Short answer: SMBs shouldn't spend heavily on GEO tools yet, but they must fix conversion tracking first. A 12-month GA4 analysis of 100 websites and 145 million sessions found ChatGPT sends just 0.62% of the traffic Google organic search does; its visitors convert at 13.8%, yet Google still delivers 96.5% of conversions.
On October 21, veteran SEO consultant Marie Haynes published "GEO is a distraction," using 12 months of GA4 data from 100 websites and more than 145 million sessions to arrive at a number that stops you: ChatGPT sends only 0.62% of the traffic Google organic does, and all AI chat tools combined reach just 0.73%. After Search Engine Land covered it the same day, Search Engine Roundtable rounded up three studies with similar conclusions on October 22 under a blunt headline: AI visibility isn't worth investing in.
Why now? Over the past 18 months, GEO (generative engine optimization) has gone from a new term to a business. AI visibility trackers run from $50 to several hundred dollars a month, and agencies are rolling out GEO packages. Meanwhile, OpenAI announced on October 22 that ChatGPT Ads is expanding to 26 more countries with more than 100,000 advertisers, and Semrush found AI Overviews nearly doubled across five commercial query modifiers. When money and attention flood in this fast, someone needs to reconcile it against actual traffic ledgers.
The three studies point the same way from different angles. UK agency SEO Works' benchmark found organic search sends 39x more traffic than AI assistants, and for every 100 organic conversions AI delivers 3.2. Kevin Indig tracked 12 sites and found no reliable link between AI visibility and branded search or direct traffic. The category is splitting: tool vendors say "claim your spot early," while measurement-first practitioners say "check the books first."
For Taiwanese SMBs the stakes are concrete: with a limited monthly marketing budget, should money go to Google Business Profile, website conversion tracking or AI visibility tools? Below we unpack the numbers, actions for three kinds of readers, five tools compared and a subscription-free approach.
The details: AI visitors are few but convert well, and Google still drives 96.5% of conversions
The bottom line: AI visitors are high quality but low volume, and Google still determines total conversions. Haynes' data comes down to four numbers:
- Traffic: ChatGPT sessions equal 0.62% of Google organic; all large language models combined, 0.73%.
- Conversion rate: ChatGPT visitors 13.8%, Google organic 3.02%, about 4.5x.
- Total conversions: among sites tracking conversions, Google delivered 964 versus 36 from all AI tools combined, a 27x gap; Google accounted for 96.5% of conversions across the channels analyzed.
- Trend: ChatGPT referrals stopped growing exponentially around the GPT-5 launch in August 2025 and have slowly declined since.
One easily missed figure: 45 of the 100 sites had no conversion events set up in GA4 at all. Haynes also admits the dataset is small, and industry mix and conversion definitions weren't disclosed, so read the results with those discounts.
What three kinds of readers should do now: reconcile first, then decide on GEO
Whichever camp you believe, step one is measuring how many conversions AI actually brings.
- Brand owners and SMB owners: open GA4 and confirm at least one key event exists, such as "quote form submitted," "LINE friend added" or "order completed." Without conversion data, no GEO quote can be compared.
- Marketers and SEO operators: create a custom channel group in GA4 that groups chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot.microsoft.com as "AI assistants," and compare traffic and conversions with organic search monthly.
- Developers and agencies: check that client forms fire an event on submit, that thank-you pages are trackable, and that prices, specs and business info are plain text rather than images. That helps both Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT.
AI visibility tools compared: $50 to $250 a month, and the difference is how many AI platforms they track
Entry prices vary widely and cheap plans often track a single AI platform, so check coverage before buying.
| Tool | Entry price/month | Highlights | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | From $50 | Custom prompt tracking without a full Ahrefs plan | Brands testing with a small budget |
| Peec AI | From $95 | 25 prompts × 3 models | Comparing competitor mention rates |
| Semrush AI tools | From $99 | Integrates with existing SEO reports | Teams already on Semrush |
| Profound | From $99 (ChatGPT only); next tier $399 | Enterprise citation analysis | Large brands, multiple markets |
| Scrunch | From $250 | Focus on AI agents and site readability | Content-heavy e-commerce and media |
Pricing follows Detailed's AI visibility tool price list; check vendor sites for current rates.
What they won't tell you: "0.62%" may also understate AI's impact
The data proves AI sends few referral clicks, not that AI has no effect on business. There are at least three counterpoints.
- Clicks are hidden: since GPT-6, some ChatGPT traffic arrives without a referrer and is logged as direct. Indig says AI-driven direct traffic to long-tail pages is "not detectable yet," which is not the same as nonexistent.
- Most AI search happens inside Google: AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic is logged under Google organic. Haynes herself notes millions of people use AI search every day without ever leaving Google.
- The sample leans toward existing SEO clients: sites that already prioritize Google. High-ticket B2B and overseas markets may see a larger AI share, so the result doesn't transfer to every industry.
A subscription-free alternative: GA4 plus 10 manual test questions a month
SMBs can make 80% of the AI visibility call with free tools in about two hours a month.
- GA4 custom channel group: rule-based matching of AI referrer domains, free and updated automatically.
- Ten manual test questions a month: list the 10 questions customers ask most (for example, "where can I get an app built in Hsinchu"), ask each in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity monthly, and log in a spreadsheet whether your brand and URL appear.
- Google Search Console: watch impressions for brand terms and "price" or "best" queries, the first-party signal of AI Overview impact.
- Add "How did you hear about us?" to forms: include "ChatGPT / AI tools" as an option to fill the gap GA4 can't see.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much traffic does ChatGPT send to websites?
About 0.6–0.7% of Google organic traffic. That's the average across 100 sites and 12 months of GA4 data, and it varies by industry.
Do AI visitors convert better?
Yes. ChatGPT visitors convert at about 13.8%, 4.5x Google organic. But volume is so low that total conversions still come mostly from Google.
Do SMBs need an AI visibility tool?
Usually not below NT$50,000 a month in marketing spend. Start with a GA4 channel group and 10 manual test questions a month, then upgrade if it proves useful.
How do I see AI traffic in GA4?
Create a custom channel group that groups chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and similar sources as “AI assistants.” Some traffic lands in direct, so add a form survey question.
Should GEO and SEO be separate projects?
No. Structured data, plain-text pricing, FAQs and clear business information serve both Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT.
My take: the real problem isn't GEO, it's that 45% of sites don't track conversions
Both camps are arguing over whether AI is worth investing in, and I think both are asking the wrong question. Forty-five of 100 sites had no conversion events at all, which means most companies can't say how much business Google brings, so spending on GEO or refusing to is guesswork either way.
My call: within 18 months, "GEO packages" will drop in price and fold into ordinary SEO services, just as "social media management packages" did. Buying a standalone AI visibility tool rarely pays off for companies spending under NT$50,000 a month on marketing. But making your site easy to read is never wasted, because the same structured data, plain-text pricing and FAQs serve both Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT.
For ScriptWalker (a Taiwan-based Laravel/Flutter custom development studio), the service opportunity is a "conversion tracking + AI readability audit": checking form events, thank-you pages, GA4 channel groups and structured data, delivered as a dashboard clients can track monthly. Clients aren't buying the GEO label; they're buying knowledge of which channel actually brings business.
Sources
- Marie Haynes: GEO is a distraction (Oct 21, 2026) (primary research)
- SEO Works: AI Referral Traffic Benchmark (primary research)
- Kevin Indig: Does AI drive more direct traffic? (primary research)
- OpenAI: ChatGPT Ads expands to 26 new countries (primary)
- Search Engine Land: ChatGPT sends less than 1% of Google's traffic (third party)
- Search Engine Roundtable: 3 New Studies Suggest AI Visibility & Search Not Worth Investing In (third party)
- Detailed: AI visibility tools pricing (third party)