ChatGPT Sends Less Than 1% of Google’s Traffic but Converts 4x Better. Where a Local Business Should Put Its AI Search Effort

The headline sounds like a contradiction. ChatGPT sends tiny traffic, but that traffic converts far better. Both things can be true. They just answer different questions.

This post covers what the study found, why click numbers undercount AI, and how a Toronto small business can split its effort and measure the result.

What the 100-site study found

On October 21, 2026, Search Engine Land reported an analysis by Marie Haynes. It used 12 months of GA4 data from 100 websites, covering more than 145 million sessions.

• Traffic: ChatGPT sessions equalled 0.62% of Google organic sessions. Counting other LLMs, the figure was 0.73%.
• Conversion rate: On the 55 sites that track conversions, 13.8% of ChatGPT visitors converted. For Google organic, it was 3.02%.
• Total conversions: Google organic drove 964. All AI chatbots combined drove 36.

Read the two charts together. The rate is higher for ChatGPT. The total is far higher for Google.

What the study can’t tell you

• It is 100 sites. That is a useful sample, not your market.
• There is no industry mix. A Toronto dental clinic and a SaaS company are not the same buyer.
• Each site defines a conversion its own way. A form fill on one site is a purchase on another.
• Other studies disagree. A 94-site ecommerce analysis found ChatGPT converting at 1.81% against 1.39% for non-branded organic search, a smaller gap. An earlier study of ecommerce sites found ChatGPT converting worse than Google.

So treat the numbers as a direction, not a promise. The direction is clear: small volume today, and Google is still where the customers are.

Why AI clicks undercount what AI does for you

Referral numbers only count people who clicked a link. A lot of AI influence never involves a click.

• Zero-click answers. The customer reads your name in the answer and gets what they need.
• Search later. They see you in ChatGPT, then search your business name on Google. GA4 credits branded organic.
• Direct and offline. They type your address, call or walk in. Nothing says “ChatGPT”.

Even without a bug, referrers get stripped. Google added a native AI Assistant channel to GA4 on May 13, 2026, but it only catches visits that arrive with a recognized referrer. It is not retroactive either. For more on this, read our guide to seeing how many customers AI actually sends your business.

For a local business, the AI that sends customers is mostly Google

Haynes’s own conclusion, as Search Engine Land reported it, is that the AI search sending people to businesses today is not ChatGPT. It is Google.

For a local business, that means three places:

• AI Overviews and AI Mode. Clicks from these show up in your Search Console Performance report under the Web search type. You can’t filter them out on their own.
• Google Maps. This is where “near me” and “best in Toronto” searches land.
• Your Business Profile. Reviews, photos, hours, services and Posts feed what Google shows and says about you. Our guide to Google Posts and a posting plan that also feeds Maps and AI answers is a good place to start.

If you want to see what this work looks like on a real local listing, read our Google Maps case study.

Where ChatGPT still earns its place

Small traffic does not mean small influence.

People use ChatGPT to build shortlists, compare options and decide who to trust. By the time they reach you, they have already half decided. That is why the visitors who do arrive may convert at a higher rate: they come ready to book or buy.

Think of it as word of mouth at scale. You can’t track every recommendation. You can still make sure the answer is good when someone asks.

A simple effort split for a Toronto small business

Here is the order we would use. It is our judgement, not a figure from the study.

1. Protect Google first. Keep your Business Profile complete, collect reviews, keep your website clear and fast, and make sure your key pages answer real questions. Most of your time and budget belongs here.
2. Earn ChatGPT mentions second. Make it easy for AI to describe you correctly: clear service pages, consistent listings, reviews, and mentions on sites it already trusts. This is a smaller, steady slice.
3. Measure both, every month. Don’t move budget based on one dashboard.

Much of step 2 is the same work as step 1, so the split is less painful than it sounds. If you want help with either side, see our AI search optimization services in Toronto.

How to measure AI value without trusting referral numbers alone

Use several signals. No single one tells the story.

1. Annotate October 8 to 15 in GA4. Compare ChatGPT and Direct side by side so the bug doesn’t mislead you.
2. Track conversions by source. Look at conversions, not just visits, from the AI Assistant channel and any ChatGPT referrals.
3. Watch branded search. In Search Console, track clicks and impressions for your business name. A steady rise may mean people are hearing about you elsewhere.
4. Read your Business Profile. Note calls, direction requests and website clicks each month.
5. Ask customers. Add “How did you hear about us?” to forms, bookings and phone calls, with an AI assistant option and a free-text box.
6. Check the answers monthly. Ask ChatGPT the same ten buyer questions each month and log whether you are named. Our free GEO tracker template is built for this.

Put the six signals in one sheet. If calls, branded searches and “heard it from ChatGPT” answers all rise together, AI is working, even if the referral count stays small.

What to do this week

• Annotate October 8 to 15 in your analytics.
• Add a “how did you hear about us?” question to your main form and phone script.
• Open your Business Profile and fix anything out of date.
• Run ten buyer questions through ChatGPT and write down who gets named.

Frequently asked questions

Google sends the customers. ChatGPT shapes the shortlist. Measure both.