Does traffic from LLMs convert better than other traffic sources?

This is a question that appears to prop up on a frequent basis. There is a real desire from businesses to increase their presence and visibility in AI search tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, but what does that mean and does getting mentioned in LLMs yield a higher conversion rate?

As Google has shifted towards displaying AI Overviews in search and launching AI Mode in the US (and more recently in India), this has definitely resulted in a lower level of organic traffic flowing to websites.

Google’s response to this is that although websites may experience reduced traffic, the resultant traffic is higher quality and will convert better. This makes sense as users will have done their initial research, courtesy of the AI responses, and therefore, those users will be more ready to take an action when they finally click through to a cited website.

With access to over 150 analytics accounts, we have a great view of how this type of traffic converts across a wide variety of industries. What we can say is that yes, generally the LLM traffic converts at a higher rate than other traffic sources, but this isn’t always the case. It is still dependent on the type of website and the type of industry.

For example, websites that require users to carry out some research or to better understand the options available, are definitely converting at a higher rate. Whilst websites such as local businesses, less so. In some industries we are seeing very high levels of LLM traffic, converting very well, whilst in others the traffic is low and doesn’t convert.

The key is to understand the audience, how they search and what they need to know before making a purchase decision. It’s not one size fits all.

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