Wow! ChatGPT is Actually Driving Visitors to Our Website

While SEO for traditional search engines is well understood, optimizing for Answer Engines (AEO) or Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) like ChatGPT and Gemini is a rapidly evolving field. There are many theories, but little is definitively known about best practices.

Recommendations for Companies and Executives:

• Find how many visitors the “Answer Engines” are currently generating to your company’s website (and track this monthly going forward)

• Ensure your marketing team is tracking emerging tactics in AEO/GEO. (Examples: Do not block LLMs from indexing your site, unlock content from PDFs, and add Q&A sections to your homepage.)

• Ask ChatGPT questions about how to find your product or service. Instead of using AI as a writing companion, use it like a traditional search engine as your customer would. Does it present direct URLs to your website?

• Use tools like Chathub.gg to compare results for the same prompt across multiple AI engines. Examples include “what is the best sustainable baby diaper? name one and explain your reasoning.” Notice that the answers differ by “Answer Engine”; some recommend Bambo Nature Diapers, other Dyper diapers and still others Thirsties.

AI is fundamentally transforming how customers find and engage with your website. Ignoring this shift puts your business at risk.

“AI will double everyone’s productivity”— Eric Schmidt

FAQ: ChatGPT referrals, AEO/GEO, and how to measure impact

Does ChatGPT send traffic to websites?

Yes. ChatGPT responses increasingly include direct web links, and users can click through to sources and recommended pages.

What is AEO in simple terms?

AEO is making your content easy for AI systems to understand, trust, and cite so your brand appears in answers and recommendations.

How do I measure traffic from ChatGPT and other answer engines?

Use your analytics platform (GA4 or server logs) to filter by referral source/referrer (for example, chatgpt.com and other AI domains) and track it monthly.

What pages should I optimize first for AEO?

Start with high-intent pages: homepage, pricing, product/category pages, comparisons, “best for,” and 1–2 authoritative explainers that answer common buyer questions.

What changes usually help AI engines cite you?

Clear headings, direct answers near the top, Q&A sections, consistent facts (names, features, pricing), and structured data where relevant.

Why do different answer engines recommend different brands?

Each engine uses different retrieval methods, ranking logic, and source preferences, so results can vary even for the same prompt.

Onward,
Paul