SparkToro Questions AI Visibility As Marketing Strategy
SparkToro reported three studies showing AI visibility may not be effective, according to SparkToro. This may impact marketing budgets.
Original reporting · sparktoro.com
Original: “Is AI Visibility a Marketing BoonDoggle?”
Read “Is AI Visibility a Marketing BoonDoggle?” at SparkToro →
How this was written. GMS Agency Desk wrote this article with a language model from SparkToro’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from SparkToro’s report
- SparkToro reported three studies showing AI visibility may not be effective
- AI traffic is nearly non-existent, according to the studies
- Marketers may be taking a risk by investing in AI like a traffic channel
SparkToro reported that three new studies suggest AI visibility may not be a worthwhile marketing investment. These studies analyzed traffic from AI assistants and found it to be nearly non-existent.
According to SparkToro, one study by Marie Haynes found that traffic from ChatGPT was 0.62% and from all LLMs was 0.73%. This is less than traffic from DuckDuckGo.
Another study by SEOWorks UK found that organic search sent 39 times more traffic than AI assistants. Additionally, AI traffic converted worse than organic traffic on 23 of the 63 websites studied.
Kevin Indig's study found that the correlation between AI visibility and direct traffic was not detectable. He analyzed 12 sites in different sectors and could not find a reliable link between AI visibility and branded search or direct traffic.
SparkToro believes AI may be influential on some buyers in some sectors, but it should be invested in and measured as a brand channel, not a traffic channel. Mike King noted that AI is like a digital billboard and should be treated as such.
The studies' conclusions suggest that marketers may be taking a risk by investing in AI like a traffic channel. SparkToro advises marketers to rethink their efforts and consider where they allocate their budget.
Questions and answers
Is AI visibility a worthwhile marketing investment?
Probably not, according to SparkToro
How much traffic do AI assistants send?
Nearly non-existent, according to the studies
Should marketers invest in AI like a traffic channel?
No, it may be a risk, according to SparkToro
