Some websites are getting crushed by chatbots and Google’s new “AI Overview” feature, as users no longer feel the need to click on links suggested by the tech giant, resulting in a sharp decline of traffic for online publishers impacted by the change.
Chatbots are replacing conventional Google searches, which has negatively impacted website traffic for some online publishers, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Moreover, Google introduced its “AI Overview” feature last year, which has been displaying at the top of the tech giant’s search results, summarizing information a user is trying to look up online.
The AI tool’s quick answers to users’ queries have resulted in more people opting out of visiting websites for additional information, resulting in less traffic for websites providing tips on a an array of topics ranging everywhere from vacation suggestions, health guidance, gardening advice, to product reviews.
News outlets have also experienced a drop in online traffic amid the AI technology’s increase in capability and usage, especially leftist outlets that previously enjoyed a favored spot in the tech giant’s algorithm.
In the past three years, HuffPost’s desktop and mobile traffic from organic search reportedly fell by just over half, while the Washington Post has experienced nearly the same amount of decline, according to the data from the analytics, web traffic, and digital performance software company Similarweb.
Meanwhile, traffic from organic search to the New York Times‘ desktop and mobile sites fell to 36.5 percent in April 2025 from almost 44 percent three years earlier, the software company’s data reveals.
Last month, Business Insider reportedly cut around 21 percent of its staff last month, with CEO Barbara Peng saying the move was aimed at helping the outlet “endure extreme traffic drops outside of our control.” Organic search traffic to Business Insider’s websites declined by 55 percent between April 2022 and April 2025, Similarweb data shows.
Earlier this year, the Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson reportedly warned at a companywide meeting that the magazine’s online traffic from Google will likely drop toward zero, and stressed that the company needed to evolve its business model.
“Google is shifting from being a search engine to an answer engine,” Thompson told the Journal. “We have to develop new strategies.”
Last month, Google rolled out its AI Mode in the U.S. in an effort to compete with chatbots like OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT.
It appears these news outlets will need to work on enhancing their overall influence and presence amid the AI takeover, just as Breitbart News has done in response to similar issues transpiring years before the introduction of chatbots and and AI Overview, such as Google backlisting the site and even tweaking its algorithms Breitbart News’ articles do not appear in the tech giant’s search results, even when a Breitbart headline is typed into Google’s search engine, verbatim.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
