Traffic Trends: AI, Search & Dark Social's Significant Shifts
Site traffic doesn't look the way it once did. And the dynamics impacting traffic feel like they're changing every day. Crucially, publishers are asking: What's actually happening to traffic, and how can they adapt?
Charbeat's latest report, Navigating The New Traffic Landscape, directly answers those questions to show the declining role of traditional search in site traffic, what is rapidly rising to take its place, and yes, how to adjust to these dynamics.
Among the major takeaways from Chartbeat's report:
- Average weekly pageviews did not see major drops from 2024 to 2025 – falling by 5.89%.
- Digging deeper, however, Google Search pageviews fell 34% from Dec. 2024 to Dec. 2025 and pageviews. Google Discover pageviews also dropped 16% during the same timeframe.
- Small publishers have also been hit harder than large publishers, with small publishers losing 60% of search volume YoY.
- Traffic isn't simply being siphoned off by Chatbots, either. Chartbeat data shows that among AI platforms in the Chartbeat network, chatbots still accounted for less than 1% of pageviews in 2025.
As traffic trends keep changing, don't get caught without a plan. Read more from Chartbeat: