Artificial intelligence is changing the way users interact with digital content. With AI-driven tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews delivering instant answers, many wonder if website visits are becoming obsolete. Recent research by SIDN explores this question, revealing how AI influences website traffic, search behavior, and online business models.
SIDN (Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie Nederland) is THE Dutch authority responsible for managing and maintaining .nl domain names in the Netherlands. It ensures the stability, security, and reliability of the .nl domain registry, overseeing domain registrations, preventing abuse, and developing digital security initiatives. In short: if you do anything online in the Netherlands? SIDN is your friend.
The shifting landscape of online traffic
Last autumn, SIDN asked NIQ GfK to test several hypotheses about the development of internet usage. One of them was:
Do AI users visit more or fewer (.nl) websites?
In other words, do tools like ChatGPT cannibalise the informative function of websites because users no longer click through? To test the hypothesis ‘do ChatGPT users visit more or fewer (.nl) websites’ than other users, GfK examined the number of .nl website visits by ChatGPT users and their development in 2023 and 2024. This was from the introduction of ChatGPT in the Netherlands, noting that ChatGPT had 600,000 users per month in early 2023, compared to 3.1 million in December 2024. For many users, there is therefore no comparison material available yet.
Older users visit less websites
While website visits by users in general increased between 2023 and 2024, they decreased among ChatGPT users, except for those under 24. In the 50 to 64 age category, there is a negative correlation between ChatGPT use and website visits. Among ChatGPT users, there is a significant decrease in website visits: 12% for .com websites and up to 15% for .nl websites. Further analysis should reveal which types of sites are losing reach. Since these are early adopters of applications like ChatGPT, they are, on average, ‘heavy users’ who visit more websites than average.
Less Google, more AI (ChatGPT)
A related question is what ChatGPT means for Google’s position. Do people who use ChatGPT now bypass the almighty search engine? Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently admitted that Google—with its own Gemini—is lagging behind ChatGPT, which is becoming increasingly synonymous with AI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently gave an evasive answer to the question of whether ChatGPT could replace search engines (‘maybe in the future’).
A salient detail from the GXL panel is that the number of Google contacts in 2023 and 2024 slightly decreased in the very age groups where ChatGPT use is associated with fewer website visits (-12% among 35 to 49-year-olds). However, this could also be related to the much-criticised algorithm updates carried out in autumn 2023.
See original version with tables on SIDN website: https://www.sidn.nl/nieuws-en-blogs/vervangt-ai-websitebezoek
