Small publishers bear the brunt as AI-era search wanes

Chartbeat data exclusive to Axios shows publishers with 1,000–10,000 daily page views suffer the steepest declines in traditional search traffic in the AI era (about 60% drop, vs 47% for midsize outlets and 22% for large ones). Referrals from Google Search and Google Discover fell 34% and 15% from Dec 2024 to Dec 2025, while ChatGPT referrals jumped over 200% but still account for under 1% of referrals. Overall web traffic across publishers fell about 6% year over year, but big publishers mitigate declines with direct/brand/own channels. The takeaway: small publishers should focus on building owned audiences and stronger direct relationships, as AI-driven search alone won’t sustain growth.