Referral traffic from ChatGPT to websites declined 52% since July 21 based on analysis of over one billion ChatGPT citations and one million referral visits across multiple verticals. Reddit citations increased 87% since July 23 and now exceed 10% of ChatGPT citations. Wikipedia rose 62% from its July low to nearly 13% citation share. The top three sites—Wikipedia, Reddit, and TechRadar—accounted for 22% of citations, up 53% in a month. Citation consolidation began weeks before August 7 (GPT-5 launch), indicating a manual retrieval reweighting favoring answer-first sources. Branded, conversion-first content loses visibility, creating an opportunity for answer-first content strategies.
Referral traffic from ChatGPT to websites is down 52% since July 21. Reddit citations are up 87% since July 23, now topping 10% of all ChatGPT citations. Wikipedia jumped 62% from its July low, grabbing nearly 13% of citation share. The top three sites - Wikipedia, Reddit and TechRadar - accounted for 22% of all citations, up 53% in just a month.
ChatGPT now favors a handful of "answer-first" sources, while branded websites are losing visibility - and millions of potential referral clicks. Blyskal said this isn't a GPT-5 effect ( GPT-5 launched August 7). ChatGPT's citation consolidation began weeks earlier, suggesting OpenAI manually reweighted its retrieval system to favor helpful answers. "The citation opportunity is massive for brands willing to shift from conversion first to answer first content," wrote Blyskal.
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