about us” dropdown in a form or in a demo sign-up, and add “ChatGPT” or the like as an option. Even if first-touch says “organic,” you now know that AI search played a role.

🩷 Google Ads now in AI Mode with Personal Intelligence: Back in March, Google said AI Mode with Personal Intelligence turned on would be ad-free, but that is now changing.

🧡 ChatGPT Ads to enable creative enhancements on October 30: OpenAI is adding AI-generated creative to its ad platform. Its own help documentation says advertisers can include their own UTM parameters for each creative.

💛 Why gated content is the enemy of AI search: Gaetano DiNardi argues gating your best content can cost you AI visibility, and covers what to keep open without losing lead generation.

💚 Everyone quotes 60%. Nobody measured it: David Rosam takes apart the “most AI traffic is hiding in Direct” claim. He notes that deep, unguessable URLs arriving as direct, with no internal page in front of them, are a signature of an AI referral.

💙 Similarweb: how AI brand mentions influence direct visits and search: Brands recommended in AI answers saw stronger lifts in branded search and direct visits.

B2B customer issues move across teams and systems, not through a single chat window. A new Harvard Business Review Analytic Services briefing paper, sponsored by Front, breaks down where AI tools fall short in B2B service and what to ask before you invest.

Get the Free Report

Yes, a 13.8% conversion rate sounds impressive, and that’s what we should all be striving for - and it’s what we all want. However, it’s a small slice of the conversion pie, and we shouldn’t put all of our eggs in the single small basket, especially when it’s so bumpy and changes all the time.

Keep AI search in mind, always provide great value, and always track every channel alongside multiple touchpoints in the attribution funnel to get a trend of what is actually giving you active deals in the pipeline.