Users who saw a brand recommended by ChatGPT were much more likely to visit that brand’s website within a week, according to Similarweb.
What happened. Users were 2.5 times more likely, on average, to visit an AI-recommended brand than a direct competitor, based on Similarweb’s study of U.S. desktop behavior across finance, travel, and beauty.
- Similarweb tracked users who asked ChatGPT industry-relevant questions, received a specific brand recommendation, and then visited either that brand’s website or a competitor’s site within seven days.
- The study excluded users who had visited the brand’s site in the prior four weeks or named the brand in their prompt.
Recommendations shifted traffic. The pattern appeared across all three industries:
- Finance: After an American Express recommendation, 7.2% of users visited American Express, compared with 3.1% who visited Capital One. After a Capital One recommendation, 14.2% visited Capital One, compared with 3.8% who visited American Express.
- Travel: After a Skyscanner recommendation, 9.5% visited Skyscanner, compared with 7.6% who visited Kayak. After a Kayak recommendation, 12% visited Kayak, compared with 3.4% who visited Skyscanner.
- Beauty: After a Sephora recommendation, 7.9% visited Sephora, compared with 3.3% who visited Ulta. After an Ulta recommendation, 7.6% visited Ulta, compared with 4.6% who visited Sephora.
AI demand showed up in search. Most AI-influenced visits didn’t appear as AI referral traffic. ChatGPT may influence brand choice, but the later visit often appears in analytics as search traffic.
- 55.9% of AI-influenced visits came through search, compared with 40.4% of non-AI-influenced visits, Similarweb found.
- Direct traffic accounted for 19.9% of AI-influenced visits, compared with 38.8% of standard visits.
Recommended users stayed longer. AI-influenced visitors also engaged more deeply once they reached a brand’s site. They viewed 12 pages and spent 11.8 minutes on site, on average, compared with 6.5 pages and 5.6 minutes for non-AI-influenced visitors. Those users likely arrived after narrowing their options during the AI conversation, Similarweb said.
Why we care. AI visibility can drive visits even when referral reports miss the source of influence. You need to know whether ChatGPT is creating demand for your brand or sending it to a competitor.
About the data. Similarweb used its opted-in U.S. desktop web panel to track user journeys from July through December 2025. The report focused on finance, travel, and beauty brand pairs with competitive overlap.
The report. The Downstream Impact of AI Visibility (registration required)
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